Collusion order: water god beliefs and regional society on the Jianghan Plain during the Ming-Qing era

Abstract

ABSTRACT During the Ming-Qing era, people of the Jianghan Plain 江漢平原 in central China worshipped a diversity of water gods. However, the water gods of the Jianghan Plain and their temples have been insufficiently studied in the past. In this article, we categorize the water gods and describe the geographical distribution of their temples. The water gods are arranged in a four-level categorization, within which the ‘Person-to-Gods’ category is the most common type. The wide and uneven distribution of water god temples on the Jianghan Plain was more affected by floods than droughts, and trade along waterways explained why some temples were located near commercial towns. Although the water god worship was a specialized faith, it established an alternative authority. The potential conflicts between faith and imperial authority were solved by ‘collusion’ 共謀 (used in a neutral sense), a special way of ancient Chinese governance. The ‘collusion’ required tripartite cooperation of the imperial court, local officials and local people. The implementation of the ‘collusion’ promoted the integration of faith and administration and strengthened the cooperation and competition of the local societies.