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Satellite Map of the Putian Plain

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Satellite Map of the Putian Plain CHAPTER THREE HISTORICAL OVERVIEW Map 1: Satellite Map of the Putian Plain (color plates) is a satellite image taken in 2002 (Landsat7) of the Putian plain, showing the ring of mountains around the plain and the patchwork of irrigation canals. Th e inset map situates Putian on the Southeast China coast, south of Fuzhou and north of Xiamen and Quanzhou. Map 2: Li sub-cantons and Regional Ritual Alliances provides an overview of the local ritual system. Maps 3 and 4 (color plates) provide three dimensional images of the Putian plain as seen from diff erent points on the plain, the first gazing northwards past the volcanic cone of Mt Hu, the second look- ing eastwards from the Dongzhen reservoir in the hills above Putian see along the Mulan river towards the Xinghua Bay. Th ese maps give a sense of the topography of the Putian plain. Maps 5, 6, 7, and 8 (color plates) show the evolving shorelines of the Putian plains from ancient times to the Tang, then in the Song, and fi nally in the mid-Ming, when the reclaiming of the Putian plain was completed. Th e Putian plain formed along the coast of the Xinghua Bay over thousands of years as a thin band of alluvial soil deposited by three major rivers and many streams fl owing out of a semi-circle of moun- tains, and pushed upwards by the action of the sea. In ancient times, the Putian plain was originally under 30 meters of sea water, as can be seen in Map 5: Ancient Shoreline of the Putian Plain. Extensive land reclamation and the establishment of the fi rst major irrigation canals resulted in the marked expansion of the Putian plain, as seen in Map 7: Song shoreline of the Putian Plain. Map 8: Ming-Qing shoreline of the Putian Plain shows that land continued to be reclaimed, further expanding the Putian plain, up to the beginning of the Qing dynasty, putting increasing pressure on the various irrigation systems.1 Th e fi rst inhabitants of this region were a mix of sea-side dwell- ing peoples or fi shing-people living along the shore and the rivers, 1 For a discussion of technical aspects of the historical processes of irrigation and land reclamation in Holland, see Wagret 1968. On comtemporary Chinese irrigation management, including in the Putian area, see Vermeer, 1978. 54 chapter three and settlers of the mountain slopes. Th e former peoples were called Danmin 疍民 by the Han Chinese, while the latter were called the She 畲. Surviving groups of both these early settlers can still be found in Fujian. Early Chinese sources refer to the peoples of this area as the hundred Yue 越 peoples. Early in the Han, Han Chinese explorers began to move into South- east China. Some of these fi gures attained legendary status, such as the nine He 何 brothers, who are said to have moved from Jiangxi into Xianyou in the Han Yuanshou 元狩 period (122–117 BCE). Th eir legend is recounted in the Xianxizhi 仙溪志 of 1257, one of the earli- est local gazetteers. Aft er studying Daoist arts with Liu An, compiler of the Huainanzi 淮南子, they moved into Fujian, eventually settling at the Jiulihu 九鯉湖 (Nine Carp Lake), above a waterfall. Th ere they proceeded to refi ne elixirs of immortality. According to an eighth century inscription, they succeeded at this task, became immortals, and transformed into nine carp spirits (hence the name of the lake). Th ey were worshipped as protector deities of the region. To this day, people sleep in the caverns near the lake, known as the Jiulihu 九鯉湖 (Nine Carp Lake), to receive visits from the gods in their dreams. A manual of dream interpretation has been written to help explicate their dream visions. Shortly aft er this period, Han Chinese armies attacked the Kingdom of Min Yue . According to some local sources, Yu Shan 余善 , the King of Min-Yue, fl ed to the mountains of Putian and Xianyou, where he built a fortress to resist the Han (Putian xianzhi, 1994: 8). Aft er his defeat, the Putian area fell under the ostensible rule of the Kuaiji 會稽 Commandery of Zhejiang. Han Chinese military colonies and settlers began to slowly move into the mountain valleys and coastal regions of Fujian, where they set up a military colony near the Wuyi Mountains in northern Fujian. Complete colonization of Fujian, including the Putian area, would take several hundred years (Bielenstein 1959). Eff orts to establish an administrative center in Putian were made in 568 and in 589, but these were abandoned. Finally, in the early Tang (Wude 6), in 623, Putian city was made into a district capital. In the Tang, the site would have been very close to the ancient shoreline of the Xinghua Bay. Map 6: Tang Shoreline of the Putian Plain shows the locations of several reservoirs which provided irrigation to the early settlements along the thin stretches of the Putian plain. Hanjiang is said to have been founded in 627 at the site of a sluice-gate empty- ing into the sea (the original name was Hantou 涵頭). A few other .
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