Aspects of the Cultural Functioning of Geographical Objects in Eastern Civilizations[Аспекты Культурного Функционирования Географических Объектов В Традиционных Цивилизациях Востока]

In this working paper, compiled on the basis of the research results of the staff of Oriental Studies Laboratory of SASH (School of Advanced Studies in the Humanities) for 2016, two cases are considered, one way or another related to the functioning of the geographical space as a culture-forming factor. The first of the investigated situations is the question of the status of the so-called. "Northern Peak" in Quyang - is associated with the use of so-called. "Sacred geography" as an argument for political struggle, when the specific use of certain geographical points in the sacred and religious purposes of certain geographical points has a pronounced political significance and is considered by the opposing sides as a conscious adherence or, conversely, a conscious violation of the natural order of things. Based on the study of the history of the functioning of the Northern Peak and the analysis of sources associated with it (primarily the polemical treatises of the outstanding philologist and political opposition of the 17th century, Gu Yan), it is shown how great the significance of the "geographical factor" in the cultural and political life of such a civilization , Like the Chinese. The second case is the use of the geography of space already at an individual level, as a kind of system of space-time coordinates that determine the stages of a person's spiritual life; This technique is more characteristic for near-than to the Far Eastern civilization, and is investigated within the framework of this preprint on the basis of the classical Sufi monument "Remembrance of Friends of God." It is shown that for the Middle Eastern civilization (at least in its Iranian "derivation") geographical markers function simultaneously as chronological, reflecting the different stages of the life path, the formation and development of the hero. A comparative analysis of both "cases" shows that for Chinese civilization, geographical markers primarily have the function of retaining stability and the immutability of society, while for the Muslim-Iranian civilization they are more connected with the idea of ??internal spiritual development at the personal level.