Rituals, Territories and Powers in the Sino-Indian Margins

Taking Paul Mus’s idea of a “cadastral religion” as part of the socio-religious organisation of the “Asian base” further, we propose approaching rituals linked to the territorial prosperity of groups living on the margins of state power in the Chinese and Indian worlds in a comparative way. These ri...

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Pubblicato in:URI:https://journals.openedition.org/moussons,
Natura: Article ou chapitre numérique
Lingua:Anglais
Pubblicazione: Moussons 2012
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Accesso online:Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
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Riassunto:Taking Paul Mus’s idea of a “cadastral religion” as part of the socio-religious organisation of the “Asian base” further, we propose approaching rituals linked to the territorial prosperity of groups living on the margins of state power in the Chinese and Indian worlds in a comparative way. These rituals are organised around the recurring schema of a force of place, both natural and wild, which was pacified by a founding ancestor who, along with his descendants, became the sacrificers representing the entire community—a schema the details and variations of which we have analysed. By legitimising the occupation of a space by one group and promoting its fertility, these rituals are where many interlocking stakes are crystallised. These involve the sources of subsistence and the legitimacy to occupy a territory and also membership and power-play forms, both within the group and in its relations with its neighbours and the umbrella power centres.