Religious Space and Place in Modern China

1969 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Harvey

This article looks at the intersection of modern Chinese and traditional Chinese sacred spaces through the analysis of two case studies: Yuyuan Garden and Tourist Area and Huanglong Scenic and Historic Interest Area. The article lays out a brief history of religion in China, the effects of modernization and globalization in China, the creation of sacred space within China, and the role tourism has played in preserving sacred spaces. Furthermore, this article examines how both sites dealt with and continue to deal with the question of religion in China, and how each has been worked into the tourist industry of China, either through choice or design. By becoming a part of the tourist industry, these sites have gained renown and interest because of what they offer, and thus illustrate that the blending of the sacred with the secular can be positive, especially within the context of modern China.

Author(s):  
Victoria Smolkin

When the Bolsheviks set out to build a new world in the wake of the Russian Revolution, they expected religion to die off. Soviet power used a variety of tools—from education to propaganda to terror—to turn its vision of a Communist world without religion into reality. Yet even with its monopoly on ideology and power, the Soviet Communist Party never succeeded in overcoming religion and creating an atheist society. This book presents the first history of Soviet atheism from the 1917 revolution to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The book argues that to understand the Soviet experiment, we must make sense of Soviet atheism. It shows how atheism was reimagined as an alternative cosmology with its own set of positive beliefs, practices, and spiritual commitments. Through its engagements with religion, the Soviet leadership realized that removing religion from the “sacred spaces” of Soviet life was not enough. Then, in the final years of the Soviet experiment, Mikhail Gorbachev—in a stunning and unexpected reversal—abandoned atheism and reintroduced religion into Soviet public life. The book explores the meaning of atheism for religious life, for Communist ideology, and for Soviet politics.


Author(s):  
Vitaliy Stepkin

Introduction. The article presents the caves of Ust-Medveditsky St. Saviour convent in Volgograd region. The relevance of the research issue is in improving the recreational potential of the subject under study. The novelty of the work is in explaining the meaning of cave complex elements and the iconic stone with the image of knee and palm prints. The aim of the work is to study the history of creating the sacred space in the caves of Ust-Medveditsky convent. Herewith the work covers the following issues: 1) considering the history of creating caves by hegumeness Arseniya (Sebryakova); 2) clarification of the semantic meaning of some architectural elements in the cave complex in the context of creating the sacred space in the New Jerusalem of the Don region; 3) recommendations for developing the esthetical component of the caves, which increases the recreational potential for using the caves. Methods. In order to achieve the goals the author uses the structuralsemantic method, which allows to reveal the meaning of separate architectural elements in the caves in the structure of the cave complex. The system-based culturological method and the historical archaeological approach are used to understand the uniqueness of the object against the historical background of the dominating culture. The sources used to fulfill the objective include material ones such as architectural elements of the caves, written ones such as piligrimages, travellers’ notes about visits to the Holy Land, the biography of hegumeness Arseniya (Sebryakova). Analysis and Results. The caves under consideration were created in the second half of the 19th century by hegumeness Arseniya (Sebryakova). There was a sacred space of the Holy Land reconstructed: “Stations of the Cross” and “Sorrowful Way of the Holy Mother”. The stone with the image of knee and palm prints symbolizes the place where the Christ fell down after being arrested. Premise no. 8 with a step can symbolize the Holy Sepulcher with the tomb of Jesus. To improve the recreational potential of Ust- Medveditsky convent it is necessary to control microclimatic conditions, support the cave surface natural stone relief and colour, decorate the key sacred spaces with thematic icons.


Author(s):  
David J. Howlett

This chapter examines the transformation of the Kirtland Temple as a site of interest into a site of contagion, only then to be blessed along with the surrounding land as a place of promise. While the Kirtland Temple still remained an ambiguous site for many Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints pilgrims, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints agents on the ground in Cleveland worked out a story that could explain Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' possession of the temple while still embracing it as a holy site. This resanctification of sacred space offers several insights into the study of sacred space that may be “useful to think with.” First, this case study illustrates the power of middling agents in creating and sustaining sacred spaces. Second, it illustrates that the creation and maintenance of sacred space may be one strategy that religious groups use to answer theodical questions, or questions about the presence of evil.


Author(s):  
Erin Nourse

In the history of religion in Africa, women have contributed richly to the diversity of indigenous, Christian, and Islamic spiritual practices prevalent within their communities. As mediums, healer-diviners, ministers, mystics, prophets, poets, priestesses, theologians, and spiritual advisors, they are integral to the creation and maintenance of possession cults and other indigenous religious societies, Islamic Sufi orders, mainline and African-initiated churches, as well as new and emerging Christian and Islamic movements. Often inhabiting pluralistic worlds, women weave together creative and dynamic spiritual tapestries that give their lives coherence. An investigation into the experiences of women reveals spaces of agency and constraint, portraits of women’s intimate encounters with the divine, accounts of women’s indigenization of Christianity and reform of Islam, stories of discrimination and of healing, struggles to create more liberating theologies, and stories of extraordinary women shaping religious life and practice on the African continent in irrepressible ways.


2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefania Travagnin

Yinshun (1906–2005) is regarded as one of the most eminent monks in twentieth-century Chinese Buddhism. Previous research has argued that Yinshun especially undertook the mission of writing new commentaries on Madhyamaka texts. His efforts provoked a revival of interest towards the Madhyamaka school among contemporary Chinese Buddhists, and a re-assessment of the position of the writings of N?g?rjuna within the history of Chinese Buddhism. This article focuses on Yinshun’s restatement of the nature of the M?lamadhyamakak?rik?, a text that has always been regarded as fundamental in the Madhyamaka/San-lun tradition in China. The first part analyzes Yinshun’s textual study of the M?lamadhyamakak?rik?, examining his approach to the text, and how he came to terms with previous Chinese traditional textual scholarship and canonical scriptures. The second part discusses Yinshun’s interpretation of the text by moving away from the micro-context of Chinese San-lun scholarship, and addressing the macro-context of the modern Chinese understanding of the Mah?y?na.


Religions ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Patton

Despite the growing research done on sacred spaces in Buddhist Myanmar, no attention has yet been given to the role dreams play in the selection and development of such spaces. This article will address this lacuna by exploring how dreams are regarded by 20th–21st centuries Buddhists in Myanmar, as evidenced in autobiographies, ethnographic work, and popular literature in relation to the creation and evolution of sacred places. Although there are many kinds of sacred sites in Myanmar, this article will look specifically at Buddhist stupas, commonly referred to in Burmese as, pagoda or zedi. These pagodas, found in nearly every part of Buddhist Myanmar, are also those structures most prevalent in Buddhist dream accounts and often take on phantasmagorical qualities when those same Buddhists attempt to recreate the pagodas of their dreams.


Author(s):  
María Inés Pérez ◽  
Erica Schenkel

PILGRIMAGES, SYMBOLS AND RELIGIOUS ITINERARIES IN SOUTHWEST BONAERENSEPEREGRINAS, SÍMBOLOS E ITINERÁRIOS RELIGIOSOS NO SUDOESTE BONAERENSELa religión ha sido desde los inicios de la historia un elemento fundamental de cultura en todo tiempo y espacio pues las representaciones de la fe, y sus consecuentes manifestaciones, dejan su impronta en el paisaje y en el espacio social. En este contexto, la Geografía de las Religiones toma las peregrinaciones como un tema que reviste particular interés al incorporar materialidades y trayectos en los cuales el espacio profano adquiere la categoría de espacio sagrado. Las peregrinaciones son prácticas religiosas de especial significado para los creyentes pues los recorridos que siguen los fieles constituyen no sólo el camino hacia el encuentro con lo divino sino también el compartir experiencias. El presente trabajo tiene como finalidad analizar los espacios sagrados vinculados a las peregrinaciones y sus manifestaciones en el sudoeste bonaerense, identificando diversos aspectos que los caracterizan. A partir de un enfoque cualitativo, centrado en diferentes estudios de caso, la investigación comprueba como una determinada religiosidad se apropia del territorio, lo resignifica y transforma, imbuyéndolo de diversas representaciones tangibles e intangibles que lo diferencian de cualquier espacio profano. Palabras clave: Geografía de las Religiones; Peregrinaciones; Espacio-Tiempo Sagrado.ABSTRACTReligion was from the beginning of history a fundamental element of culture in all time and space because the representations of faith leave their imprint on the landscape and social space. In this context, the Geography of Religions takes the pilgrimages as a subject that is of particular interest in incorporating materialities in which profane space acquires the category of sacred space. Pilgrimages are religious practices of special significance for believers because their journeys are not only the way to the encounter with the divine but also the sharing of experiences. The present work aims to analyze the sacred spaces related to the pilgrimages and their manifestations in the southwest of Buenos Aires, identifying several aspects that characterize them. Based on a qualitative approach, focused on different case studies, the research shows how religion appropriates the territory, resignifies it and transforms it, imbuing it with diverse tangible and intangible representations that differentiate it from any profane space.Keywords: Geography of Religions; Pilgrimages; Sacred Space-Time.RESUMOA religião é, desde o início da história, um elemento fundamental da cultura no tempo e espaço, porque as representações da fé, e suas consequentes manifestações, deixam suas marcas na paisagem e no espaço social. Neste contexto, a Geografia das Religiões considera as peregrinações como um assunto que é de particular interesse ao incorporar materialidades e trajetos nos quais o espaço profano adquire o status de espaço sagrado. As peregrinações são práticas religiosas de especial significado para os crentes porque suas jornadas não são apenas o caminho para o encontro com o divino, mas também o compartilhamento de experiências. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo analisar os espaços sagrados relacionados às peregrinações e suas manifestações no sudoeste de Buenos Aires, identificando vários aspectos que os caracterizam. Com base em uma abordagem qualitativa, focada em diferentes estudos de caso, a pesquisa mostra como a religião se apropria do território, o ressignifica e transforma, impregnando-o de diversas representações tangíveis e intangíveis que o diferenciam de qualquer espaço profano.Palavras-chave: Geografia das Religiões; Peregrinações; Espaço-Tempo Sagrado.


2013 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-41
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Ian Ross

The author reviews the research produced on the history of municipal policing in Canada, partly through the creation and analysis of a database. There are three types of work: comprehensive treatments, historical case-studies of particular polic forces, and studies examining subprocesses in particular forces. The author then discusses this literature's advantages and disadvantages. Finally, the author makes a series of recommendations for improving the existing knowledge base.


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