The Politics of Place-Making in the Records of Buddhist Monasteries in Luoyang

Although the Luoyang qielan ji (Records of Buddhist Monasteries in Luoyang, ca. 547 CE) by the Northern Wei official Yang Xuanzhi has received much critical attention, existing studies have tended to treat space as mere settings or a given reality. This essay examines an ignored but central issue in the memoir, Yang’s preoccupation with the power and limitations of individuals’ engagements with Luoyang’s space, or place-making. His representations of Northern Wei residents’ place-making activities shed light on his nuanced perceptions of the intersection among place, power, and human agency. The analysis also enables us to better understand the political implications of Yang’s textual reconstruction of Luoyang and the innovative nature of his work.