Spatialization of Imperial Power: Spatial Reconstruction and Power Operation of Jinshan Temple during the Southern Inspection Tours of Emperor Kangxi

Abstract

The Kangxi Southern Inspection Tours strengthened the Qing Dynasty’s control over Jiangnan Buddhism, thereby promoting the standardization and officialization of Jiangnan temples and externalizing imperial power through images and physical space. Taking Jinshan Temple as an example, this study combines spatial analysis of architecture and image analysis used by art historians to examine the transformation between physical and pictorial spaces in Jinshan Temple, revealing the spatial operation of imperial power. The intervention of imperial power sparked the space reconstruction of Jinshan Temple through a process of “merger-occupation-infiltration-adjustment”. Thus, the control measures of Kangxi are revealed, including the emphasis on the geographical significance of the temple, space occupation of royal buildings, change in landscape, and the adaptation of monks by adjusting their imagination of the sacred space. By determining the spatial reconstruction, we observe that the spatial strategy of power reflects Kangxi’s religious attitude toward Buddhism of “neither promoting nor suppressing, but treating it reasonably” 朕惟置之焉能有無之間, which may enrich our understanding of the influence of Kangxi’s Southern Inspection Tours on Jiangnan’s religious space.