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Article

Spatiotemporal Reconstruction of Water Deities Beliefs in the Pearl River Delta Applying Historical GIS

by
Yuqing Liu
* and
Yuanlin Wang
School of Humanities, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Religions 2022, 13(11), 1040; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13111040
Submission received: 28 September 2022 / Revised: 25 October 2022 / Accepted: 26 October 2022 / Published: 1 November 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital and Spatial Studies of Religions)
Browse Figures
Versions Notes

Abstract

:
The Pearl River Delta (PRD) is one of the most typical regions in China, where people commonly believe in Nanhaishen 南海神 (the South Sea God), Tianfei 天妃 (the Heavenly Concubine), Beidi 北帝 (the Northern Emperor) and other Water Deities. This paper investigates 40 local chronicles from 9 counties in the region. It has digitized, quantified, and analyzed the temple records of the Water Deities and used the Geographic Information System (GIS) to reconstruct the spatiotemporal evolution of the local beliefs. The results show the consistency and difference in the spatiotemporal evolution of the local beliefs of Water Deities. The consistency reflects that their original centers were all around the city of Canton and its west, namely Foshan 佛山 and Jiujiang 九江, which were in the jurisdiction of Nanhai County 南海縣, showing a similar tendency to move from the center to the periphery. The difference in the evolution is that they had apiece characteristics in distribution patterns and transmission paths. The blossoming, propagation, and consolidation of the beliefs were influenced by multi-factors such as defending against flood disasters, transportation and commercial development, the integration of national sacrifices and folk beliefs, and the connection of the beliefs with regional security. Overall, Water Deities’ status in people’s minds continued to deepen, and their supernatural powers were perceived as increasingly outstanding. It reflects people of the traditional regional society and their spiritual orientation to the material world, which was affected by institutional and non-institutional factors.

1. Introduction

The Pearl River Delta (PRD) is located at the estuary of the Pearl River and is characterized by a dense water network connecting the river and the sea (Zeng 1991), in which its social and economic development and cultural beliefs formation are highly relevant to the water environment (Zeng 1994; Situ 2001). Among estuary deltas in China, the PRD has the most representative popular religion of Water Deities represented by Nanhaishen, Tianfei, and Beidi (Figure 1).
Previous studies on popular religion are abundant (Feuchtwang 2001; Huang 2012; etc.) and have generally shown the significant role of national sacrifice, which reflected people’s understanding of heaven, land, ghosts, and gods, and the positions of imperial power in different times, in constructing the Chinese belief system (Lei 2009). While the joint influence of political, economic, and cultural changes, traditional Chinese society laid a foundation for forming popular belief by building temples and establishing religious manners, which reflect the relationship between people and deities (Wang 2010; Jia 2021). At the same time, the process of reinforcing relations between peoples and beliefs provides an affluent perspective for studying historical writing, auspices, disasters, and political structures (Chen 2004; Yu 2012). The development of folk beliefs reached its peak in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and they continued to thrive and evolve during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In this period, the relatively loose political control allowed people to enjoy more freedom in their daily life, which was an important context of the unprecedented development and spread of folk beliefs (Zhao 2002).
The studies about the Water Deities in the PRD have presented the development and evolution of Water Deities beliefs from different perspectives, and most of them have mainly focused on the beliefs in Nanhaishen (Wang 2002, 2006, 2021; Qiao 2015; etc.), Tianfei (Chen 1994, vol. 5, p. 113; Liao 2000; Li 2012; Tan 2013; Liu 2019; etc.) and Beidi (Liu 1994, pp. 107–25; Xiao 2016; Luo 2017; etc.), and explored the relationship between religion manners and regional society (S. Zhou 2009; Cai 2003; Cai 2019; etc.). These studies have revealed that since the Ming dynasty, the religious believers, regional sacrifice, and the state rituals moved toward integration and helped form a unique clan society, which was closely connected with the folk power pattern of the regional society (Zhu 2008, vol. 2, p. 45; Faure 2016). These features were clearly shown in the surrounding areas, such as Western and Eastern Guangdong (Chen 2001, vol. 1, p. 123; He 2011).
Existing investigations and discussions of regional Water Deities beliefs have mainly focused on the development of the beliefs themselves or from perspectives of sociology and folklore. Methodologically, they have generated an understanding of the development of folk beliefs through primarily literature analysis. Few quantitative studies have constructed the development process of the deities from the perspective of spatiotemporal evolution and explored the interactions between the internal driving mechanisms and the multiple factors in traditional society; these interactions made evolution possible. With the popularization of the ‘digital humanities’ approach and the value of interdisciplinary perspective using a quantitative method in researching history being recognized, Geography Information System (GIS) and other computational tools have been applied to deepen current investigation and understanding of traditional society (Warf and Arias 2009). Regarding the studies of religious belief, some scholars have made theoretical and methodological summaries of spatial reconstruction (Knott 2005; Carroll 2018; Cantwell and Petersen 2021; etc.), and others have made beneficial attempts at visualizing the spatiotemporal pattern of religions in China (Hong and Jin 2017; etc.). These results show that the socio-geographic venation of religions can be presented in spatial criteria (Yang 2018). In this paper, we use GIS to construct the spatiotemporal evolution of Water Deities beliefs in the PRD, exploring its driving factors and then discussing multiple factors of the development of traditional regional societies.

2. Materials and Methods

The spatiotemporal distribution of the Water Deities’ temples reflects the spread and development of its beliefs. The methodology to look into the temples begins by extracting the records of the Nanhaishen, Tianfei, and Beidi temples and then comparing the records in 40 local chronicles compiled at different times, uniting with chorographic maps and gazetteer indexes at the same time. The purpose is to come up with a statistic of the length of time and location that temples existed (The local chronicles used for statistics are shown in Appendix A Table A1, and the historical maps are annotated in Note 3). It will yield the basic data for visual reconstruction in GIS.

2.1. Numbers

The titles that the people commonly used to call Water Deities at different times determined the names of the temples. Thus, by looking into the names of the temples, one can determine the types of Water Deities. For instance, temples dedicated to Nanhaishen are often titled Hongsheng 洪聖 and Guangli 廣利 (Ruan 2002, vol. 205, pp. 411–13); temples dedicated to Tianfei are often titled Mazu 媽祖/Puji 普濟/Shunji 順濟/Fuyou 福祐, and Tianhou 天后 (Rui 1966, vol. 67, p. 143); temples dedicated to Beidi are often titled Xuanwu 玄武/Zhenwu 真武 and Shangdi 上帝. In addition, some temples that worship a major god, as well as many other gods, are also within the statistical range (Liang 1967, vol. 5, p. 102).
According to the above principle, we have located records of 344 Water Deities’ temples in local chronicles compiled at different times and regions. We pay particular attention to information about each temple, including their designation, the type of Water Deities worshiped within, their location in the past and present, the times of building and rebuilding, and the builder’s identity. These are to be used to construct the basic GIS database for spatiotemporal reconstruction.
The statistical results show that there are 80 temples dedicated to Nanhaishen, 152 to Tianfei, and 112 to Beidi in the PRD. Nanhai County has the most significant number of Water Deities’ temples, with 51, 68, and 81, respectively, of Nanhaishen, Tianfei, and Beidi. In comparison, the distribution of Water Deities in other counties is inconsistent. Although these statistics do not fully reflect the belief space of these water deities, with the existing materials, it also represents the basic appearance of their distribution in the region to a certain extent (Table 1).

2.2. Time

Two methods can determine the period of temples that existed. According to Panyu Xianzhi 番禺縣誌 (Chorography of Panyu County), the tradition of compiling local chronicles is that:
If in the situation that the historical buildings (i.e., temples, markets, docks, and schools, etc.) existed in the past but not today, or if the previous one was abandoned while a new one was built, the compilers would check the local chronicles of previous dynasties and verify the historical changes. If the buildings’ condition in the county’s annals and records of interviews are inconsistent with the present situation (when the chronicles were compiled), the present shall prevail. Yet, their previous condition records are also used as references for verification. 或昔有而今無, 或此廢而彼設, 稽之前志, 每與縣冊, 採訪冊不合今, 則據現在, 而前籍所載亦記於後, 以備考證云
(Li 2013, vol. 18, p. 205)
In other words, later records of the temples would be compared with the previous, including its new additions, repairs, relocations, and so on, in order to modify, supplement and explain the content of the new chronicles. By comparing the records, we could determine the approximate length of time of a temple’s existence. One example is the Shangdi 上帝 temple located at Funanmen 阜南門 of Shunde 順德. Both local chronicles of Kangxi 康熙 and Qianlong 乾隆 periods recorded that ‘villagers built it (the temple) in the 12th year of the Wanli reign of the Ming dynasty 明萬曆十二年邑民建’ (Huang 2013, vol. 2, p. 93; Chen 2009, vol. 6, p. 345), while chronicles in the Republican era 民國 supplemented that ‘it (the temple) was rebuilt in the year of Gengzi (1720) during Kangxi reign, the year of Dingyou (1777) during the Qianlong reign, the year of Bingwu (1846) during the Daoguang reign and the year of Xinhai (1911) during the Xuantong reign 國朝康熙庚子, 乾隆丁酉, 道光丙午, 宣統辛亥重修’ (Z. Zhou 2009, vol. 3, pp. 64–65). From the records, we could determine that the temple existed approximately from the year of Wanli in the late-Ming period to the Republican eras.
If the local chronicles of the past dynasties mention a temple’s condition but not the exact time when the temple was first built or rebuilt, the duration of the temple’s existence could still be determined by the time when the chronicles were compiled. One example is the Beidi temple located outside Taipingmen 太平門. The condition of the temple could only be found in the local chronicles of Qianlong and Daoguang reigns, and there are no relevant records can be found in other times (Deng 2015, vol. 12, p. 263; Wei 2009, vol. 13, p. 270); namely, it can be inferred that the temple might be established no later than Qianlong reign and was abandoned during Daoguang reign.
Based on the criteria mentioned above and actual statistics of the number of the temples and their existing time lengths, the development of Water Deities’ temples can be divided into four stages: before the Qing Dynasty (>1643), early Qing (1644–1722), mid-Qing (1723–1850), late Qing period, and early Republican era (1851–1920), and illustrates the changes of the development as can be seen in Figure 2.

2.3. Locations

The location names of the temples built more recently do not change much; thus, they could be recognized with their modern names. Some ancient temples, and the names of their location, have been through many changes historically; we thus need to investigate and verify them with surviving records. For instance, the Tianfei temple in Nanhai County was recorded ‘outside the Guidemen and east of the Wuyangyi 歸德門外五羊驛之東’ (Rui 1966, vol. 67, p. 143). Guidemen and Wuyangyi are names of places no longer used nowadays. According to Guangzhou Chengfang Zhi 廣州城坊志 (The Chorography of Street and Lane in Guangzhou), Guidemen’s location could be determined as at the intersection between Jiefang Road 解放路 and Dade Road 大德路 nowadays (Huang 1994, p. 755). In addition, historical maps and the Unity of the Great Qing Dynasty 大清一統志, recorded that Wuyangyi was located at Guandutou 官渡頭 in the southern of Panyu county (Mu 1986, vol. 341, p. 199). We can thus infer that the temple was possibly located on People’s Street 人民街道 of Yuexiu District 越秀區 in Guangzhou nowadays. In this way, the location of each temple has been examined and verified, which can be used as spatial data in GIS visual reconstruction.

3. Results of GIS Visual Reconstruction

3.1. Spatiotemporal Evolution of Nanhaishen Belief

The Nanhaishen Temple is considered to be the best-preserved one among the Four Seas Temples 四海神廟 in China. It is an important historical site in the research of the Maritime Silk Road 絲綢之路. It played the role of safeguarding maritime traffic and expression of national jurisdiction (Wang 2021). Figure 3a reveals that there was not a large number of Nanhaishen temples that existed before the Qing Dynasty, with only 14 recorded sites (Figure 2), which were concentrated on riparian of the Pearl River. The most famous one is located at the estuary of Fuxu, 40 km southeast of Canton2, which is at the bay of Huangmu beside the Polo River (Wang 2015, vol. 13, p. 492). The temple was set up in the Kaihuang (開皇) reign in the Sui (隋) Dynasty (ca. 581–600 AD) and has been through renovations and expansions, which were recorded in the chronicles of subsequent dynasties. In the Song (宋), Yuan (元), and Ming (明) Dynasties, the distribution of Nanhaishen temples was extended westward, forming an east–west distribution pattern along the estuary of the Pearl River. Until the early Qing period, the spatial pattern of the temples remained stable, but their quantities increased continuously, and their development surrounded Canton and Nanhai Counties (Figure 3b).
After the mid-Qing period, the spatial pattern of Nanhaishen temples began to change. On the one hand, the temples’ spatial coverage continuously expanded along with the increase in numbers. On the other hand, the sacrificial center began to shift. At this stage, most of the new temples were built in Nanhai County, southwest of Canton, as Panyuxian Xuzhi 番禺縣續志 (Continuation Chorography of Panyu County) described that the temples that were distributed from Polo to outside approaching all suburban markets and villages were sumptuous (Liang 1967, vol. 5, pp. 101–2). According to statistics, there were 22 Nanhaishen temples set up during this period, including 15 in Nanhai County, and in particular, they were built primarily centering Wudoukousi 五鬥口司, Huangdingsi 黃鼎司, Jiangpusi 江浦司, and Shenansi 神安司. In addition, after Hong Kong was opened to foreign trade, more Nanhaishen temples were built (Figure 3c).
During the late Qing and early Republican eras, the new sacrificial center of Nanhaishen temples was formed. The core of the temples’ distribution was further moved southwest to Jiujiang 九江 area thereafter, a subdistrict under the jurisdiction of Nanhai County. Statistically, there were 31 new temples built, and one-third were located in Jiujiang (Figure 3d). The sacrificial centers, from the early Qing Dynasty to the late Qing and early Republican eras, were shifted from alongside the trunk of the Pearl River to its subordinate areas, namely from Canton to Jiujiang. Meanwhile, up until the Daoguang reign, there were few records of the construction of Nanhaishen temples in Hong Kong, but their numbers increased rapidly after Hong Kong became an open port. This also suggests the expansion of the sacrificial circle of Nanhaishen Belief, which the previously peripherical region, such as Hong Kong, developed into a sub-center.

3.2. Spatiotemporal Evolution of Tianfei Belief

Tianfei is the most important goddess in the folk religion of the coastal region of China (Jin 1988, vol. 2, p. 99), and Tianfei Belief is closely related to maritime navigation; as Li writes, ‘(the belief in) the goddess of the heavenly queen was always connected with the sea 天后之神與海相始終’ (Li 2013, pp. 1274–76). Before the Qing Dynasty, while the number of Tianfei temples in the PRD was only 31 (Figure 2), they were distributed widely. From the GIS, one can see that Tianfei temples were initially established in the estuarine zone of the PRD. This area has important regional geographical importance as the gateway of Pearl River to the sea. (Figure 4a). Up until the mid-Qing period, the spatial pattern of Tianfei temples did not change significantly. However, the number of temples increased to 62 (Figure 2), and the hierarchy of regional sacrificial centers began to show. The core area of the distribution of Tianfei temples surrounded Canton. The sub-centers of the distribution began to show in the regions of Xinhui 新會, Xiangshan 香山, Dongguan, and Zengcheng 增城 (Figure 4b). Then, the customs of worshiping Tianfei further spread to other regions, resulting in changing the previous multi-center feature of distribution to integration.
In comparison, the number of Tianfei temples in Hong Kong/Macau increased more pronouncedly, forming an independent core area of the development of Tianfei Belief. Relevant investigations show that there were eight major temples in Changzhou 長洲 of Hong Kong, including four dedicated to Tianfei; this indicates the importance of Tianfei Belief among the local people (Huang 1999, vol. 2, p. 43). In the mid-Qing period, the number of Tianfei temples reached its peak (maximum 95) (Figure 2), which was closely related to the rapid economic development and the popularity of building temples in the PRD (Figure 4c). During the late Qing and the early Republican eras, the number of Tianfei temples decreased gradually. However, the sacrificial centers of Tianfei began to connect to each other on the west bank of the Pearl River estuary. As a result, the core area of Tianfei Belief was formed in the ‘Canton-Foshan-Shunde’ region, and the sub-core area of the belief was formed surrounding Hong Kong, Macau, and Zengcheng (Figure 4d). Overall, the distribution of Tianfei Belief had obviously association with maritime trade and activities, and its spatiotemporal evolution features are that the distribution was wide and resulted in multiple core areas.

3.3. Spatiotemporal Evolution of Beidi Belief

Beidi belief was introduced to Lingnan 嶺南 region from Central Plain 中原 as early as in the Han 漢 Dynasty (Zou 2000, vol. 3, p. 51). During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, because of its divine power to command the southern seas 司命南溟, Beidi became a vital deity in folk belief in the PRD, where waterways and sea routes affected a large number of populations’ livelihood (Qu 1985, vol. 6, p. 208).
The distribution of Beidi temples is not as wide as the other two deities’ temples by looking at the spatiotemporal evolution, which has a single core area from which the belief was expanding outwardly. Before the Qing Dynasty, no more than 20 Beidi temples were distributed mainly around Canton as well as scattered in other counties (Figure 2). Lingying Ci 靈應祠 in Foshan was the oldest Beidi temple in the region, which was built in the Northern Song Dynasty during the Yuanfeng 元豐 reign (1078–1085). Since then, more Beidi temples have been built in surrounding areas; for instance, in Xujiang 胥江, Shenansi 神安司, and Xiangshan, there were temples built during the Southern Song Dynasty in the reign of Jiading 嘉定 (Ca.1224), Xianchun 鹹淳 (Ca.1274), and Qiandao 乾道 (Ca.1169), respectively (Su 2015, vol. 14, p. 138; Deng 2015, vol. 12, p. 269; Huang 1991, vol. 8, p. 413). The GIS shows that as early as the Song dynasty, the direction of propagation of Beidi Belief in the region was centered at the Beidi Ancestor Temple of Foshan and spread southward and northward, respectively (Figure 5a). During the early Qing period, the expansion of Beidi temples gradually connected in sheets. The number of them on the west bank of the Pearl River was far more than those on the east bank, mainly distributed in Nanhai, Panyu, and Shunde counties, and Canton and Foshan were still the core areas (Figure 5b).
In the mid-Qing period, the regional clusters of Beidi Belief became more prominent, especially in Nanhai County, where the newly added temples were far more than anywhere else. According to local chronicles, Beidi temples increased by 23 in Nanhai County at that stage. Meanwhile, the core area of Beidi Belief also expanded, particularly Jiujiang was incorporated into the core sacrificial region (Figure 5c). This spatial pattern continued to develop during the late Qing and the early Republican eras, when the number of Beidi temples increased to 82. Hence, temples dedicated to Beidi became more than the two other Water Deities. In sharp contrast, Tianfei temples began to decline in the late Qing and the early Republican eras. In contrast, the Beidi temples increased rapidly and surpassed, finally forming the core area of the belief surrounding Nanhai County (Figure 5d). Overall, it is clear that the propagation of Beidi Belief was always from a single core region from which the belief spread outwardly, which surrounded the Ancestor Temple and mainly spread alongside the river. Meanwhile, few Beidi temples were distributed along the coastal zone, which reflects that Beidi Belief has a lesser connection to maritime activities than the other two Water Deities.

3.4. Comparision of Spatial Features in Water Deities Temples

To sum up, by superimposing the spatial distribution densities of Nanhaishen, Tianfei, and Beidi (Figure 6) and comparing their spatial features, sacrificial centers, and propagation paths (Table 2), it can be concluded that their spatiotemporal evolution has both consistency and difference. The consistency shows that the temples of all three Water Deities were distributed around Canton and Nanhai counties (especially around Foshan and Jiujiang), which presents a spatial feature that the temples are distributed densely in the core areas while sparse in the periphery. The difference shows that even though both Nanhaishen and Beidi beliefs developed only a single core area as the sacrificial centers, which was Canton and Nanhai country, during the early Qing period and the late Qing and early Republican eras, the sacrificial center of Nanhaishen Belief shifted from Canton to Jiujiang gradually (Figure 3b–d). In comparison, the sacrificial center of Beidi Belief did not move away from the Ancestor Temple (Figure 5). Differently, the distribution of Tianfei Belief developed multiple core regions. Apart from sharing the sacrificial center around Canton and Nanhai County with the other two Deities, it also developed the sub-centers in surrounding counties and alongside coastal areas, which shows the characteristics of the multi-level pattern of the spread of the belief (Figure 4b–d). In terms of the propagation paths, all three were related to the water environment in the PRD. Nanhaishen and Beidi Beliefs were spread along the waterway, but the difference is that the former was spread from coast to inland, and the latter is vice verses. The distribution area of Tianfei is the most extensive, and it was distributed along the coastline in the early stage. In the later stage, it spread along the waterway from the inland to the coast as well as from coast to inland. The interaction between land and sea is obvious in the spread of Tianfei Belief. In addition, Figure 3, Figure 4 and Figure 5 show that there is a coupling relationship between the spreading range of three water deities and the advancing path of the coastline in the PRD. Specifically, Shatin (沙田) in the region has been effectively utilized with the gradual development of the newly silted land, constituting a spatial relationship interwoven with ecological, political, economic, social, and cultural factors (Liu 2011), which provides the environmental, demographic, and social basis for the development of popular religion in the coastal areas.

4. Discussion: Analysis of Influence Factors of the Spatiotemporal Distributions of the Three Water Deities’ Temples

4.1. Defending against Flood Disasters and Protecting Farmland

The PRD is located at the estuary on the brink of the South China Sea, and the climate is affected by subtropical monsoon, characterized by high temperatures and frequent rain for most of the year. Historically, the region suffered floods disaster, threatening local people. In this context, the Water Deities Beliefs thrived as they were considered to be able to control the floods.
The coastal residents often suffered floods, and many inscriptions recorded the appearance of the Water Deities in defending against floods, so they always attributed these disasters to the deities’ anger. In order to make the deities happy, they raised funds to build temples to pray for the deities’ blessing that graced their homelands from suffering (Pan 1986, pp. 172–73). Some floods with grave impacts on local society are often memorized in the temples’ inscriptions, such as the stele of the Tianfei temple in the north of Canton. It records two floods that occurred in the Qing Dynasty. One was in the 29th year of the Qianlong reign (1764), causing the overflowing of the land and washing away the temple that was located near the inlet of the river. Another one records that the flood was especially severe, and the front of the temple was turned into swamps in the 4th year of the Jiaqing 嘉慶 reign (1799). The records above reveal that there were temples destroyed by inundation because of the flood, which forced them to be relocated to a higher ground that was less affected by floods (Li 2013, pp. 1287–88).
Moreover, to minimize the impact of floods on temples, the site for building temples was usually selected by adapting local conditions, which would consider the characteristics of the natural environment. For instance, the foundation of a Beidi temple in Shunde was elevated to reduce the damage from floods (Z. Zhou 2009, vol. 3, p. 67). There are also materials that shows many Water Deities’ temples were built following the evolution of the construction of water conservancies to cope with the imbalance of regional distribution in water resources. One such temple is the Hongsheng Ancient Temple 洪聖古廟 in Panyu county, as can be read in a record that:
‘Our village terrain was high, which caused water and irrigation difficulties, resulting in poor harvest perennial; we often sighed about why farming was so tough. Through collective discussions, we decided to exploit a pond on the tax farmland (shuitian, 稅田) for water storage and drought …… After the completion of the project, people benefited from the water flowing continuously, which solved the problems of irrigation, guaranteeing the harvest and water access. In the years that followed, people benefited in many ways—proper wind and rain, good harvests, and peace and contentment—that was the grace of the deities! Hence, everyone was enthusiastic about expanding the temple, and the donors’ list was inscribed on the back of the inscription as proof of their contributions! 嗣見闔村田丘地高水少, 灌溉甚難, 年歲每多歉收, 耕耨長嗟費力. 集議將稅田挑塘一口, 積水備旱, …… 俾圳水源源流下, 蔭村前村後一派, 田畝藉獲收成, 使不致取水艱難. 佇見時和歲稔, 五穀豐登, 民安物阜, 共樂升平, 皆藉神恩之廣被焉. 合將捐助銀數創廟置業, 列後以垂不朽云’
(Unknown 2006, pp. 446–47)
The material adequately reflects the local people’s logic in their thinking and their rules of practice when trying to transform the natural environment. On the one hand, they actively sought to adapt to the local conditions by constructing artificial canals to transport water to secure irrigation, which shows their objective and scientific ways of transforming nature. On the other hand, they also tended to attribute the efficiency of the water conservancy project to divine power, though it was, in fact, due to the success of the engineering project. Hence, this perception strengthened the significance of mysterious power. It reflects the reverence of natural energy in their minds. Similar acts can also be found in the construction of Sangyuan Dyke 桑園圍 in Nanhai County. The project used the revenue of tidal land formed by fluvial outwash as funds for the maintenance of the dyke to prevent floods, and part of the funds also went into the worship of water deities, which formed a social operation system that integrated water conservancy and the beliefs (Gui 1974, vol. 6, pp. 749–50). To a large extent, this pattern became the local people’s psychological sustenance and behavior pattern to achieve harmony with nature.

4.2. The Factors of Transports and Commerces

In ancient times, water transport was the primary transportation method in the PRD region because of dense river networks. After the 22nd year of the Qianlong reign (1757), Canton became the only maritime port to carry out Sino-Western trades in China, and the importance of water transport in the region was further emphasized by booming maritime trades, which helped promote the spread of Water Deities Beliefs.
Water transport provided a channel for the spread of the beliefs. Maritime traffic in the South China Sea began in the Western Han Dynasty and flourished during the Tang and Song Dynasties. At the time, the maritime traffic started from Canton and reached as far as East Africa. Then, in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, maritime traffic arrived as far as Europe and America. The Nanhaishen temple in Panyu is located in the western part of the Pearl River estuary; here, the bay offers deep water anchorage and has been a famous trade port in the East since the Tang and Song Dynasties (Huang 2014, pp. 209–12). The critical channel of traditional Canton trade was taking the axis at the Pearl River estuary, entering the Huangpu 黃埔 port via Humen 虎門, and traveling west along the mainstream of the Pearl River to Canton, then arriving at various states and counties along the tributary (Van Dyke 2005). By looking at the spatial distribution of the three Water Deities’ temples in the PRD in the Qing Dynasty, one can easily see that they were primarily distributed along rivers, especially flourishing nearby commercial centers by rivers. For instance, the geography of Humen is that two mountains face each other, so the tides ebb and flow regularly, bringing about countless merchants and ships from different countries to pay tributes and exchange here night and day (Ruan 2002, vol. 146, pp. 253–54). Because of the importance of water transport in the PRD, one could easily understand why the spatial distribution of the Water Deities’ temples was clustered on the coast. As Dongguan Xianzhi 東莞縣誌 (Chorography of Dongguan County) recorded, there were no coastal counties, and towns had not yet built temples dedicated to Water Deities (Guo 2009, vol. 9, pp. 524–25). The space of the beliefs was extended as the trade became prosperous and expanded, while the merchants and their ships were regarded benefited from the power of the deities; thus, a mutually beneficial relationship was established (Wan and Wu 2014, p. 61).
Canton, Foshan and their surroundings were the commercial centers of the PRD in the Qing Dynasty. This area was known for ‘its pure and honest custom, studious scholars and academic atmosphere, hardworking farmers, skillful and sophisticated craftsmen in smelting, and merchants and vendors from all corners of the ‘world’ kept coming and gathering here to exchange 習俗淳厚, 士修學業, 農勤耕稼, 工擅爐冶之巧, 四遠商販恒輻輳焉’ (Deng 2015, vol. 12, pp. 271–72). One historical material allows us to glimpse the commercial activities near the Ancestor Temple of Foshan, which might be seen as evidence of the close connection between regional commercial development and the booming of Beidi belief.
‘Foshan was easy to reach as countryside roads in all directions were linked to there, and the upstream of Pearl River was on Foshan’s north, which was the terminus for mostly merchants from all corners. The number of the ships was countless; they were as many as ants and fishes docked along the river banks or paddled forward in the middle of the river, which was more than 80 feet wide. The extent of prosperity here was unmatched elsewhere, and the noise of rowing oars and vendors’ shutting spread outward as far as 4.5 li (1 li ≈ 500 m). Endless houses dotted the river banks alongside the river to the upstream, and the roads and paths were densely laid out horizontal and vertical. There were possibly thousands of houses or maybe more. A wide range of commodities piled up like mountains was displayed in the houses. No precious goods cannot be found here. The traffic was extremely heavy and was overwhelmed by the sea of people. There were possibly more than 100 thousand residents living here; though the area was packed with people, prosperous commercial activities were carried out without any issues. In the southwest of the town where was perceived as having the best geomancy, a Beidi temple was built, and people called it Lingying Temple 連鄉接畛, 沃衍四達, 漓鬱之所經於其北, 四方商賈之至粵者, 率以是為歸. 河面廣逾十尋, 而舸舶之停泊者, 鱗砌而蟻附. 中流行舟之道至不盈數武. 橈楫交擊, 爭沸喧騰, 聲越四, 五里, 有為郡會之所不及者. 沿岸而上, 屋宇森覆, 彌望莫極. 其中若縱若橫, 為衢為衍, 幾以千數. 閱層列, 百貨山積, 凡希靚之物, 會城所未備者, 無不取給於此. 往來驛絡, 駢踵摩肩, 廛肆居民, 楹逾十萬, 雖曲遂之狀無以過也. 其逼西一隅, 為地脈所由鐘. 有祠而顏曰: 靈應’ (Lang 1987, pp. 22–23).
The above material depicts the prosperity of commerce and water transport in Foshan of Nanhai County in the early Qing Dynasty, where one could find the diversity of commodities and the density of residential houses. The economic development was advanced, and the population was high in Foshan, also known as the gathering place of merchants and ships (Wu 2015, vol. 12, pp. 414–15). The Water Deities’ temples were densely distributed in the region, regardless of Nanhaishen, Tianfei, or Beidi, according to GIS visualization results (Figure 6).
Indeed, convenient transportation promoted prosperous trade and brought more people and capital. It provided an essential impetus for propagating the Water Deities Beliefs and contributed to more temples. Many records confirm this point. One records shows that just outside a Tianfei temple in Nanhai County, a ferry was built close to an ancient pine tree. (Zheng 1967, vol. 5, p. 120). Another record tells the Tianhou Gong 天后宮 in Panyu that many rivers converge in front of the temple and then flow into the sea (Liang 1967, vol. 5, p. 102). As Shunde Xianzhi 順德縣誌 (Chorography of Shunde County) recorded, during the Kangxin reign, there were 11 temples of Tianfei, including eight were built alongside the rivers in county Shunde (Huang 2013, vol. 2, p. 93).
In addition, maps in the Qing Dynasty also indicated that the Water Deities’ temples were built mainly nearby the river. Here, we offer two examples (Figure 7). The map on the left illustrates Qianshan Zai 前山寨, a fortress town located at the intersection of Xianshang and Macau. One could find that a Tianfei temple was located on the edge of a river outside the southeast corner of the town (Yin 1968, vol. 1, pp. 4–5). The map on the right shows Huangpu Port 黃埔港 on the Pearl River. One could see that the Hongsheng Temple, Beidi Temple and Mazu Attic were built adjoint facing the river and close to a dock (Liang 2002, vol. 5, p. 67). The maps are generally consistent with the description ‘looking far into the distance, the waves endless 俯瞰溟渤, 波濤萬里’ in the written records (Ren 2009, vol. 19, pp. 450–51).

4.3. The Integration of Official Rites and Folk Beliefs

The transformation of builders’ identities directly reflects the process of integrating official rites and folk beliefs in the Water Deities. This study has shown the degree of participation of officials and folks in these activities. As Table 3 revealed, during the mid-to-late Qing era, folk participation was prominent in constructing the temples. In fact, until the mid-Qing period, the officials still led most construction and repair of the temples. For instance, the earliest Nanhaishen temple was built under the official inspector in the Sui Dynasty. Until Emperor Kangxi granted the horizontal inscribed board ‘Wanli Bocheng’ 萬里波澄 (which means that there are only clear and calm waves on the waterway for thousands of miles) (Cui 2017, vol. 6, pp. 186–87), it still had the strongly official feature. After the Qianlong reign, with the increase in the number of Nanhaishen temples, each village began to sacrifice separately to the deity (Wang 2015, vol. 14, p. 248). Building temples together by local gentries and villagers became increasingly popular (Deng 2015, vol. 12, p. 270).
From the above table, one can also see a similarity in the identities of the builders of the Nanhaishen and Tianfei temples, which reflects the cooperation of official and folk sacrifices to the deities. For instance, the Tianfei temple in Shunde, initially, was donated and built by Zhixian 知縣 (county magistrate) named Ou Xuecheng 歐學程, Tongpan 通判 (vice governor) named Ou Weizheng 歐偉政, Zhizhou 知州 (state official) named Ou Daxun 歐逹勲 and his son (Wang 2015, vol. 13, p. 251). Local people also took part in the construction actively. As Nanhai Xianzhi 南海縣誌 (Chorography of Nanhai County) records, Chen Zhenxiang and Zhou Wen, who were iron merchants, raised more than five hundred golds to repair the temple, which the money was spent on convening the craftsmen, preparing materials, enlarging building areas and changing etiquette (in sacrifices) (Deng 2015, vol. 30, p. 588).
In the mid-Qing period, the construction and repair of the temples shifted from individual donations to collective financing, and one example is that the Tianhou temple in Xin’an Pingzhou 新安坪洲 was collectively donated by two villages, Dong and Xin. In the late Qing period, the construction and repair of temples were completed mainly by clans, such as the temple in Dongguan Zhongtang village 東莞中堂鎮. A record tells that 288 people participated in the building and financing of the temple, and among them, 272 had Wu 吳 as their surname (Wan and Wu 2014, p. 177).
In contrast, the construction and repair of the Beidi Ancestor Temple of Foshan were mainly led by local peoples, as a record said that the gentry Li Jingwen and other villagers repaired it (the temple), and later, some merchants joined to expand the temple during the Kangxi reign (Ruan 2002, vol. 145, p. 242). The process of expansion of Beidi belief also showed the elements of clans. Evidence can be found in an inscription of the stele of the repair of the Beidi temple. It says that all clansmen worshiped the Beidi temple in the north of the towns (Li 2013, pp. 436–37). The cooperation in the construction and repair of temples between the officials and the local people were also evident. One example is that in Shunde, a Beidi temple was built by town magistrate Ye Chuchun and other villagers (Z. Zhou 2009, vol. 3, pp. 64–65). Qu Danjun 屈大均, a scholar in the early Qing period, considered that in the PRD, Beidi had a dual identity, namely the local water deity and the northern deity. It reflects two dynamics: one is the obedience and recognition of the local society to the central imperial power, and the other is the integration and interaction between officials’ sacrifices to the deities and folks’ beliefs (Liu 1994, pp. 107–25).
In the late Qing and early Republican eras, the Water Deities infiltrated each other’s sphere of influence, and different deities were worshiped in the same temple, such as a temple in Changzhouxu 長洲墟 consecrated both Nanhaishen and Tianfei (Cai 2019, pp. 57–89). In this stage, the local communities interacted, to a deeper extent, with the beliefs of the Water Deities, which yielded a special function of the region: temples became public spaces where villagers would discuss politics and receive political tutelage. One example is the Tianfei temple, and according to a record, it was later added public facilities such as residences and dormitories for people gathering and discussing (Deng 2015, vol. 30, p. 588). The temple played an essential role in community governance as well as in promoting the development of popular religion and social development in the PRD.
In addition, the spatial evolution and quantitative changes of temples also reflect the integration of the Water Deities. Before the Qing Dynasty, the spatial evolution of the three Water Deities differed; their development was relatively isolated from each other at the time (Figure 3a, Figure 4a and Figure 5a). In the later stages, their development overlapped more extensively in terms of space, among which the highest overlapping areas were Nanhai, Panyu, and Shunde counties (Figure 3d, Figure 4d and Figure 5d). In terms of quantity, there was a large quantity gap between the three Water Deities in the early stages, in which the number of Tianfei temples was far more than the others, indicating that Tianfei Belief has occupied a heavier weight of popular religion in the region. While in the later stages, the proportion tended to be balanced, as the Tianfei temples decreased while the Nanhaishen and Beidi temples increased (Figure 2). It can be deduced that, in the process of the evolution of the three Water Deities Beliefs, the differences gradually narrowed while the congruence showed.

4.4. Safeguarding Local Security

South China pirates were a significant threat that affected the safety of water transport on the Pearl River estuary in the mid and late Qing periods. During the Jiaqing reign, the pirates were rampant in Zhejiang 浙江, Fujian 福建, and Guangdong provinces, where they controlled the navigation and trade along the coast of Guangdong, aggravating the crisis of imperial rule (Murry 1987) After the Opium War, the traditional Canton trade system declined rapidly as Hong Kong became an open port, exacerbating the uncertain factors of safety in water transport in the region. Many records show that praying to the Water Deities for their blessing on local safety became popular and influential in this context.
One typical case is that Zongdu Bailing 百齡, who was ordered to suppress pirates, built the Jinhai Temple 靖海神廟 (the temple of pacifying the sea), which was consecrated to Nanhaishen in the 15th year of the Jiaqing reign (1815). On the one hand, he made use of the pirates’ pious belief in the Water Deities to encourage them to surrender. On the other hand, temples were wantonly built and given to the Deities to reward their blessing after completing the suppression of pirates, further reinforcing people’s belief in the power of the deities. As the temple’s inscription in Guangdong Tongzhi 廣東通志 (General Chorography of Guangdong) recorded,
‘I (Bailing) have observed the Humen seaway and studied tactical defensive strategies to eliminate the pirates. I have prayed to the deities silently that if the sea could restore peace, I would build a temple here. Soon after, I suppressed the pirates who were active alongside central and eastern waterways; some of them were willing to surrender. Yesterday, my troops traced the pirates alongside the western waterway, and because the weather was clear and calm, my ships could reach Qiongnan (瓊南) quickly; therefore, two pirate leaders named Wu and Shi were captured. My troops sailed more than 200 km round trip within only 2 months, which was in debt to the help of the deities 虎門察看海道, 講求戰防, 曾徑默禱於神, 若得肅清洋面, 願於該處鼎建廟宇. 嗣奴才收撫中東兩路, 投誠人等並皆於此受降. 昨者大幫舟師𠞰捕西路之賊, 風帆順利, 波濤不驚, 得以迅達瓊南, 使烏, 石二等竄逃無及. 舟師往返四千餘里, 為期才兩月有餘, 海隅之民, 鹹稱神助’
(Ruan 2002, vol. 146, pp. 253–54)
Clearly, officials had pinned their hope on the Water Deities to solve the pirate problems, as well as to bless the weather conditions on the sea, whether sailing or during the battle. After the pirates surrendered, Nanhaishen has awarded the title ‘You Min Fu Hui 佑民溥惠’ by the imperial court and granted the horizontal inscribed board as ‘Fu You Huan Ying 福祐環瀛’ (Ruan 2002, vol. 146, pp. 253–54). The series of records highlight the significance of the Water Deities’ position in protecting local security, and the Jinghai temple was built to Bailing’s wishes. Similarly, Tianfei and Beidi also were perceived as being able to bless regional safety and good weather at sea. For instance, a record tells that in Xin’an county, located south of Humen, the local public security situations were improved because of a Tianfei temple in Chiwan (赤灣) since the pirates had been calmed down:
‘In past years, the rampant pirates threatened the people living alongside the coast; Zongdu Bailing and Dudu 都督 (Governor) Tong were ordered to exterminate them. At that time, his fleets were anchored at Chiwan with numerous ships and soldiers. They took off their hats and prayed to Tianhou, hoping the weather would be favorable when they fought the enemies. When on the battle days, the fleets landed on shore safely, and the soldiers fought the enemies effortlessly. No single soldier was dead or disabled, and no plague occur also. After this fight, while the army was stationed there for 3 years, all walks of life in the region enjoyed a great peaceful time 往歲盜賊披猖, 蔓延濱海, 郡邑制府百, 都督童秉鉞南來, 命師剿捕. 維時駐轄赤灣, 舟船成市, 車騎如流, 官弁稽首, 禱祀於後. 將事之日, 乘風克敵, 轉舵登陴, 士無傷殘, 民無瘴厲, 守禦三年, 皆各安如故’
(Shu 1974, vol. 24, pp. 608–10)
After the First Opium War, the door of China was forced to open to Western Imperialism, and more foreign ships arrived on the Pearl River. The region was gradually integrated into a Western-dominated modern world trade system, which resulted in a more complex social environment, as recorded that, ‘now, the social atmosphere was increasingly opening-up; even though dozens of coastal counties with vast territory and abundant resources were beneficial, harmfulness also fell on the merchants and civilians. Ordinary people had to live and work mixed with evil and unwelcomed people, which was why the coastal areas were unstable and insecure 今則風氣日開, 沿海數十郡縣, 地袤物博, 舶販往來, 大利大害, 叢芽其間, 外宄內奸, 蜮伏狙伺, 而海疆滋以多故’ (Ye 2006, pp. 381–82). Possibly associated with the local turmoil, especially since Hong Kong became an open port, the number of temples on the east bank of the Pearl River developed rapidly. A record provides evidence to this inference, which says that maritime security was increasingly severe …, (and therefore, everyone) particularly hoped that the deities would protect our people from harm (Ye 2006, pp. 381–82). It is thus safe to assume that the increasing number of temples resulted from the practical purpose of local people who sought spiritual sustenance, hoping the Water Deities would protect their security.
Overall, in the Qing Dynasty, the Water Deities in the PRD performed the role of protecting the local security and thus had strong social impacts; as the Yuxu 玉虛 temple inscription pointed out, the gods blessed merchants, and both fishermen and women appreciated their power and virtues (Pan 1986, p. 167). The increasing influence of Water Deities Beliefs among people and the popularity of the construction of Water Deities’ temples were particularly prominent in the local crises and changes, such as the pirates harassing the coastal areas and the reorientation of trade after the First Opium War, which brought about more quarrels and conflicts into the area (Li 2013, pp. 476–78). Meanwhile, because the social functions of the Water Deities played a vital role in the minds of the local people, they believed that ‘since the gods blessed us, we should express our gratitude to them; thus, officials and villagers jointly raised funds to build the temple on an auspicious day’ (Shu 1974, vol. 24, pp. 610–11). The temples’ construction received abundant financing because people believed that through ‘renovating temple in order to thank the deities’ blessing, everything would go well afterwards’ (Guo 2009, vol. 9, pp. 524–25). As a result, the Water Deities Beliefs cultures in the region were expanded, developed and further spread with the material guarantee.

5. Conclusions

A mentality of national governance concerning rites in imperial China was that:
‘Sacrificial rites and military affairs were two significant events for the state. The sacrificial ceremony would be inherited by future generations when it was magnificent and solemn, even though the ordinary sacrifices should show the state’s dignity. The gods and ghosts would enjoy the offerings when people expressed their sincerity during the sacrifice. The administrators adept at governing a county paid extreme attention to sacrificial rites 國之大事, 在祀與戎, 祀事孔明, 後世所忽, 誠使平時, 蠲飾其宇. 祀時展露其誠, 則鬼神其享之矣. 善政者, 其尚留意於斯’
(Jin 2015, vol. 27, p. 414)
Sacrificial rites are indispensable in national governance and social life. They are related to the people’s ideas of the power of deities and local knowledge of landscape transformation. These two consist of people’s sources of decision making. The natural environment of the PRD is characterized by an interchange between rivers and sea and a dense water network, which has fostered the Water Deities Beliefs, including Nanhaishen, Tianfei, and Beidi. This study carries out quantitative statistics and GIS visual reconstruction of the Water Deities’ temples in the region, mainly in the Qing Dynasty, and intuitively recoveries their spatiotemporal evolution process. It discusses the influence factors on the evolution and further outlines the social landscape interwoven by local people’s material life and their spiritual consciousness. Therefore, two conclusions are drawn.
First, the spatial distribution patterns of beliefs in Nanhaishen, Tianfei, and Beidi are relatively consistent. They initially centered around Canton and its west, namely Foshan and Jiujiang, which were in the jurisdiction of Nanhai County, showing a tendency to move from the center to the periphery (Figure 6). Meanwhile, the three Water Deities were worshiped in different manners, spatially and temporally (Table 2). Nanhaishen Belief was circulated from Canton to its neighboring counties. The sacrificial centers were at Canton in the early Qing period and gradually moved to Jiujiang in the late Qing and early Republican eras (Figure 3). Tianfei Belief was distributed in multiple core areas along the coast since its early introduction and then spread outwardly. In the late Qing and the early Republican eras, its sacrificial centers were Canton, Foshan, Shunde, Hong Kong, Macau, and Zengcheng were the sub-centers, which formed a hierarchical sacrificial circle (Figure 4). Furthermore, Beidi Belief was distributed within smaller regions than the other two deities, mainly around the Ancestor Temple of Foshan at the early stage. By the early 20th century, its sacrificial centers were developed along the Pearl River, the Xijiang River, and the Beijiang River (Figure 5).
Second, the spatiotemporal evolution of the beliefs of Nanhaishen, Tianfei, and Beidi was influenced by multiple factors. Firstly, frequent floods disasters urged the people to rely on the protection of the Water Deities on the spiritual level. The water conservancy was often accompanied by building temple, which formed unique regulations and cultures in the water conservancy society. These regulations and cultures represent that people could adapt to local conditions to transform nature while attributing their success to divine blessings. It thus strengthened the physical image and spiritual orientation of the Water Deities, who could perform blessings related to natural phenomena. Next, traffic and trade became the significant driving force for the development of beliefs in Water Deities because water transport served as the channel for spreading belief. The development of commercial centers in the PRD was highly consistent in terms of space with the development of the sacrificial centers of the Water Deities. The beliefs in Nanhaishen and Tianfei were primordially spread by trade routes, and the spread interacted with the waterways and ports. Beidi Belief was spread from the core area of the belief surrounding the Ancestor Temple to the periphery areas. In the process, the development of commerce in the PRD ensures the material supports for the beliefs’ expansion.
Moreover, the interaction between official rites and folk beliefs promoted the integration of different Water Deities’ cultures. Since the Qing Dynasty, as revealed in many records, the folk nature of Water Deities’ temples was enhanced with increasing enthusiasm of folk participation in the temples’ building. As a result, the number of temples rose, and the Water Deities’ functions were integrated, strengthening the status of the Water Deities as the local divine protectors. Furthermore, the Water Deities played a role in protecting local security, and their ‘power’ was more prominent in social crises such as the disturbance of pirates and social and economic instability after the Opium War caused by the gradual collapse of traditional commerce; hence, more temples were built, and the beliefs were further spread. In a word, the distribution space of Water Deities Beliefs in the PRD was jointly influenced by institution, economy, transportation, environment, and other factors. The status of Nanhaishen, Tianfei, and Beidi became more prominent in people’s minds, and their supernatural powers were regarded more and more efficiently.
In this paper, local chronicles, historical maps, and GIS technology are comprehensively utilized to visually reconstruct the Water Deities Beliefs in the PRD, which provides a space-time narrative scheme for the historical study of religions. Compared with traditional methods studies that focus more on the evolution of the deities themselves, religious rituals, and other paradigms, such as from the perspectives of sociology and folklore, it highlights the interactive relationship between geographical environment and social development. Although the digital and spatial research scheme is weak in examining the micro-level evolution of specific temples or single events, it depicts the overall process from the macro-spatial and temporal narrative perspective. In this visual reconstruction of spatial and temporal, people’s spiritual orientation in Water Deities Beliefs, both influenced by institutional and non-institutional, can be intuitively demonstrated.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Investigation, Visualization, Writing—original draft, Y.L.; Supervision, Y.W. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research received no external funding.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

Not applicable.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Appendix A

Table
Table A1. The documents of the local chorography in the PRD.
Table A1. The documents of the local chorography in the PRD.
Order NumberTitle of DocumentsPublication YearEditionsOriginal Titles in ChineseOrder NumberTitle of DocumentsPublication YearEditionsOriginal Titles in Chinese
1Chorography of Guangdong Province1689(Jin 2015)(康熙) 廣東通志21Chorography of Xiangshan County1750IL. 1(乾隆) 香山縣誌
2Chorography of Guangdong Province1731IL. 1(雍正) 廣東通志22Chorography of Xiangshan County1828IL. 1(道光) 香山縣誌
3Chorography of Guangdong Province1822(Ruan 2002)(道光) 廣東通志23Chorography of Xiangshan County1879IL. 4(光緒) 香山縣誌
4New Chorography of Guangzhou PrefectureCa. Mid-17th century(Wang 2015)(康熙) 新修廣州府志24Continuation Chorography of Xiangshan County1923IL. 4(民國) 香山縣誌續編
5New Chorography of Guangzhou Prefecture1759IL. 1(乾隆) 廣州府志25Chorography of Xinhui County1690IL. 2(康熙) 新會縣誌
6New Chorography of Guangzhou Prefecture1879(Rui 1966)(光緒) 廣州府志26Chorography of Xinhui County1741IL. 1(乾隆) 新會縣誌
7Chorography of Nanhai County1691IL. 2(康熙) 南海縣誌27Chorography of Xinhui County1841IL. 4(道光) 新會縣誌
8Chorography of Nanhai County1741(Wei 2009)(乾隆) 南海縣誌28Continuatiion Chorography of Xinhui County1870IL. 4(同治) 新會縣續志
9Chorography of Nanhai County1835(Deng 2015)(道光) 南海縣誌29Chorography of Dongguan County1689(Guo 2009)(康熙) 東莞縣誌
10Chorography of Nanhai County1872(Zheng 1967)(同治) 南海縣誌30Chorography of Dongguan County1732IL. 1(雍正) 東莞縣誌
11Chorography of Nanhai County1911(Gui 1974)(宣統) 南海縣誌31Chorography of Dongguan County1798IL. 1(嘉慶) 東莞縣誌
12Chorography of Panyu County1774(Ren 2009)(乾隆) 番禺縣誌32Chorography of Dongguan County1927IL. 4(民國) 東莞縣誌
13Chorography of Panyu County1871(Li 2013)(同治) 番禺縣誌33Chorography of Xinan County1688IL. 1(康熙) 新安縣誌
14Continuation Chorography of Panyu County1931(Liang 1967)(民國) 番禺縣續志34Chorography of Xinan County1819(Shu 1974)(嘉慶)新安縣誌
15Chorography of Shunde County (13 year)1674(Huang 2013)(康熙) 順德縣誌 (十三年)35Chorography of Zengcheng County1673IL. 4(康熙) 增城縣誌
16Chorography of Shunde County (26 year)1687IL. 3(康熙) 順德縣誌 (二十六年)36Chorography of Zengcheng County1754IL. 1(乾隆) 增城縣誌
17Chorography of Shunde County1750(Chen 2009)(乾隆) 順德縣誌37Chorography of Zengcheng County1921IL. 4(民國) 增城縣誌
18Chorography of Shunde County1856IL. 3(咸豐) 順德縣誌38Chorography of Hua County1687IL. 1(康熙) 花縣誌
19Chorography of Shunde County1929(Z. Zhou 2009)(民國) 順德縣誌39Rural Chorography of Hua CountyCa. Late 19th centuryIL. 5(光緒) 花縣鄉土志
20Chorography of Xiangshan County1673IL. 1(康熙) 香山縣誌40Chorography of Hua County1924IL. 3(民國) 花縣誌
Illustrate: The local chronicles used to count the number of water deities’ temples in the table above are partly mentioned in the main text, and their editions information is directly marked with reference numbers. Those not mentioned in the text are noted here: 1. Order numbers 1/5/20/21/22/26/30/31/33/36/38 are collected in “Chen, Jianhua (eds.) Ancient Books Collection in Canton·Part of History Chorography Attributes. Guangzhou: Guangzhou Publishing House. 2015”, the volume numbers are 12/28/57/58/58/56/47/48/63/53/66, respectively. 2. Order numbers 7/25 are collected in “Yin, Mengxia (eds.) The Rare Chinese Local Chorography Collected in Japan. Beijing: Shumu Wenxian Publishing House. 1992”; the volume numbers are 20/23, respectively. 3. Order numbers 16/18/40 are collected in “Local History Office of Guangdong Province (eds.) The Collected Works of Guangdong Chronicles in the past Dynasties, Guangzhou: Lingnan Publishing House. 2009”; the volume numbers are 18/17/4, respectively. 4. Order numbers 23/24/27/28/32/35/37 are collected in “The Collected Works of Chinese Chronicles · State and County in Guangdong. Shanghai: Shanghai Bookstore. 2013”; the volume numbers are 32/32/33/19/19/5/5, respectively. 5. Order number 39 is collected in “National Science Library (eds.) Series Books of rarely gazetteers collected by the Chinese Academy of Sciences Literature and Information Center (No. 78–82). Beijing: National Library of China Publishing House. 2014”; the volume numbers are 78–82.

Notes

1
Illustrate: left picture authorized with Chinese standard map service system, drawing No. GS (2016)1554, more detail on “Copyright and Licensing” are available via the following link: http://bzdt.ch.mnr.gov.cn/ (accessed on 2 August 2022); Right picture redraws from (Li 1991, pp. 73–78).
2
Apart from mentioning book titles and the city nowadays, this paper will use Canton instead of Guangzhou as the city’s name.
3
Illustrate: the coastline of the PRD was continuously silted up in the historical period. Figure 3, Figure 4, Figure 5 and Figure 6, coastline morphology at different times is drawn based on historical maps. Before Qing Dynasty (<1643) is based on (Tan 1982a, pp. 72–73); Early Qing Dynasty (1644–1722) is based on (Wang 2007), No. 1000000038; Middle Qing Dynasty (1723–1850) is based on (Tan 1982b, pp. 44–45); Late Qing and early Republican China (1851–1920) is based on (Zhang 2009, p. 12). These maps are published in the authoritative department in China, which have been studied abundantly, and their accuracy has been guaranteed to a certain extent. They are used as spatial references for visual reconstruction in this paper. All maps in this paper have been modified by GIS.

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Figure 1. Schematic diagram of area division1.
Figure 1. Schematic diagram of area division1.
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Figure 2. The counts of the Water Deities’ temples in different stages.
Figure 2. The counts of the Water Deities’ temples in different stages.
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Figure 3. The process of the spatiotemporal evolution of Nanhaishen Belief3.
Figure 3. The process of the spatiotemporal evolution of Nanhaishen Belief3.
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Figure 4. The process of the spatiotemporal evolution of Tianfei Belief.
Figure 4. The process of the spatiotemporal evolution of Tianfei Belief.
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Figure 5. The process of the spatiotemporal evolution of Beidi Belief.
Figure 5. The process of the spatiotemporal evolution of Beidi Belief.
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Figure 6. Comparison of spatial pattern of the Water Deities.
Figure 6. Comparison of spatial pattern of the Water Deities.
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Figure 7. Two chorographic maps show the location of Water Deities’ temples.
Figure 7. Two chorographic maps show the location of Water Deities’ temples.
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Table
Table 1. Statistics about the Water Deities’ temples in the PRD.
Table 1. Statistics about the Water Deities’ temples in the PRD.
TypesCountiesQuantityTypesCountiesQuantityTypesCountiesQuantity
NanhaiPanyu8TianfeiPanyu5BeidiPanyu7
Nanhai51Nanhai68Nanhai81
Shunde2Shunde20Shunde10
Xiangshan (including Marco)1Xiangshan (including Marco)12Xiangshan (including Marco)7
Sanshui1Sanshui2Sanshui2
Xinhui3Xinhui10Xinhui1
Zengcheng3Zengcheng7Zengcheng1
Dongguan4Dongguan7Dongguan1
Xinan (including Hong Kong)7Xinan (including Hong Kong)21Xinan (including Hong Kong)2
Total: 80Total: 152Total: 112
Table
Table 2. Space and propagation characteristics of the Water Deities.
Table 2. Space and propagation characteristics of the Water Deities.
Water GodsSpace DistributionsSacrificial CentersThe Path of Propagation
NanhaishenSingle coreIn the early stage, Canton was the center; the center gradually moved toward the southwest of Canton, and in the later stage, Jiujiang became the new center.Alongside waterways; from coast to inland.
TianfeiMultiple coresCanton was the center, and several sub-centers were developed in surrounding counties and alongside the coast.Sea-land interaction transmission
Maritime significant
BeidiSingle coreFoshan was the center from which it expanded outwardly.Alongside waterways; from inland to coast.
Table
Table 3. The statistics on the temple builders and their identities in the Qing Dynasty.
Table 3. The statistics on the temple builders and their identities in the Qing Dynasty.
Water DeitiesThe Time of BuildingBuilders’ InformationSocial Attribute
NanhaishenThe 49th year of the Qianlong reign (1784)Jointly built by 7 villages in DongshanFolk
The 60th year of the Qianlong reign (1795)Jointly built by gentries and villagers who lived in Sangyuan dyke 桑園圍Folk
The 15th year of the Jiaqing reign (1810)Built by Zhang Bailing 張百齡 Zongdu 總督 (Governor-general)Official
TianfeiThe 18th year of the Shunzhi reign (1661)Repaired by the donations of Pingnanwang 平南王 and Zhang Zongzhen 張總鎮 and other officialsOfficial
The 5th year of the Qianlong reign (1740)Built by Tan Zhaoji 譚肇基Folk and Official
The 14th year of the Qianlong reign (1749)Built by a villager named Zhang 張氏Folk
The 18th year of the Qianlong reign (1753)Built by a villager named Deng Lianchang 鄧連昌Folk
The 3rd year of the Jiaqing reign (1798)Donated by Dong and Xin villagersFolk
The 19th year of the Daoguang reign (1839)Repaired by Zhang Yutang 張玉堂, a ChiliarchOfficial
The 4th year of the Daoguang reign (1824)Repaired by Villagers Suhai 蘇海 and so onFolk
BeidiThe 7th year of the Shunzhi reign (1650)Donated and repaired by Zongzhenban 總鎮班 (Commander-in-Chief)Official
During the Kangxi Reign (1662–1722)Built by villagersFolk
The 24th year of the Kangxi reign (1685)Donated and repaired by scholars and merchantsFolk
The 11th year of the Yongzheng reign (1733)Built by villagers Liang Jinzhen 梁金震 and othersFolk
The 22nd year of the Jiaqing reign (1817)Repaired by the county magistrate, Ma Dezi 馬德滋, and villagersFolk and Official
During the Xianfeng Reign (1851–1861)Donated by gentries and villagersFolk
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Liu, Y.; Wang, Y. Spatiotemporal Reconstruction of Water Deities Beliefs in the Pearl River Delta Applying Historical GIS. Religions 2022, 13, 1040. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13111040

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Liu Y, Wang Y. Spatiotemporal Reconstruction of Water Deities Beliefs in the Pearl River Delta Applying Historical GIS. Religions. 2022; 13(11):1040. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13111040

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Liu, Yuqing, and Yuanlin Wang. 2022. "Spatiotemporal Reconstruction of Water Deities Beliefs in the Pearl River Delta Applying Historical GIS" Religions 13, no. 11: 1040. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13111040

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