Persistence of Everyday Sacred Landscapes
Shrines, Village Temples, and Hillside Cemetery in Shenzhen
D. Tan (TU Delft - Spatial Planning and Strategy)
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Abstract
This study analyzes the persistence of everyday sacred landscapes in the Chinese megacity of Shenzhen. It is inspired by Lefebvre’s notion of bodies in relation to space, material religion, and Chinese popular religion concerning reciprocal interactions of bodies and souls. Through a detailed examination of shrines, village temples, and a hillside cemetery using architectural ethnographic mapping and qualitative methods, the case study of Pingshan village demonstrates that various sacred spatial practices persist and actively intersect with modern interventions and urban regulations, woven into everyday life. The process of production and reproduction of sacred landscapes reveals their dual nature as both enduring and temporary, challenging the static notions of space. In conclusion, this study suggests that recognizing the intersubjectivities among human, natural, and spiritual elements allows the sacred to function as a spatial figure of landscape infrastructure, one that possesses the structuring power to reconfigure urban settlements toward inclusivity.
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