Religious Organizations and Irrigation Systems: Buddhist and Daoist Communities in Irrigation Society in Shanxi under Mongol Rule

Abstract

Buddhist and Daoist communities established close connections to local irrigation systems in Shanxi during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries under Mongol rule. The clergy of both religions enjoyed privileged social status, led strong organizations, and controlled massive economic resources. Their power arose as they worked to rebuild local society after wars and natural disasters, contributions that gave them the authority that they enjoyed within local irrigation societies. Abbots of many Buddhist and Daoist monasteries acted as heads of irrigation associations. They organized local residents to develop irrigation projects and took charge of water distribution and water management in daily life. Some of them even had the power to establish irrigation regulations that favored their own monastic communities. Buddhist and Daoist communities also exercised profound influence on the local cults of water gods in irrigation systems. They actively engaged in sacrificing to water deities, contributed to rebuilding and managing water god temples, and shaped representations of water gods in temple murals. The presence of Buddhist and Daoist communities in local irrigation systems weakened beginning in the late Yuan and early Ming periods, when the clergy gradually lost their privileged status and Mongol rule ended. Meanwhile, villagers increasingly tried to take over the clergy’s monastic property and transformed Buddhist and Daoist institutions into village temples. The sacred space for worshipping water gods gradually separated from Buddhist and Daoist monasteries.