漢人社會對社官的討論主要呈現其為上古時期社稷與土地崇拜之一種，相較於一般土地福德正神，社官在鄉級以上所具備的官民共祀性格，乃為一重要特徵。當代民俗研究對於社官在漢人於嶺南地區以至移民臺灣之後的變遷，至今尚無專論與定論。根據目前在臺灣美濃的田野資料，此一在十八世紀三○年代由客裔先民進行水田化定墾的山腳平原，至今仍存有三處專祀社官之露天墓塚式「里社真官壇」，同時也是臺灣僅有的三座。過去文史學者由於缺乏針對社官信仰進行客裔美濃與其原鄉廣東蕉嶺之比較考察，傾向認為社官乃是福德正神（土地伯公）之一種。本文經由在廣東蕉嶺縣進行實地田野調查，着重研究社官信仰在原鄉與海外各有之延續性，以及個別在地化之特徵，發現位於蕉嶺之社官，似受盛行當地公王崇拜影響，成為兼司管理水鬼（水域）與陽間官場政治的「公王╱社官」混合體，並呈現出在具威脅之水域邊設壇的區位特性。這個合成的信仰文化於清初被帶到臺灣美濃，又再被移墾社會新設的大量土地伯公信仰所吸納，逐漸變成「伯公化的」「公王╱社官」合成文化。這是一個在回溯性研究中重新「發現」地方歷史的探討，就美濃來說，社官其原鄉傳統是一個有趣的議題，與臺灣客裔地區盛行之土地伯公信仰亦出現文化會遇現象。另外本研究也嘗試經由社官其刻意位於水口或水畔之區位特性，找到挖掘聚落地理變遷史的生態脈絡。

Extant studies on “She Guan” in Chinese society mainly depictit as a type of sheji (earth and grains) fertility cult in ancient history.Compared to the common worship of earth god (Fude Zhengshen), oneimportant feature of “She Guan” is the joint worship by civilians and officialsabove the township level. There has been no consensus in contemporaryfolk researches on the transformation of “She Guan” afterpeople emigrated from the Lingnan region to Taiwan. According to thefield data from Meinong, Taiwan, in the 1730s early Hakka settlers cameto the foothill plains to farm wet rice paddies. Until today, there are stillthree (and only three) “Li She Zhen Guan Tan” that house “She Guan”in Taiwan. However, due to the lack of comparative studies betweenMeinong and their Hakka hometown in Jiaoling and Meisian inGuangdong, local historians tend to view “She Guan” as a type of FudeZhengshen (Tudi Bogong). This study conducts field research in JiaolingCounty in Guangdong, one of the native places of the Hakka inMeinong, Kaohsiung. Two points of discussion are, first, aspects of continuityin the cult of “She Guan” both in the native place and overseas;second, individual localized features. “She Guan” in Jiaoling seems tohave been affected by characteristics of the local Gong Wang cult. As ahybrid between Gong Wang and She Guan, it presides over both waterghosts (bodies of water) and officialdom in the yang/living world,whose altars were often erected close to water. This culturally syncreticcult was brought to Meinong, Taiwan, early in the Qing dynasty, andthen accepted into the Tudi Bogong cult in the settlers’ society. The cultthen incorporated Bogong sacrificial rites, gradually forming a merger of “Gong Wang/She Guan.” This is an exploration of “rediscovering” localhistory in a retroactive research. For Meinong, the tradition of “SheGuan” originated from its native place is an interesting issue. It alsodemonstrates a cultural encounter phenomenon with the popular TudiBogong cult in Hakka areas in Taiwan. In addition, this study also usesthe topographical waterfront feature of “She Guan” altars to track downthe ecological history of the settlements’ geographic evolution.