Mongkut
(Redirected from King Rama IV)
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Mongkut (18 October 1804 – 1 October 1868) was the fourth king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama IV. He reigned from 1851 until his death in 1868.
Prior to ascending the throne of Siam, Mongkut was a Buddhist monk for a brief period, following a Siamese tradition that men aged 20 should become monks for a time. He also led a Buddhist reform movement in Siam, that emphasized strict adherence to the vinaya code.
As a king, he sought to modernize his country.
Peter Harvey (2012) states:
- In the nineteenth century, Thailand (then called Siam) skilfully avoided being colonized by European powers, and had two enlightened, modernizing rulers: King Mongkut (r. 1851–68), inaccurately portrayed in the film The King and I, and his son King Chulalongkorn (r. 1868–1910). In his time in the Sangha before being king, Mongkut established the reformist Dhammayutika monastic fraternity, and sought to spread a purified, ethically orientated Buddhism to the people.[1]
Further reading
Mongkut, Wikipedia
Notes
- ↑ Harvey 2013, s.v. Chatper 12.
Sources
Harvey, Peter (2013), An Introduction to Buddhism (Second ed.), Cambridge University Press
