Caijiu monastery and the spatial logic of mountain monasticism in Kham

This study examines Caijiu Monastery, a Kagyu Buddhist monastery in Kham, to investigate how sacred space is organized on steep mountain terrain shaped by religious and political history. Scholarship on Tibetan Buddhist architecture has focused on major complexes in central Tibet and Amdo, leaving Kham’s mountain monasteries comparatively underexplored. Drawing on drone mapping, measured architectural survey, and field observation conducted from July to September 2023, the paper analyzes Caijiu at three scales: settlement morphology, architectural section, and material construction. The findings show that topographic constraints generate a distinct spatial logic rather than merely distorting an ideal monastic plan. At the settlement scale, sacred coherence and institutional presence emerge through ritual nodes, a graduated approach, and circumambulatory routes. At the building scale, vertical stacking and differentiated access organize communal ritual, restricted use, residential occupation, and proximity to religious authority. At the material scale, earthen walls, timber structures, color, and parapet details respond to climate and local resources while making differences in ritual importance, institutional prominence, and potential patronage-related investment visible. The paper argues that Caijiu reworked Buddhist spatial order through the combined operation of topological deformation, sectional sacredness, and the institutional spatialization of authority.