Search Results (95)

This study reconsiders the meaning of the term “miqweh” in early rabbinic literature and challenges its common rendering as “immersion pool” or “ritual bath.” Surveying biblical and Second Temple texts, it demonstrates that “miqweh” originally indicated a general “gathering of water” and was not associated with purificatory bathing. Only in early rabbinic sources did the term acquire a specialized, legal-technical sense, referring to pooled water within the narrow context of ritual purification through immersion in water. This semantic shift likely derives from rabbinic interpretation of Leviticus 11:36 and reflects broader patterns of legal abstraction in rabbinic discourse. Crucially, the study shows that “miqweh” never referred to the physical installation or structure containing the water; instead, terms such as “mǝʿārâ” (“cave”) and “bêt haṭṭǝbîlâ” (“place of immersion”) were used for such spaces. These two terms, the study tentatively suggests, likely emerged before the more abstract “miqweh” was coined. Full article

In the 1930s and 1940s, Kumbum Monastery (Tibetan: sku’ bum byams pa gling) emerged as a significant spatial node in visual culture during the period of war and modern nation-building in the Republic of China (1912–1949). Through photography, painting, and film, a diverse range of visual media depicted the monastery’s architectural layout, inscribed plaques and steles, Cham dance (Tibetan: འཆམ་, Wylie: ’cham) rituals, lamaic prayers, and scenes of temple fairs and marketplaces. These visual representations not only documented historical detail but also constructed a composite space in which sacredness, transcendence, and secularity intersected. Due to its unique geographical location, religious doctrines, historical narratives, and political entanglements, Kumbum functioned as both a spiritual center and a politically charged symbol. Within this visual discourse, cham rituals and collective prayers were imbued with wartime ideological meanings, aligning religious transcendence with the national aspiration for resistance and victory. The inscribed plaques by state officials visually asserted political authority over sacred religious spaces, while the depiction of temple fairs foregrounded the entanglement of religious practices with everyday secular life, becoming key arenas for ethnic integration and political mobilization. Artists and photographers actively engaged with and reproduced both the symbolic and the quotidian landscapes of the monastery. These visual materials contributed to the broader project of narrating the Republic’s frontier and constructing the nation’s image. By examining how both monastic actors and external observers visually constructed Kumbum Monastery’s political and spiritual space, this study illuminates the complex interplay between religion and state power, and shows how visual media articulated ideological meanings and negotiated spatial relationships as collective responses to the site within the conditions of modernity. Full article

This study examines how contemporary religious architecture mediates sacred meaning through the interaction of symbolic form, embodied practice, and sensory-spatial conditions, using the Namaste Dagoba at Famen Temple as a case study. Integrating architectural semiotics with exploratory empirical research, the study employs questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, supplemented by architectural field notes, to investigate how visitors perceive and interpret the space. An exploratory structural equation modeling (SEM) framework is used to examine possible relationships among Symbolism and Aesthetic Experience (SAE), Embodied Spatial-Ritual Perception (ESRP), and Perceived Sacred Meaning (PSM). The findings indicate that while symbolic and aesthetic perception provides an initial interpretive basis, perceived sacred meaning appears to be strongly associated with reported embodied spatial experience. Spatial configuration, ritual pathways, mandala-based geometry, and gradients of spatial intensity are interpreted as design conditions that may shape visitors’ reported perception, movement experience, and sense of sacred meaning. The observed mediating role of ESRP suggests that architecture may operate as an experiential interface rather than only as a static symbolic system. By integrating semiotic theory with exploratory questionnaire and interview evidence, the study proposes a tentative embodied and processual model of architectural meaning-making. Rather than suggesting a rupture from historical Buddhist spatial traditions, the study identifies one contemporary design strategy in which inherited cosmological symbolism, ritual movement, threshold experience, and sensory atmosphere are recomposed through a monumental modern architectural vocabulary. Full article

This study investigates the soundscape of Taoist temples and its influence on visitors’ worship experiences, integrating auditory perception, visual landscape evaluation, and emotional and experiential responses into a comprehensive analytical framework. Based on questionnaire surveys conducted in multiple Taoist temples, the study examines how different sound sources affect soundscape evaluation and how this evaluation shapes perceptual and experiential outcomes. The results indicate that Taoist ritual sounds (e.g., ritual music and chanting) play a significant positive role in shaping visitors’ soundscape evaluation, whereas artificial sounds related to general human activities show a negative effect. Soundscape evaluation is found to significantly influence visual landscape evaluation and emotional perception, and further contributes to visitors’ overall temple experience. Visual landscape evaluation is found to partially mediate the relationship between soundscape evaluation and emotional perception, while emotional perception further mediates the relationship between soundscape evaluation and temple experience. A comparison across sensory dimensions suggests that soundscape evaluation exerts a relatively stronger influence on temple experience than visual landscape evaluation, highlighting the important role of auditory experience in religious and cultural environments. The study also identifies a synergistic interaction between auditory and visual evaluation, indicating that multisensory integration can enhance the overall experiential quality of Taoist temples. Overall, this research provides empirical insights into the role of soundscapes in religious spaces and offers practical implications for the design, management, and optimization of multisensory environments in Taoist temples. Full article

Mount Lu’s transformation from a natural landscape into a Buddhist sacred space provides an important case for understanding how sacred geography was produced in medieval China. Rather than treating sacredness as an inherent quality of a place or as the product of textual representation alone, this article argues that Mount Lu was sacralized through the historical interaction of monastic practice, textual production, and cultural memory. Drawing on Henri Lefebvre’s theory of the production of space, the study examines how Huiyuan (334–416) and his community redefined Mount Lu through monastic settlement, ritual activity, institutional formation, and cultural authority centered on Donglin Temple. It further analyzes how historiographical writing, literary representation, and intertextual circulation extended the mountain’s religious significance beyond the monastic community and consolidated it within broader traditions of literati culture. In this process, Mount Lu became not only a Buddhist sacred site but also a durable site of memory onto which Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucian meanings could be projected and renegotiated. By tracing the interaction between embodied religious practice and textual transmission, this article shows that the sacralization of Mount Lu was neither a spontaneous religious phenomenon nor simply the result of state designation, but rather a cumulative historical achievement shaped by monastic initiative, literary circulation, and the long-term work of cultural remembrance. Full article

This article presents a newly excavated Iron Age IIA cult room from Tel Lachish (Sanctuary BBE4) and examines its significance for the study of the organization of religious practice, situating this case within the broader corpus of Iron Age I–IIA local sanctuaries in Judah and the southern Levant. The evidence suggests that early Iron Age ritual practice was organized primarily at the level of extended kin groups, materialized in modest intramural cult rooms embedded within residential neighborhoods. These spaces reflect decentralized forms of religious authority, contrasting with the temple-centered ritual systems of the Bronze Age and with the increasing centralization of cult and religious authority in later phases of the Iron Age. By situating the Lachish evidence within a broader diachronic and regional framework, the study explores changing relationships between household ritual practices, kin-based social organization, and the development of state-level religious institutions in early Judah. Full article

The Beiyue Temple in Quyang County, Hebei Province, served as the host temple for worshipping the Northern Peak Deity (Beiyue shen) from its establishment during the reign of Emperor Xuanwu (483–515) of Northern Wei until the reign of Emperor Shunzhi (1638–1661) of the Qing dynasty. The temple currently houses over 200 inscribed stone steles that predate the founding of the Republic of China in 1912. This study addresses how the sacrificial space inside the Beiyue Temple evolved and transformed. By examining historical and archaeological evidence—including archival documents, epigraphic texts, diagrams, and architectural remnants—and focusing on the ‘front altar, rear garden’, the ‘hall for presenting sacrificial offerings of the common people’, and the ‘overhanging eave’, it demonstrates that the temple’s ritual space developed a dual character shaped by both official and folk practices. This duality reflects the interaction between official and folk practices against the backdrop of ‘the downward diffusion of ritual norms’ (lizhi xiayi) from the Tang and Song dynasties onwards. The findings challenge the conventional view that there was no specific space for folk ritual worship inside state-sanctioned temples during the Northern Song dynasty. It also provides vital evidence for the historical development of the sacrificial hall (xiandian) and the layout of pavilion-style stages (wuting) immediately in front of the main hall in temples built during the Song and Jin dynasties. Full article

This paper investigates how hybrid temples are created and transformed into tourist attractions, focusing on Wat Phothikyan Phutthathum—a Thai–Chinese temple located in Kelantan, close to Malaysia’s border with Thailand. This study aims to understand how both the local Thai minority and Chinese majority contribute to temple hybridisation, examine the influence of such temples on community identity, and explore their growing importance as tourist attractions. It highlights the negotiation and cultural exchange that shape new heritage spaces for borderland communities. Using visual analysis and interviews, the research shows that, since there are no Chinese temples nearby, Chinese Buddhists and Taoists adapt Thai temples by incorporating their own rituals and art. This results in blended iconography and practices, guided by an open-minded Thai monk. Features like large Buddha statues, staircases featuring naga-dragon designs, and murals combining different traditions reveal this fusion. The temple’s unique artwork and spiritual environment attract visitors from Muslim-majority areas and various countries like Thailand, Taiwan, and Singapore. As tourism becomes central to the temple’s role, the local authorities emphasise its religious significance and multicultural symbolism, aligning with economic interests and daily interactions among minority groups. This study offers valuable empirical and theoretical perspectives on the blending of religious heritage sites in border regions. Full article

The Goddess Temple at Niuheliang, located in Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province, is the earliest known temple excavated in China, offering profound insights into Neolithic religious architecture. Built during the Neolithic era, this sacred site reflects a deliberate integration of geographical features and early spiritual beliefs. The temple demonstrates a mythologically inspired architectural landscape, shaped by the local terrain and animal symbolism. Its design principles are evident in three main aspects. First, the alignment of the temple along the central axis of Niuheliang Mountain and its bird-shaped architecture—resembling an eagle and an owl—may embody the belief in sacred birds as intermediaries between humans and deities. Second, the goddess head within the temple mirrors the contours of Bear-Headed Mountain (Xiongshoushan 熊首山), suggesting a deliberate visual alignment between the goddess image and the form of the mountain. Third, the bear-shaped clay sculpture inside the temple conceptually links to Bear-Headed Mountain, potentially reflecting a widespread belief in the Celestial Bear (Tianxiong 天熊). This fusion of topography and myth exemplifies a distinctive approach to constructing sacred space in early Chinese religious culture, where the natural environment was not merely a backdrop but an active medium for expressing cosmological ideas. The Niuheliang Goddess Temple thus stands as a purposefully created mythological world, revealing the ancestors’ complex and sophisticated engagement with the natural landscape and spiritual beliefs. Full article

The sacredness of religious architecture stems from embodied spatial perception and interactive effects. This study examines the Sakyamuni Pagoda of Fogong Temple in Shanxi Province and explores the generative mechanism of its sacred space through fieldwork, literature analysis, and textual semantic analysis. Findings reveal that the Sakyamuni Pagoda’s sacredness is not an inherent property but is constructed through bodily pilgrimage practices, following a path from sensory experience to cognitive assessment. On the one hand, the pagoda’s material spatial form, the spiritual symbolism of its mural religious images, and the embodied practices of presence collectively constitute a perceptual realm of sacredness. On the other hand, these experiences are deepened into enduring sacred memories and collective identity through cognitive assessment activities such as emotional responses and meaning interpretation. The study reveals the generative logic of sacredness—from perception to internalization—within the continuous interaction between “body and space”, providing theoretical reference for the spatial interpretation of religious architecture and heritage revitalization. Full article

Guan Yu (d. AD 220), better known by his posthumous title as Guan Gong or Lord Guan, was a prominent military general in the late Han dynasty (AD 206–220). For centuries, Lord Guan has been widely worshipped as both a god of war and a god of wealth throughout China. His worship is particularly prevalent in southern Shanxi, which is celebrated as his birthplace. This region features a notable array of temples dating from the late imperial period, many of which are specifically dedicated to his cult. As tangible heritage, Lord Guan temples represent a significant facet of Chinese architectural and religious history. Today, they continue to serve as religious spaces, where pilgrims and devotees come together to honour the deity through ritual practices and theatrical performances. These activities not only reinforce the community’s religious beliefs but also help to perpetuate the cultural and historical traditions associated with Lord Guan’s worship. Based on fieldwork conducted between 2023 and 2025, the study scrutinises the restoration, preservation and conservation challenges faced by these sacred spaces and structures, emphasising the ongoing tension and collaboration between grassroots religious practices and state-led restoration initiatives. Through this examination, the paper sheds light on the multifaceted nature of tangible and intangible heritage conservation and its implications for Lord Guan’s cult in contemporary society. Full article

There are many stories in the Hebrew Bible that depict prominent Jews in the epicentre of a foreign imperia, and biblical scholarship essentially classifies every such narrative as court tales in terms of genre. Notwithstanding nuances and sub-categorisations (e.g., court contest and court conflict, wisdom court legend, success story of the wise courtier), to have one catch-all genre designation is imprudent and amorphous. This paper argues, using Formkritik and Gattungskritik, for three subgenres whereby foreign royal stories may be distinguished. One type of tale involves a foreign king who is either sleepless (Dan 6, Esth 6) or dreams (Gen 41, Dan 2 and 4); in the former, a king intervenes favourably for Jews in distress, while in the latter, the king’s dreams are interpreted by a wise Jewish courtier. Another type of tale is the imperial banquet, where an intoxicated gentile king orders the death of a high official (Dan 5, Esth 1, 5/7); this is wrought by a woman who exploits the king’s wine-induced disposition to effect lethal action with disastrous repercussions for the kingdom. Still another type of tale is the court tale proper; these episodes, however, are restricted to the courtly etiquette and decorum of courtiers who sagaciously advise the king, alongside its tensions with monotheism (Dan 3; Esth 3). As a result of this preliminary investigation, the typical setting of the political centre of the foreign imperium in Hebrew Bible narratives comprises three subgenres: court tales, banquet tales, and bedchamber tales. Since genres are determined by the common story forms, each distinct genre is scientifically determined by corresponding distinct narrative structures, vocabulary, and outcomes. Thus, what is proposed is a more illuminating distinction to the wide array and nebulous conglomeration of biblical stories involving Jews in prominent spaces within the foreign king’s court. Furthermore, the implications of the contended three subgenres involve calcifying religious practices, which become vital expressions of Judaism in the Second Temple period. Full article

The prevailing challenges of fading characteristics and identity crises in historical and cultural districts of small and medium-sized cities have been identified. Traditional analytical methods have been found to be deficient in systematically capturing the unique forms and urban memory of these districts. The present study thus adopts the Shangcheng Historical and Cultural District of Huangling County as a case study, proposing a comprehensive analytical framework that integrates urban memory and multi-dimensional methods such as space syntax, grounded-theory-inspired coding, and urban image analysis. The district is subject to a systematic assessment of its spatial form, structural design, and the mechanisms by which urban memory is conveyed. The proposal sets out targeted renewal strategies for four aspects: paths, edges, nodes and landmarks, and districts. The research findings are as follows: (1) Paths with high integration and connection degrees simultaneously serve as both sacrificial axes and carriers of folk narratives. (2) Edges are composed of the city wall ruins, Loess Plateau landform, and street spaces. The fishbone-like street structure leads to significant differences in the connection degrees of main and secondary roads. (3) Nodes such as Guanyv Temple-Confucian Temple, the South Gate, and the North City Wall Ruins Square have high visual control, while the visual integration and visual control of the Qiaoshan Middle School and Gongsun Road historical nodes are relatively low, and their spatial accessibility is insufficient. (4) Based on the “memory–space” coupling relationship, the district is divided into the Academy Life Area, the Historical and Cultural Core Experience Area, and the Comprehensive Service Area, providing an effective path to alleviate the problem of functional homogenization. The present study proffers a novel perspective on the revitalization mechanisms of historical districts in small and medium-sized cities, encompassing both theoretical integration and practical strategy levels. It further contributes methodological inspirations and localized planning experiences for addressing the cultural disconnection and spatial inactivity problems of historical urban areas on a global scale. Full article

Historic religious cities are living examples of cultural landscapes where spiritual traditions, heritage, and visitor experiences combine to demonstrate a timeless experience. It is very challenging to achieve balance among the demands of mass pilgrimage, heritage preservation, and urbanization. Govardhan, India is a Hindu religious town with historical significance. Millions of pilgrims travel to Govardhan every year to perform parikrama and take a holy dip in kunds. The quality of the visitor experience, spatial coherence, and heritage conservation are all at risk due to increasing urbanization and tourism. The study intends to create a paradigm for the sustainable management of religious heritage towns by evaluating the factors involving visitor perception, historical significance, and spatial visibility, employing a combination of computational methods and cognitive assessments. The study employed space syntax tools (visibility graph analysis and isovist area analysis) to quantify spatial significance (SS) and identify patterns of openness, congestion, and visibility along the parikrama route of Govardhan. By examining pilgrims’ cognitive surveys for openness, orientation, congestion, and spiritual impression, a cognitive index (CI) and heritage importance scores (HIS) have been developed. The computed spatial significance (SS) has been correlated with cognitive index (CI) and heritage importance (HIS) scores to create an experiential priority index (EPI). The study employs a mixed-method approach that incorporates heritage significance scoring, cognitive surveys, and spatial analytics, including methods such as the isovist area analysis and visibility graph analysis. In order to assess how spatial arrangement and intangible perceptions together influence visitor experience, these statistics are further combined using a composite experiential priority index (EPI). The findings show a strong correlation between spiritual orientation, visual connectivity, and spatial openness; locations such as ‘punchari ka lota temple’ and ‘kusum sarovar’ are high-priority nodes. In accordance with United Nation Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (11, 9, 12, 4.7, and 8.9), this research proposes a heritage impact assessment (HIA) framework that provides workable solutions for ecological restoration, heritage-sensitive zoning, sustainable pilgrimage management, and enhanced tourism. Full article

Currently, there remains a lack of systematic quantitative analysis of the acoustic impact mechanism of ancestral temple theatres in relation to their core function of opera performance. This paper takes the Zhaomutang—a typical ancestral temple theatre in northeast Jiangxi—as an example, and comprehensively uses on-site mapping, impulse response testing, and ODEON three-dimensional sound field simulation to conduct acoustic sensitivity analysis on five key spatial elements of the theatre. The results show that the theatre has a hierarchical sound field pattern along its depth, characterized by “high in the front, low in the rear, stronger on the sides and weaker in the middle”. The front patio and the Xiangtang support the clarity of Gan opera dialogue and the fullness of singing through early lateral reflections and moderate reverberation (EDT of 0.8–1.1 s, C₈₀ of 3.2–6.1 dB). However, the rear patio and the Qintang show apparent loudness deficiency (G of −1.5–3.2 dB) and lack of spatial immersion (LF₈₀ below 0.23). The most effective optimization comes from the reconstruction of the geometric relationship between performers and audience: moving the performers forward and appropriately raising the stage and audience area floor can significantly shorten the rear area EDT and increase C₈₀ and G; in contrast, the improvement in sound quality brought about by adding a patio cover and raising the gables is minimal, and the changes in various parameters are generally less than 1 JND. Based on this, the “schedule priority—reversible intervention” acoustic maintenance strategy for living heritage is proposed, and it is suggested that reversible reflective components be set in the side corridor to specifically enhance the sense of immersion in the rear area sound field. The study constructs a quantitative correlation framework of space, materials, and sound field, providing methodological support and parameter basis for the acoustic assessment and protective utilization of ancestral temple theatres. Full article