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The Mekong River is the third longest river in East Asia, after only to the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, and is known as the "Buddhist River" (see Tran 2016; Dhammahaso and Peoples 2018; Hongsuwan 2011).The river is 4,909 kilometers long and flows from Qinghai through Yunnan of China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and southern Vietnam, providing water and sediment to Buddhist communities on both sides of the strait.The Tibetans and others in the upper reaches follow Vajrayana Buddhism (i.e.Tibetan Buddhism), the peoples in the middle reaches and parts of the lower reaches such as Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia adopt Theravada Buddhism, and the Vietnamese and the ethnic Chinese people in the lower reaches believe in Mahayana Buddhism.Regardless of their Buddhist affiliation, people along the Mekong River share a common humanistic spirit, concepts of karma and samsara (cause and effect), and especially a spirit of uniting local communities to overcome historical challenges.This is why Southeast Asia is known as the land of friendliness, smiles, and hospitality (see Stanton 1956), although it does not need any embellishment of luxurious concepts in philosophy.However, since the Middle Ages, changes in socio-political movements throughout the region (including but not limited to the formation and/or development of monarchies, the spread and/or formalization of different political and cultural ideological schools from abroad, such as Hinduism from India, Islam from West Asia, Confucianism from China, the rise of Western colonialism since the mid-19 th century and regionalism during the Cold War) have caused Southeast Asia to become more diverse and polarized, led to many disagreements and even conflicts.The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was established in August 1967 on the platform of this polarization and gradually transformed its mission to become a common home that unites Southeast Asia, but it has not yet completed its mission due to the cultural

Buddhism · South asia · Southeast asia · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies

• Sacralization of the Mekong River Through Folk Narratives

  Open Access•Pathom Hongsuwan•Manusya Journal of Humanities•2011

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