Introductory Remarks and its man-made transformations.Overall they combine to define the envel- ope of possible variations in relationships between humans and their habitat that were recognizably 'Chinese. Perceptions follows.How did the Chinese understand,and value the natural world in which they lived?This section consists of three essays that illuminate different aspects of this immense subject.The first asks,how did 'Nature' become a theme for art in and of itself,'even the focus of what I call an unavowed religion'?The second,how did Chinese protoscientific ideas condi- tion their observation of the natural world?Sober,sharp-witted and educated people saw dragons in this age,sometimes collectively.Why?The third explores how Chinese understanding of the environment interacted with orthodox morality,and why favorable or unfavorable weather was seen as a message of Heaven's approval or disapproval.It then goes on to ask,what was the spectrum of personal emotional attitudes toward Nature that had devel- oped toward the end of the imperial era?The case is argued that there was by this time no such thing as a single 'Chinese'view of nature. The original conception of this book was that it would conclude by looking at the development of environmental practice and policy under the Nation- alist Republic and in the People's Republic of China.Reluctantly,I have come to the view that this has to be a separate enterprise.The stage is no longer China but the world,and modern science has transformed the technology, both for good and for ill.The short final chapter,'Concluding Remarks,there- fore only offers some speculations on the nature of economic pressure on an environment and on how to compare late-imperial China with northwestern Europe on the eve of 'modernity. Given this prospectus,two questions require answers at once.What is envir- onmental history?And,why China in particular? 'Environmental history'in the sense used here is limited to the period for which documentary evidence exists to give us access to how men and women were thinking.Its theme is the changing relationship between people and the biological,chemical,and geological systems that both supported them and threatened them in complex ways.In specific terms:climates,rocks and minerals,soils,water,trees and plants,animals and birds,insects,and,at the foundation of almost everything,microbes.All of these are in various ways both vital friends and,at times,lethal enemies.Technologies,economies,social and political institutions,as well as beliefs,perceptions,knowledge,and repre- sentations interacted continually with this natural context.Human systems had their own dynamics to some extent,but they cannot be fully understood over time without reference to their environment.The history of disease is a
and its man-made transformations. Overall they combine to define the envelope of possible variations in relationships between humans and their habitat that were recognizably ‘Chinese’. Perceptions follows. How did the Chinese understand, and value the natural world in which they lived? This section consists of three essays that illuminate different aspects of this immense subject. The first asks, how did ‘Nature’ become a theme for art in and of itself,3 even the focus of what I call an ‘unavowed religion’? The second, how did Chinese protoscientific ideas condition their observation of the natural world? Sober, sharp-witted and educated people saw dragons in this age, sometimes collectively. Why? The third explores how Chinese understanding of the environment interacted with orthodox morality, and why favorable or unfavorable weather was seen as a message of Heaven’s approval or disapproval. It then goes on to ask, what was the spectrum of personal emotional attitudes toward Nature that had developed toward the end of the imperial era? The case is argued that there was by this time no such thing as a single ‘Chinese’ view of nature. The original conception of this book was that it would conclude by looking at the development of environmental practice and policy under the Nationalist Republic and in the People’s Republic of China. Reluctantly, I have come to the view that this has to be a separate enterprise. The stage is no longer China but the world, and modern science has transformed the technology, both for good and for ill. The short final chapter, ‘Concluding Remarks’, therefore only offers some speculations on the nature of economic pressure on an environment and on how to compare late-imperial China with northwestern Europe on the eve of ‘modernity’. Given this prospectus, two questions require answers at once. What is environmental history? And, why China in particular? ‘Environmental history’ in the sense used here is limited to the period for which documentary evidence exists to give us access to how men and women were thinking. Its theme is the changing relationship between people and the biological, chemical, and geological systems that both supported them and threatened them in complex ways. In specific terms: climates, rocks and minerals, soils, water, trees and plants, animals and birds, insects, and, at the foundation of almost everything, microbes. All of these are in various ways both vital friends and, at times, lethal enemies. Technologies, economies, social and political institutions, as well as beliefs, perceptions, knowledge, and representations interacted continually with this natural context. Human systems had their own dynamics to some extent, but they cannot be fully understood over time without reference to their environment. The history of disease is a xx Introductory Remarks
Introductory Remarks Tr xxi major,and regrettable,lacuna in this book.China suffered from some huge epidemics,but reliable knowledge of what was happening is extremely patchy before the last two hundred years or so,s and I have not had the time to give the subject the attention it deserves. China is an important historical case for three reasons.First,it has an unusually long record which allows tentative answers to many questions that are hard to answer for other areas.Second,it complements,and contrasts with, the environmental histories of other major countries and peoples.It often provides a critical analytical challenge when testing any general theory mostly formulated in some other context.And,last,it provides a perspective in which to examine the developing environmental crisis in the People's Republic of China today,the origins of which predate modern times. Nonetheless,some comments and a word of warning on specific compar- isons.The Chinese environmental story is a rich source of apparent parallels and divergences with its Western and other counterparts.Differences in the sequences and the prima facie connections of approximately similar elements raise important questions about the commonly assumed causalities.Thus the Chinese from early times,if not the earliest,found a religious and philosoph- ical exaltation in the ascent of mountains and their contemplation,whereas these were only occasionally explored and admired in the classical West,and mostly abhorred or ignored during the Western Middle Ages.Thus the associ- ation of a kind of growing secular religious absorption in the Alps and other mountains with the Enlightenment and the burgeoning of the mentality that we think of as'modern'in the West may be correct in chronological terms;it cannot be adequate in the kind of causation that it implies.'In at least approx- imative terms the phenomenon existed without these correlates in premodern China.Speaking with more finesse we may say that issues like this reveal the decisive analytical importance of how we choose to define an adequate approximation'to similarity. Mountains in early medieval China were the home of beneficent magic and of beings who transcended ordinary humanity.Thus Cao Zhi,who flourished at the beginning of the third century cE wrote of Mount Tai:* I roamed the Mountain in the dawn, Secluded in its misty depths, When suddenly I met two boys With faces that were fair and fresh. They gave me herbs of the immortals The Numinous Supreme had made
major, and regrettable, lacuna in this book. China suffered from some huge epidemics,4 but reliable knowledge of what was happening is extremely patchy before the last two hundred years or so,5 and I have not had the time to give the subject the attention it deserves. China is an important historical case for three reasons. First, it has an unusually long record which allows tentative answers to many questions that are hard to answer for other areas. Second, it complements, and contrasts with, the environmental histories of other major countries and peoples.6 It often provides a critical analytical challenge when testing any general theory mostly formulated in some other context. And, last, it provides a perspective in which to examine the developing environmental crisis in the People’s Republic of China today, the origins of which predate modern times. Nonetheless, some comments and a word of warning on specific comparisons. The Chinese environmental story is a rich source of apparent parallels and divergences with its Western and other counterparts. Differences in the sequences and the prima facie connections of approximately similar elements raise important questions about the commonly assumed causalities. Thus the Chinese from early times, if not the earliest, found a religious and philosophical exaltation in the ascent of mountains and their contemplation, whereas these were only occasionally explored and admired in the classical West, and mostly abhorred or ignored during the Western Middle Ages. Thus the association of a kind of growing secular religious absorption in the Alps and other mountains with the Enlightenment and the burgeoning of the mentality that we think of as ‘modern’ in the West may be correct in chronological terms; it cannot be adequate in the kind of causation that it implies.7 In at least approximative terms the phenomenon existed without these correlates in premodern China. Speaking with more finesse we may say that issues like this reveal the decisive analytical importance of how we choose to define an adequate ‘approximation’ to similarity. Mountains in early medieval China were the home of beneficent magic and of beings who transcended ordinary humanity. Thus Cao Zhi, who flourished at the beginning of the third century ce wrote of Mount Tai:8 I roamed the Mountain in the dawn, Secluded in its misty depths, When suddenly I met two boys With faces that were fair and fresh. They gave me herbs of the immortals The Numinous Supreme had made, Introductory Remarks xxi
xxii Introductory Remarks Medicaments that when absorbed Revive the seminal essence and brain, So life,like a rock's or metal ore's, Passes through eons,but does not age. Du Fu in the eighth century,having climbed the same mountain,experienced in a more abstract and philosophical way the especial gift of mountains,the unity of Heaven and mankind,as the conventional phrase had it: What,then,is this-the greatest of mountains'-nature? Greens,far below,over Qi and Lu,reach endlessly away, Up here are daemonic beauties,gathered by the Reshaper, Where the Two Forces-dark,bright-split apart sunlight and shade. This second poem expresses a mood that has something in common with the modern Western impulse to search for a kind of immanent transcendence in the contemplation of high mountains,but if we survey the full range of Chinese beliefs and feelings,we also find much that is different.An example is the search for immortals who possessed,and might bestow,the magical keys to physical longevity.The Reshaper'mentioned in the second poem,it should be noted,is not a creator but a continuous transforming power.The 'Two Forces'are the yin and the yang,negative and positive,female and male,soft and hard.Daemonic'-Chinese shen-suggests forces neither intrinsically favorable or unfavorable to human beings,simply supernatural.The meta- physics underlying perception is thus quite different from that in the West. So the question remains:how far are we justified in seeing the medieval Chinese passion for mountains and the early modern European passion as sufficiently comparable to justify more than casual comparison?Our sense of the possible difference is heightened when we recall that the first ascent of Le Mont Blanc,by Horace Benedict de Saussure,was primarily motivated by scientific inquiry and a need to make measurements.The destiny of the Alps was however soon to become,in Nicolas Giudici's words,"a theater of fabulous exploits,"that fostered the sport of pitting oneself against extremes,and a cult of records and Promethean supermen.As recounted in the chapter on 'Science and Superfauna'in Perceptions,there may have been the faintest echoes of some of this in China:Xie Zhaozhe at the end of the sixteenth century seems to have made a kind of mental catalog of the most dangerous places that he had expe- rienced in a lifetime of traveling in the mountains,but felt no sense of embar- rassment in mentioning that his fear had inhibited him from proceeding through the most dangerous of them all-even though there was still a path of sorts.The young serf who did make it across,trembling,though thought worth
Medicaments that when absorbed Revive the seminal essence and brain, So life, like a rock’s or metal ore’s, Passes through eons, but does not age. Du Fu in the eighth century, having climbed the same mountain, experienced in a more abstract and philosophical way the especial gift of mountains, ‘the unity of Heaven and mankind’, as the conventional phrase had it:9 What, then, is this — the greatest of mountains’ — nature? Greens, far below, over Qi and Lu, reach endlessly away, Up here are daemonic beauties, gathered by the Reshaper, Where the Two Forces — dark, bright — split apart sunlight and shade. This second poem expresses a mood that has something in common with the modern Western impulse to search for a kind of immanent transcendence in the contemplation of high mountains, but if we survey the full range of Chinese beliefs and feelings, we also find much that is different. An example is the search for immortals who possessed, and might bestow, the magical keys to physical longevity. The ‘Reshaper’ mentioned in the second poem, it should be noted, is not a creator but a continuous transforming power.10 The ‘Two Forces’ are the yin and the yang, negative and positive, female and male, soft and hard. ‘Daemonic’—Chinese shen—suggests forces neither intrinsically favorable or unfavorable to human beings, simply supernatural. The metaphysics underlying perception is thus quite different from that in the West. So the question remains: how far are we justified in seeing the medieval Chinese passion for mountains and the early modern European passion as sufficiently comparable to justify more than casual comparison? Our sense of the possible difference is heightened when we recall that the first ascent of Le Mont Blanc, by Horace Bénédict de Saussure, was primarily motivated by scientific inquiry and a need to make measurements.11 The destiny of the Alps was however soon to become, in Nicolas Giudici’s words, “a theater of fabulous exploits,”12 that fostered the sport of pitting oneself against extremes, and a cult of records and Promethean supermen. As recounted in the chapter on ‘Science and Superfauna’ in Perceptions, there may have been the faintest echoes of some of this in China: Xie Zhaozhe at the end of the sixteenth century seems to have made a kind of mental catalog of the most dangerous places that he had experienced in a lifetime of traveling in the mountains, but felt no sense of embarrassment in mentioning that his fear had inhibited him from proceeding through the most dangerous of them all—even though there was still a path of sorts. The young serf who did make it across, trembling, though thought worth xxii Introductory Remarks
Introductory Remarks u xxiii a brief mention,was not seen as the prototype of future heroes.In cases like this,the complexities of analysis rapidly become hard to disentangle. Even so,much of what appears in the chapters that follow has been written with the shadowy presence of possible Western analogies and differences at the back of my mind.This is especially true of those relating to perceptions.The obvious Western counterpart-though it is a much richer tapestry-to the story I outline is Clarence Glacken's Traces on the Rhodian Shore:Nature and Culture in Western Thought from Ancient Times to the End of the Eighteenth Century.Perhaps the most overpowering contrast is the virtual absence in premodern China of the idea of a transcendent creator God who is distinct from Nature in a fundamental qualitative sense.The Chinese had notions of a supreme god in various guises(that is,hypatotheism'),"and also,as we have seen,of a somewhat demiurge-like transformer'constantly reshaping the cosmos.They also conceived of abstract forms,either moral-material princi- ples inhering in different types of entities"or dynamic patterns that both embodied and directed the sequences of situations.But none of these set up the Western question of the divine design of the universe that is the first of Glacken's three major themes,nor,broadly speaking,any of the nagging Western problems of cosmic purpose,final causes,or teleology.Whether this immense difference in perception led to any major differences between the human transformations of the environment-such as long-term deforesta- tion-is an interesting issue.My provisional answer,for what it is worth,is 'no' or,at least,'in no immediately obvious way. One of the persistent themes of this book is in fact that the relationships between how the environment was perceived and represented,as well as the approach to it that was proclaimed as appropriate,on the one hand,and what was actually happening,on the other,were always to some degree problematic. The second can never be simply inferred from the first.Sometimes it may even have been approximately the opposite,a question looked at in the first chapter in Perceptions,in the context of the discussion of the ideas of Heiner Roetz who first flagged this issue in its acute form. Another key problem that needs resolution is that we are still some way from having a plausible precise conception of the environmental exploitation char- acteristic of premodern China that both includes its wide internal range of vari- ation and neither blurs,nor ignores,these differences.I think there was a distinctively'Chinese'style to the premodern economic growth'that gradually, and with some notable regressions followed by renewed advances,as well as periods of temporary imbalance,took over the transformation of the environ- ment from the original politically and militarily driven onslaught described in the chapter 'The Logic of Short-term Advantage.But a fully satisfactory
a brief mention, was not seen as the prototype of future heroes. In cases like this, the complexities of analysis rapidly become hard to disentangle. Even so, much of what appears in the chapters that follow has been written with the shadowy presence of possible Western analogies and differences at the back of my mind. This is especially true of those relating to perceptions. The obvious Western counterpart—though it is a much richer tapestry—to the story I outline is Clarence Glacken’s Traces on the Rhodian Shore: Nature and Culture in Western Thought from Ancient Times to the End of the Eighteenth Century. 13 Perhaps the most overpowering contrast is the virtual absence in premodern China of the idea of a transcendent creator God who is distinct from Nature in a fundamental qualitative sense. The Chinese had notions of a supreme god in various guises (that is, ‘hypatotheism’),14 and also, as we have seen, of a somewhat demiurge-like ‘transformer’ constantly reshaping the cosmos.15 They also conceived of abstract forms, either moral-material principles inhering in different types of entities16 or dynamic patterns that both embodied and directed the sequences of situations.17 But none of these set up the Western question of the divine design of the universe that is the first of Glacken’s three major themes, nor, broadly speaking, any of the nagging Western problems of cosmic purpose, final causes, or teleology. Whether this immense difference in perception led to any major differences between the human transformations of the environment—such as long-term deforestation—is an interesting issue. My provisional answer, for what it is worth, is ‘no’ or, at least, ‘in no immediately obvious way’. One of the persistent themes of this book is in fact that the relationships between how the environment was perceived and represented, as well as the approach to it that was proclaimed as appropriate, on the one hand, and what was actually happening, on the other, were always to some degree problematic. The second can never be simply inferred from the first. Sometimes it may even have been approximately the opposite, a question looked at in the first chapter in Perceptions, in the context of the discussion of the ideas of Heiner Roetz who first flagged this issue in its acute form. Another key problem that needs resolution is that we are still some way from having a plausible precise conception of the environmental exploitation characteristic of premodern China that both includes its wide internal range of variation and neither blurs, nor ignores, these differences. I think there was a distinctively ‘Chinese’ style to the ‘premodern economic growth’ that gradually, and with some notable regressions followed by renewed advances, as well as periods of temporary imbalance, took over the transformation of the environment from the original politically and militarily driven onslaught described in the chapter ‘The Logic of Short-term Advantage’. But a fully satisfactory Introductory Remarks xxiii
xxiv Introductory Remarks definition remains to be determined.For the time being we might formulate it roughly as follows:Structurally the Chinese style was based on a capacity to operate through highly disaggregated units (like the peasant family farm) that could be coordinated either administratively (as for middle-sized and large water-control operations)or commercially (mostly through networks of markets that were,with some important qualifications,free of monopolistic control)to form,where needed,enormous modular aggregates that were inherently transient,existing only while immediately required.It is my suspi- cion that this combination of small-unit initiative and all but unlimited facul- tative aggregation (either administratively or commercially based)produced a thoroughness of environmental exploitation that was distinctive in the premodern world. One of the objectives of the three chapters in Particularities on economic development in a specific environmental context in contrasting areas is to show how elusive the formal definition of a coherent 'Chinese'premodern style still is.It is in fact even possible to demonstrate a significant degree of microvariation in economic relations with the environment within the catch- ment of a single large lake.My colleagues and I have recently shown that this was the case for the northern and western shores of Lake Erhai in western Yunnan province.From about the middle of the eighteenth century,once the clearance of hillslope surface vegetation for farming had got under way in the upper reaches of the Miju River at the northern end of the lake,the lower river was burdened with so heavy a load of sediment that a massive mobilization of labor was needed each year to contain it by dredging and diking,and a huge protective deflection barrage had to be created at the terminus of the upper river,where the flow was concentrated into a gorge.By the end of the eigh- teenth century,the river dikes rose several meters above the roofs of the houses outside them.The system was perilous and only sustainable at a substantial cost,and by maximal coordination.In contrast,on the west side,irrigation water was drawn from eighteen small streams flowing down over often over- lapping alluvial fans at the foot of an abrupt range of mountains.They were tapped by a network of small channels that anastomatosed and were even made to run across each other in places.The courses of these could be changed or allowed to change whenever they became filled up with sediments,and little damage was done by this to life or livelihood.No large-scale organization was required,and the system was sustainable without great effort.It would be a mistake to regard either of these systems as more 'Chinese'than the other. Both,and many other types,need to be catered for in any analytical formula- tion.In summary,before we go deeply into comparisons of 'China'with other parts of the world in terms of its premodern transformation of its
definition remains to be determined. For the time being we might formulate it roughly as follows: Structurally the Chinese style was based on a capacity to operate through highly disaggregated units (like the peasant family farm) that could be coordinated either administratively (as for middle-sized and large water-control operations) or commercially (mostly through networks of markets that were, with some important qualifications, free of monopolistic control) to form, where needed, enormous modular aggregates that were inherently transient, existing only while immediately required. It is my suspicion that this combination of small-unit initiative and all but unlimited facultative aggregation (either administratively or commercially based) produced a thoroughness of environmental exploitation that was distinctive in the premodern world.18 One of the objectives of the three chapters in Particularities on economic development in a specific environmental context in contrasting areas is to show how elusive the formal definition of a coherent ‘Chinese’ premodern style still is. It is in fact even possible to demonstrate a significant degree of microvariation in economic relations with the environment within the catchment of a single large lake. My colleagues and I have recently shown that this was the case for the northern and western shores of Lake Erhai in western Yunnan province.19 From about the middle of the eighteenth century, once the clearance of hillslope surface vegetation for farming had got under way in the upper reaches of the Miju River at the northern end of the lake, the lower river was burdened with so heavy a load of sediment that a massive mobilization of labor was needed each year to contain it by dredging and diking, and a huge protective deflection barrage had to be created at the terminus of the upper river, where the flow was concentrated into a gorge. By the end of the eighteenth century, the river dikes rose several meters above the roofs of the houses outside them. The system was perilous and only sustainable at a substantial cost, and by maximal coordination. In contrast, on the west side, irrigation water was drawn from eighteen small streams flowing down over often overlapping alluvial fans at the foot of an abrupt range of mountains. They were tapped by a network of small channels that anastomatosed and were even made to run across each other in places. The courses of these could be changed or allowed to change whenever they became filled up with sediments, and little damage was done by this to life or livelihood. No large-scale organization was required, and the system was sustainable without great effort. It would be a mistake to regard either of these systems as more ‘Chinese’ than the other. Both, and many other types, need to be catered for in any analytical formulation. In summary, before we go deeply into comparisons of ‘China’ with other parts of the world in terms of its premodern transformation of its xxiv Introductory Remarks