Kristofer Schipper (1934–2021) and Grotto Heavens: Daoist Ecology, Mountain Politics, and Local Identity

This article explores Schipper’s scholarly contributions to the study of dongtian fudi (grotto heavens and blessed lands) and specifically situates this project in its broader intellectual context and Schipper’s own research. While Schipper was not the first to open discussions on this topic, his research in this direction still offers profound insights, such as the coinage of the concept of “Daoist Ecology” and his views on mountain politics. This article argues that Schipper’s work on dongtian fudi is a response to the school of Deep Ecology and its critics, and also a result of critical reflection on the modern dichotomy between nature and culture. In Schipper’s enquiry of dongtian fudi, the “mountain” stands as the central concept: it is not only the essential component of Daoist sacred geography, but a holistic site in which nature and society are interwoven, endowed with both material and sacred significance. Through his analysis of the Daoist practice of abstinence from grain (duangu), Schipper reveals how mountains serve as spaces for retreat from agrarian society and state control, and how they embody “shatter zones” where the reach of centralized power is relatively attenuated. The article also further links Schipper’s project of Beijing as a Holy City to his study of dongtian fudi. For Schipper, the former affirms the universality of the locality (i.e., the unofficial China, the country of people), while the latter envisages the vision of rewriting China from plural localities. Taken together, these efforts point toward a theoretical framework that moves beyond conventional sociological paradigms, one that embraces a total worldly perspective, in which the livelihoods of local societies and their daily lives are truly appreciated as a totality that encompasses both nature and culture. Schipper’s works related to dongtian fudi, though they are rather concise, still significantly broaden the scope of Daoist studies and, moreover, provide novel insights into the complexity of Chinese religion and society.