This map includes sites that we have visited and studied. Our project is still ongoing, and more sites or more information on each site will be uploaded as the research progresses.

By ‘Sites’we mean several kinds of spaces that are, or have been, built and used by religious groups; these include traditional temples, schools opened by or for religious personnel, libraries, or even bridges and natural landscapes.

The term ‘hybrid/spirit writing altar’ refers to a site that does not clearly belong to any specific religious tradition, and may encompass elements of Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism at the same time. These sites historically also have a connection to spirit writing practices, but the ones studied here are not now functioning as spirit writing altars.

The term ‘guildhall/huiguan’ [會館] indicates a temple built by a migrant community and devoted to a specific divinity related to the place of origin of that community. Guildhalls today are often no longer religious spaces, but retain religious elements.

The term ‘Buddhism’ refers to sites that may belong strictly to either Han Buddhism or Tibetan Buddhism, or sites that practice a joint Sino-Tibetan cultivation.

The sites labelled as ‘Buddhism-education sites’ are institutes and structures of learning that were opened, mostly within temples,for the education of the Sangha or the laity.

This map is developed and maintained by Yuwei Zhou.