Through the deification by Sheng Tuan-ming—shaman, intellectual, official and local of Eastern Kuangtung--the role of San-shan Kuo-wang as an Eastern Kuangtung local deity is linked with the age-old Chinese tradition of shamanism in the form of a local protective deity possessing a triple-stratum holy space. This triple-stratum holy space centres on the original temple at Lintien, Eastern Kuangtung. The outer stratum is "the whole realm," whose sphere is the government's religious authority. The middle stratum is "the south," as evidenced by pantheistic folk culture. The inner stratum is "the land of Eastern Kuangtung," providing the nourishment of natrue worship to the San-shan Kuo-wang cult. All three strata are permeated by the spirit of shamanism.