Building a Sacred Mountain

Mount Wutai, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in northeastern China's Shanxi Province, transitioned from a Daoist sacred wild area to a prominent Buddhist pilgrimage site by the tenth century CE. Wei-Cheng Lin's study reveals that monastic architecture played a pivotal role in this transformation, more so than texts, icons, relics, or pilgrimages. Through an interdisciplinary approach, Lin demonstrates how the built environment at Mount Wutai facilitated divine encounters, integrating architectural structures with practices and discourses. This innovative perspective challenges traditional architectural scholarship by emphasizing the functional and symbolic significance of the physical space in shaping sacred sites.

Lin, W.-C. (2014). Building a Sacred Mountain. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780295805351