Stone Tidal Weirs in Hainan Island, PRC
Dublin Core
Title
Stone Tidal Weirs in Hainan Island, PRC
Description
Around Danzhou City at the northern coast of Hainan Island, PRC, stone tidal weirs are widely distributed.
Local history says that immigrants from the southern part of Fujian Province in mainland China came to this area
to build many stone tidal weirs during the Ming Dynasty. Each patrilineal linage composed the construction unit
of them. One stone tidal weir at the village of Wangzhai has the stone-circled catching trap at the tip of the stone
wall, which looks similar to ones in the Penghu islands. On other stone tidal weirs at the village of Shenchong,
there are openings between stone walls, which are usually closed by wooden sluice gates; when the openings are
opened on the ebb, people set fishing nets just outside of the opened gates. Before the tide is out of stone tidal
weirs completely, fishing nets are also used inside them. At night, fishermen light a fire on floats of fishing nets
with coconut oil in order to drive fish into the nets. Although one stone tidal weir at the village of Changsha has
been registered as a Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the Provincial Level by the Hainan Provincial
People's Government, most stone tidal weirs in Hainan island have not been safeguarded properly by local
people as well as by the government. Some weirs are abandoned, and others are transformed into fishing ports.
As for the intangible aspect, villagers still remember ‘Tide Song’ in Hainanese, which narrates the dates of the
spring tides and the commencement times of high tides according to lunar calendar. In former days, in addition,
some families held special rituals during high tides so that a haul at stone tidal weirs might be good.
Local history says that immigrants from the southern part of Fujian Province in mainland China came to this area
to build many stone tidal weirs during the Ming Dynasty. Each patrilineal linage composed the construction unit
of them. One stone tidal weir at the village of Wangzhai has the stone-circled catching trap at the tip of the stone
wall, which looks similar to ones in the Penghu islands. On other stone tidal weirs at the village of Shenchong,
there are openings between stone walls, which are usually closed by wooden sluice gates; when the openings are
opened on the ebb, people set fishing nets just outside of the opened gates. Before the tide is out of stone tidal
weirs completely, fishing nets are also used inside them. At night, fishermen light a fire on floats of fishing nets
with coconut oil in order to drive fish into the nets. Although one stone tidal weir at the village of Changsha has
been registered as a Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the Provincial Level by the Hainan Provincial
People's Government, most stone tidal weirs in Hainan island have not been safeguarded properly by local
people as well as by the government. Some weirs are abandoned, and others are transformed into fishing ports.
As for the intangible aspect, villagers still remember ‘Tide Song’ in Hainanese, which narrates the dates of the
spring tides and the commencement times of high tides according to lunar calendar. In former days, in addition,
some families held special rituals during high tides so that a haul at stone tidal weirs might be good.
Creator
Yishi Wang
Publisher
The Museum of Underwater Archaeology
Date
2023
Language
English
Bibliographic Citation
Wang, Yishi. 2023. “Stone Tidal Weirs in Hainan Island, PRC.” Edited by Jennifer Craig, Jay Mok, T. Kurt Knoerl, Akifumi Iwabuchi, and Kotaro Yamafune. In Proceedings of Fifth Asia Pacific Regional Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage: Gwangju, The Republic of Korea, November 13-18 2023. The Museum of Underwater Archaeology URL: https://apconf.omeka.net/exhibits/show/apconfproceedings/item/1892
Files
Citation
Yishi Wang, “Stone Tidal Weirs in Hainan Island, PRC,” Asia Pacific Regional Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage Proceedings, accessed September 16, 2026, https://apconf.omeka.net/items/show/1892.