Bodies and Structures 2.0: Deep-Mapping Modern East Asian HistoryMain MenuGet to Know the SiteGuided TourShow Me HowA click-by-click guide to using this siteModulesRead the seventeen spatial stories that make up Bodies and Structures 2.0Tag MapExplore conceptsComplete Grid VisualizationDiscover connectionsGeotagged MapFind materials by geographic locationLensesCreate your own visualizationsWhat We LearnedLearn how multivocal spatial history changed how we approach our researchAboutFind information about contributors and advisory board members, citing this site, image permissions and licensing, and site documentationTroubleshootingA guide to known issuesAcknowledgmentsThank youDavid Ambaras1337d6b66b25164b57abc529e56445d238145277Kate McDonald306bb1134bc892ab2ada669bed7aecb100ef7d5fThis project was made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Sacred Geography
12019-11-27T22:28:02-05:00Evan Dawley7a40080bd5bb656cee837d5befaa3ea8e7a2ac44354A definition of sacred geographyplain2019-12-09T13:28:28-05:00Evan Dawley7a40080bd5bb656cee837d5befaa3ea8e7a2ac44The interface between sacred and physical geographies is the spatial relationship at the heart of this module. But what is sacred geography? Simply put, it is the spaces or territories associated with the divine, and in this case with the gods and deities and rituals of the religions practiced in Taiwan. It is imaginary geography, territory that exists primarily in the minds of believers and practitioners but which has no essential physical form. On its own, because it lacks physicality it cannot be mapped, although representations of sacred geography are common within both Chinese and Japanese religious traditions. {Link to Ken Brashier’s Hell Scrolls, the Hungry Ghosts scroll in Kyoto?} Nevertheless, sacred geography manifests within physical geography in many ways, such as temples that are the residences of particular deities, and in the incense-division networks and territorial cults discussed elsewhere in this module. The key spatial characteristic of the interaction between the sacred and profane is that, because sacred spaces have no definitive physical dimension, they can exist anywhere within the physical world. A specific deity has multiple homes across Taiwan, even within the same city or town, and it moves through—or rather, is moved through—a neighborhood or a region in order to re-affirm its relationship with the physical world. The territory that the deity demarcates has mobile and permeable boundaries that can be expanded or contracted, and that can overlap with the terrain of other deities. And yet, those borders can be closed against unwelcome incursions. In other words, sacred geography is inherently fluid, but it can become fixed through its interactions with physical geography.
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12019-11-27T22:24:41-05:00Evan Dawley7a40080bd5bb656cee837d5befaa3ea8e7a2ac44DefinitionsEvan Dawley3This thread addresses the key terms used in the module.plain2019-11-27T23:05:20-05:00Evan Dawley7a40080bd5bb656cee837d5befaa3ea8e7a2ac44
Contents of this path:
12019-11-27T22:29:49-05:00Evan Dawley7a40080bd5bb656cee837d5befaa3ea8e7a2ac44Types of Sacred Spaces4A subsidiary of Sacred Geographyplain2020-02-29T20:15:29-05:00Evan Dawley7a40080bd5bb656cee837d5befaa3ea8e7a2ac44
12019-11-27T22:31:10-05:00Evan Dawley7a40080bd5bb656cee837d5befaa3ea8e7a2ac44Religion and Technology1A Subsidiary of Sacred Geographyplain2019-11-27T22:31:10-05:00Evan Dawley7a40080bd5bb656cee837d5befaa3ea8e7a2ac44
12019-11-27T22:22:25-05:00Evan Dawley7a40080bd5bb656cee837d5befaa3ea8e7a2ac44Key Concpets13This page creates a pathway along which readers can learn about the terms and ideas that underly the module, as well as ways to move through it.plain2020-02-29T20:11:18-05:00Evan Dawley7a40080bd5bb656cee837d5befaa3ea8e7a2ac44