Search Results (8)

Guomari fortress in eastern Qinghai Province exemplifies vernacular architecture shaped by multiethnic interaction, environmental adaptation, and localized defense strategies. Originally a Ming Dynasty military-agricultural outpost, it evolved into a Tu ethnic settlement. Fieldwork, including architectural surveys and spatial analysis, identified a three-tiered defensive system: (1) strategic use of terrain and rammed-earth walls; (2) labyrinthine alleys with L-, T-, and cross-shaped intersections; and (3) interconnected rooftops forming elevated circulation routes. Courtyards are categorized into single-line, L-shaped, U-shaped, and fully enclosed layouts, reflecting adaptations to terrain, ritual functions, and thermal needs. Architectural features such as thick loam-coated walls and flat roofs demonstrate climatic adaptation, while the integration of Han timber frameworks, Tibetan prayer halls, and Tu decorative elements reveals cultural convergence. Traditional craftsmanship, including carved wooden scripture blocks and tsampa-based murals, is embedded within domestic and ritual spaces. The fortress’s circulation patterns mirror Tibetan Buddhist cosmology, with mandala-like alleys and rooftop circumambulation routes. These findings offer insights into vernacular resilience and inform conservation strategies for multiethnic fortified settlements. Full article

Situated in the mountainous and gorge-ridden region at the junction of the Tibet Autonomous Region, Sichuan Province, and Yunnan Province, the Tibetan–Yi Corridor is home to the Kham Tibetan area, one of China’s three traditional Tibetan areas. Tibetan Buddhism and the establishment of its temples in this region have evolved and propagated from nothing to a diverse landscape since the 8th century. Existing studies, however, have paid little attention to the intricate interplay between the formation of this sacred religious landscape and the specific geographic and sociocultural contexts in which it is situated. By taking temple architecture as a research vehicle, this study begins by extracting spatial data from historical GIS network data resources and 276 local gazetteers of 45 counties in the Tibetan–Yi Corridor. Secondly, it digitalizes and quantifies the geographic information, construction dates, sectarian affiliations, and sizes of 1479 Tibetan Buddhist temples in the region, establishing a database covering four historical periods. Finally, it employs GIS technology to visualize the spatial distribution of these temples, revealing their spatial and temporal patterns and evolution. From a religious geographical perspective, this study reconstructs the historical trajectories and diffusion patterns of the Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, Gelug, Jonang, and Bon sects in the Tibetan–Yi Corridor, revealing the complex interplay, succession, and ebb and flow of these sects over time. The research results show that the historical spread and development of Tibetan Buddhism in the Tibetan–Yi Corridor were influenced by a complex interplay of geographical, social, political, and economic factors, including the unique topography of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau and Hengduan Mountains, the complex interplay of agriculture and pastoralism, the historical influence of dynastic changes and central government policies on border regions, and ancient pilgrimage and trade routes. At the same time, as a multi-ethnic region inhabited by over 20 minorities, including Tibetans, Yi, Qiang, Naxi, and Nu, the Tibetan–Yi Corridor has a cultural identity dominated by religion, which has become an important factor in maintaining multi-ethnic symbiosis throughout its history, highlighting the unique historical status and role of the Tibetan–Yi Corridor in the entire Tibetan Buddhist cultural circle. Full article

I introduce a Buddhist god named Jiedi, believed to be a personification of the renowned gate mantra in the Heart Sūtra. I argue for a complex genesis story where the transference of the nāga-taming function and aquatic setting from the rainmaking spell in the Great Cloud Sūtra to the Heart Sūtra Mantra, coupled with its exegetical tradition emphasizing the soteriological metaphor of crossing, created an independent cult of the Jiedi Mantra. In battling chthonic snake spirits demanding virgin sacrifice in Sichuan, a regional variation of a cosmopolitan alchemical theme, the mantra was personified into a god associated with water and warfare. The exorcistic function of the mantra was the motor behind its apotheosis in Middle-period China. While he was elevated from a mere spirit to a vidyārāja (“wisdom king”) in tantric Buddhism, his cult was also disseminated in the Song, witnessing him provide broad deliverance in diverse areas such as industry, agriculture, infrastructure, military, and civil service. In late imperial China, he further imprinted himself on sacred geography, became a special class of warrior god, made inroads into Daoism and local religion, and proliferated in vernacular fiction and drama. An exotic Indian god was born on Chinese soil. Full article

As the most important Buddhist school in the history of Chinese Buddhism, the philosophy of Chan Buddhism and its agricultural Chan practice have had a profound influence on the lives of the literati and scholars. Both historically and logically, the term “Chan Dharma 禪法” is extremely rich in connotations. The so-called “agricultural Chan 農禪” is a transformation of Chinese farming culture into the “Chan practice” by practising meditation through farming activities. The “garden farming 園耕” refers to the farming activities of the literati and scholars in the gardens, which were driven by the style of agricultural Chan. Under the influence of agricultural Chan, “garden farming” took on a new spiritual attitude towards crops and created a natural aesthetic realm of life in the act of farming. This article consists of three main sections. I start with an introduction to the religious thoughts and practices of Chan Buddhism, pointing out that the underlying colour of Chan Buddhism is the aesthetics of life, while gradually evoking its special practice of Chan. The second section discusses the concept of agricultural Chan and farming activities in gardens, to figure out the characteristics of agricultural Chan and how farming activities in gardens are carried out. In the third section, I argue for the beauty of farming in gardens, pointing out the essence of the beauty in garden farming and what aesthetic possibilities the act of farming in gardens may embody. Full article

This paper zeros in on Buddhist-led community rebuilding with a special reference to Sannae District in Namwon, Jeonbuk Province in the Republic of Korea (South Korea). Until the 1990s, the district witnessed the traditional sense of community rapidly disappearing along with tidal rural-urban migration and agricultural industrialisation. Since the late 1990s, Silsang-sa, an about 1200-year-old Buddhist monastery located in the rural district, has strived to help revitalise the rural community. Reverend Tobŏp, the head monk of the monastery, brought attention to the overarching Buddhist doctrines of ‘dependent arising’ and ‘Indra’s Net’ that every phenomenon arises only in relation to others. To start with, in 1998 Reverend Tobŏp set up an organic agriculture training camp on Silsang-sa Farm for prospective rural migrants. In 2001, he established Silsang-sa Small School, which is an alternative secondary school with Buddhist ecology and economics included in the curriculum. Owing to increasing in-migration, Sannae District has gradually evolved into a socially and economically vibrant and sustainable community in which a variety of social clubs and commercial cooperatives have burgeoned. Full article

Cultural heritage sites and landscapes are intuitively connected in urban systems. Based on available databases of cultural landmarks, we selected three pairs of cities that are currently dominated by three contrasting religions (Catholic, Buddhist and emerging culture) to compare the long-term changes in cultural landmarks, to quantify their spatial distribution in the current landscape, and to examine the potential influences these landmarks have on landscapes. The landmark database and landscapes were constructed from archived maps, satellite imagery and the UNESCO heritage sites for Barcelona, Bari, Beijing, Vientiane, Shenzhen, and Ulaanbaatar. Roads in Asian cities are mostly constructed in alignment with the four cardinal directions, forming a checkerboard-type landscape, whereas Bari and Barcelona in Europe have examples of roads radiating from major cultural landmarks. We found clear differences in the number of landmarks and surrounding landscape in these cities, supporting our hypothesis that current urban landscapes have been influenced similarly by cultural landmarks, although substantial differences exist among cities. Negative relationships between the number of cultural landmarks and major cover types were found, except with agricultural lands. Clearly, cultural landmarks need to be treated as “natural features” and considered as reference points in urban planning. Major efforts are needed to construct a global database before an overarching conclusion can be made for global cities. Full article

Usually seen as incompatible, forests and farms are integrated by Buddhist environmental activists in Thailand. Monks engaged in environmental conservation see the conditions of farmers’ lives as related to how they treat the forests surrounding their farms. If farmers seek their livelihood through cash-cropping and contract farming, they see the forest as a material resource in terms of land for future farms. This attitude contributes to the rapid deforestation occurring across northern Thailand’s mountainous region and a cycle of environmental degradation and economic struggle. Buddhist monks work with non-governmental organizations and sometimes state agents to encourage farmers to shift to integrated agriculture, growing a mix of food crops and raising animals mimicking ecological relations. The monks teach that the forest is part of this eco-system, as it supplies water and other natural resources and must be protected. This paper examines the work of Phrakhru Somkit Jaranathammo, a monk in Nan Province, Thailand, who promotes dhammic agriculture and engages a new interpretation of Right Livelihood, a basic Buddhist principle, to support and protect the well-being of both the forest and farmers. Full article

This study focuses on the role played by the work of Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) in shaping socialism and agrarian-Buddhist utopianism in Japan. As Japanese translations of Tolstoy’s fiction and philosophy, and accounts of his life became more available at the end of the 19th century, his ideas on the individual, religion, society, and politics had a tremendous impact on the generation coming of age in the 1900s and his popularity grew among young intellectuals. One important legacy of Tolstoy in Japan is his particular concern with the peasantry and agricultural reform. Among those inspired by Tolstoy and the narodniki lifestyle, three individuals, Tokutomi Roka, Eto Tekirei, and Mushakōji Saneatsu illustrate how prominent writers and thinkers adopted the master’s lifestyle and attempted to put his ideas into practice. In the spirit of the New Buddhists of late Meiji, they envisioned a comprehensive lifestyle structure. As Eto Tekirei moved to the village of Takaido with the assistance of Tokutomi Roka, he called his new home Hyakushō Aidōjō (literally, Farmers Love Training Ground). He and his family endeavored to follow a Tolstoyan life, which included labor, philosophy, art, religion, society, and politics, a grand project that he saw as a “non-religious religion.” As such, Tekirei’s utopian vision might be conceived as an experiment in “alter-modernity.” Full article