Sacred Places in China

The book is organized around a sequence of sacred sites and religious landscapes in China, beginning with early Buddhism in Hwang Mei and its monasteries connected with the Fourth and Fifth Patriarchs, then moving to Ngn Ren Tsz, where temple legends, ritual structures, images, bells, and monastic assemblies reveal the devotional and institutional dimensions of local Buddhism. The discussion of Kiu Hua Shan presents the Nine-Lotus-Flower Mountain as a major pilgrimage environment shaped by sacred peaks, unusual plants, legends, and temple culture, while the section on Poot’oo introduces China’s sacred island as another important center of Buddhist devotion. The White Deer Grotto University expands the scope from Buddhism to Confucian learning and cultural memory, Lien Hsi Mu examines a site associated with elite commemoration and local reverence, and Lung Hu Shan highlights Taoist sacred geography through the Dragon-Tiger Mountain. Taken as a whole, the work presents Chinese sacred places as living intersections of mountain worship, pilgrimage, monastic institutions, miracle stories, local memory, Buddhist devotion, Taoist authority, and Confucian heritage.