The Fishing Guilds and Aquatic Social Order in the Poyang Lake Region during the Late Qing and Republican China Periods

During the late Qing and Republican periods,fishing gangs centered around Poyang Lake,bound by clan ties,and often named after regions or fishing tools,were widely distributed across the lake's waters.The historical traditions and conventions of these fishing gangs served as practical norms for the production and daily life of the fishing communities in the Poyang Lake region.These traditions included clan agreements and gang regulations (such as the “lottery” system for mutual aid among fishermen),as well as collective practices like the worship of industry deities and the “opening ceremony” rituals.Through long-term practice,diverse dispute resolution mechanisms emerged,including self-governance by the fishing gangs,mediation by neutral parties,and official intervention.In this process,state power was embedded within the lake region's society,continuously interacting with the fishing communities and their traditions,jointly shaping a unique social order system of the fishing gangs.Consequently,analyzing the traditional practices and fishing disputes of these lake-dwelling communities and distilling a “dual-track” governance model for aquatic societies can help understand the historical landscape of the fishing communities'production and daily life,as well as their diverse social dimensions.