The adaptation of the Kongtek ritual in Bangkok's China Town

Abstract

This thesis examines the Kongtek ritual characteristics in Bangkok’s Chinatown through fieldwork conducted at several temples. Kongtek rituals in Bangkok’s Chinatown retain the core essence of Chinese Kongtek in terms of filial piety and Confucian kinship conception, while adapted in some respects to be compatible with Thai Buddhist beliefs and practices. Those adapted parts include what kind of coffin they use, where the Kongtek rituals take place, the collaboration with Theravada Buddhist funeral chant, the motif design of paper offerings, and so on. Sino-Thai’s Chinese ethnic identity is not how orthodox they live their lives in Chinese ways, but rather it is whether they still consider themselves as Chinese. The Kongtek ritual is very important for Sino-Thai to maintain their ethnic identity because as one of the most important life passage ceremony, it renders a precious occasion to remind Sino-Thai of where they are from and who they are. The adapted Kongtek ritual in Bangkok’s Chinatown chiefly serves these functions of maintaining Chinese identity and therapy for recovering from grief. Nevertheless, Kongtek tradition is destined to decline in Bangkok.