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.
Temples
12020-08-19T20:44:45-04:00Evan Dawley7a40080bd5bb656cee837d5befaa3ea8e7a2ac44351This page contains an explanation of how I apply the term temple to a range of institutions examined in this module.plain2020-08-19T20:44:45-04:00Evan N. DawleyEvan Dawley7a40080bd5bb656cee837d5befaa3ea8e7a2ac44Temples are the principle representation of sacred geography within the physical world, or the points at which sacred and physical geographies interface with each other. As human constructions, they populate the built environment of Taiwan with distinctive architecture and as focal points for religious practices. Within Taiwan during the era of Japanese rule, members of different ethnic groups used specific names for these structures, depending upon which religious tradition the temples belonged to. The Taiwanese called (and call) most of these instiutions gong 宮, miao 廟, or simiao 寺廟; Japanese settlers referred (and refer) to Shinto institutions as jinja 神社. Both Taiwanese and Japanese called their Buddhist institutions si or ji 寺 (the first term is the Mandarin pronunciation, the second the Japanese), but Taiwanese referred to a particular type of Buddhist temple as zhaitang 齋堂. English usage tends to lose these nuances, since the words temple and shrine are largely interchangeable in meaning. Within this module, I use “temple” for all sacred spaces, although I reserve “shrine” specifically for those within the Shinto tradition, and occasionally use the original terms to highlight ethnic affiliation.