Mountains were among the most important sacred geographical spaces in early medieval China thanks to the widespread building of Buddhist temples and Taoist abbeys in the mountains. They were sanctified both in imagina...Mountains were among the most important sacred geographical spaces in early medieval China thanks to the widespread building of Buddhist temples and Taoist abbeys in the mountains. They were sanctified both in imagination and in reality in the early medieval era. Accordingly, spatial studies have been conducted along these two dimensions. The former dimension deals with the numerous abodes of sages and immortals, while the latter examines Buddhist and Taoist monks and the stone chambers and temples or abbeys in which they practiced self-cultivation. In the case of Mount Tiantai, an imagined system of immortals＇ mountain abodes had emerged as early as in the middle of the Eastern Jin dynasty. A specific immortal was Wang Ziqiao, the Perfected of Mount Tongbai, who had authority over the Jinting palace and administration. The imagining of immortals＇ abodes not only helped the Taoists determine the locations of Taoist abbeys, but also inspired monks who hoped to practice self-cultivation with the help of the powers of mountain gods and immortals. In a sense, this was a process in which knowledge of the immortals shaped the landscape of Buddhist temples and Taoist abbeys.展开更多
This paper investigates the formation of the sacredness of Gaomin Temple(高旻寺)during the Qing Dynasty and reveals that its sacredness is closely related to the writing of the“Cultural Jiangnan(文化江南)”1 image of...This paper investigates the formation of the sacredness of Gaomin Temple(高旻寺)during the Qing Dynasty and reveals that its sacredness is closely related to the writing of the“Cultural Jiangnan(文化江南)”1 image of Yangzhou(扬州)by a group of intellectuals in the city.Based on the theory of the semiotics of cities and subculture,this article points out that under the joint action of such factors as salt merchants,emperors,the palace on tour,literati,and monks,Gaomin Temple was able to retain its religious value in the symbolic meaning of the space structure,get through diverse social conditions,and align itself with societal values.Therefore,the temple has become an urban symbolic system of a“semantic field”,which is also the social source of its sanctity.展开更多
文摘Mountains were among the most important sacred geographical spaces in early medieval China thanks to the widespread building of Buddhist temples and Taoist abbeys in the mountains. They were sanctified both in imagination and in reality in the early medieval era. Accordingly, spatial studies have been conducted along these two dimensions. The former dimension deals with the numerous abodes of sages and immortals, while the latter examines Buddhist and Taoist monks and the stone chambers and temples or abbeys in which they practiced self-cultivation. In the case of Mount Tiantai, an imagined system of immortals＇ mountain abodes had emerged as early as in the middle of the Eastern Jin dynasty. A specific immortal was Wang Ziqiao, the Perfected of Mount Tongbai, who had authority over the Jinting palace and administration. The imagining of immortals＇ abodes not only helped the Taoists determine the locations of Taoist abbeys, but also inspired monks who hoped to practice self-cultivation with the help of the powers of mountain gods and immortals. In a sense, this was a process in which knowledge of the immortals shaped the landscape of Buddhist temples and Taoist abbeys.
基金funded by the National Social Science Fund of China,grant number 21CZJ002the New Young Teachers’Research Start-up Project,Beijing Foreign Studies University,grant number 2021QD005
文摘This paper investigates the formation of the sacredness of Gaomin Temple(高旻寺)during the Qing Dynasty and reveals that its sacredness is closely related to the writing of the“Cultural Jiangnan(文化江南)”1 image of Yangzhou(扬州)by a group of intellectuals in the city.Based on the theory of the semiotics of cities and subculture,this article points out that under the joint action of such factors as salt merchants,emperors,the palace on tour,literati,and monks,Gaomin Temple was able to retain its religious value in the symbolic meaning of the space structure,get through diverse social conditions,and align itself with societal values.Therefore,the temple has become an urban symbolic system of a“semantic field”,which is also the social source of its sanctity.
