| Western Henan is located in the lower reaches of the Yellow River.The river runs through the territory from west to east.Many tributaries of the Yellow River provide good resources for the development of irrigation and water conservancy in Western Henan.Since the Qing Dynasty,along with the increasingly complicated water affairs activities in western Henan,a large number of water conservancy steles have been produced,which provide a different perspective for us to understand the interaction between people,water,people and land,and people in western Henan,and also provide a sense of the scene for the cognition of the history in this region.Through investigation and collation of water conservancy stele inscriptions from the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China in western Henan,115 inscriptions have been found.After consulting the gazetteers and inscriptions,we found 67 lost,but the actual number of lost should be far more than this number.Through the analysis of the temporal and spatial distribution of the above inscriptions,it is found that they have the characteristics of time and imbalance.Time,concentrated in the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China period;In space,it is concentrated in the north and east of western Henan.This distribution is not only related to the preservation conditions,but also affected by the differences of hydrogeographical environment,politics,customs and other factors within the region.The above inscriptions are classified according to their contents,covering water conservancy construction,flood and flood fighting,drought and relief,belief in the god of water,water cases and water regulations,etc.,which can be said to be rich and comprehensive,thus making their forms and systems diverse.From the water conservancy construction monument to reflect the participants of water conservancy facilities,the construction process,the source of funds and the daily maintenance of channels,it seems to reflect the gradual weakening of official dominance in water conservancy development,and the growing characteristics of non-governmental management.However,in the long period of the development of irrigation and water conservancy in dynastic countries,the government has never tried to intervene the irrigation and water conservancy construction activities in an all-round way,and often only intervened passively.In the construction activities of basic farmland water conservancy,the rural society or the folk forces always occupy the dominant position.Although when the folk forces are unable to solve many conflicts,they have to resort to the government,but the folk forces do not lose their leading role in the water conservancy affairs.This reminds us of the importance of understanding place in the totality.The flood and flood relief tablets,drought and relief tablets reflect the disaster characteristics,disaster effects and post-disaster relief,which reflects the process of grassroots people’s cognition and response to disasters,and reflects the unique role of non-governmental relief in the disaster relief process.This paper analyzes the interest relations of different local groups,such as officials,gentry and people,in praying for rain,offering sacrifices and building shrines reflected by the belief types and the spatial distribution of shrines,and promotes the construction of the belief system of the god of water.Through the interpretation of the additional meanings behind the inscriptions,it is found that local officials,gentry and people played diversified roles in the control of local social order.In the course of the operation of the local society in western Henan,they are the interests of the community,to achieve the stability of the local society;It is also a conflict of interests,rushing about for the group it represents.In a word,a comprehensive analysis of the contents of the tablet inscriptions is of great significance for a comprehensive understanding of the social changes in western Henan. |
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