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Boundary Stones as Ritual Evidence

Canonical entry drawn from a single source layer in 15_DAOIST_PRECEPTS_ISE_BOUNDARIES_v2_3.md.

Layer 1: Boundary Stones as Ritual Evidence

Section titled “Layer 1: Boundary Stones as Ritual Evidence”

Source file: 15_DAOIST_PRECEPTS_ISE_BOUNDARIES_v2_3.md

Japanese: 結界石 kekkai-ishi
Entry type: MATERIAL CULTURE OF TABOO

To reconstruct a taboo boundary, gather:

  • inscription;
  • date;
  • original position;
  • moved/current position;
  • associated uba-ishi or shibari-ishi;
  • route relationship;
  • local oral tradition.

Photographs of boundary stones are primary spatial evidence, not decorative illustrations.


This sweep shows that ordinary web-accessible institutional and scholarly sources remain productive, but several next-stage goals now require direct engagement with:

  • critical editions of Xiang’er precept lists;
  • complete Chuzhen jie / Longmen ordination manuals;
  • Engishiki/Jingiryō legal purity clauses;
  • Ise shrine ritual codes in Japanese;
  • individual Shugendō mountain manuals;
  • temple archives for current transmission details.

Those are not conceptual dead ends; they mark the shift from encyclopedic web research into primary-text philology and lineage-specific archival work.