The Travails of the Ninth Dragon God: The Struggle for Water,Worship, and the Politics of Getting By in a North China Village

This paper examines villagers’ efforts to secure a reliable supply of drinking water in Ten Mile Inn, a rural community in North China. For most village residents, the Maoist era was a period of attacks on their religious beliefs and practices. It was also a time of often costly attempts to secure a more reliable supply of water. Village politics and factional disputes attended all these efforts and closely track the rise, fall, and ultimate reinstatement of the Ninth Dragon God, an important deity in Chinese pantheon, who many believe has full charge of rainwater, rivers, lakes, and seas. Those associated with the god constitute a source of authority and respect in addition to that of local state sanctioned leaders.