Writing the environmental history of the Yellow River region from the Zhou to the Han: Sources and methodological problems.

摘要

This thesis explores the changing environment of the middle and lower Yellow River basin from the Zhou to the reign of Han Emperor Wu (ca. 1045-87 B.C.), a period characterised by an increase of government control over the land along with an intensification and expansion of agriculture. The second chapter employs palaeoecological sources to look at the early environment of the region, arguing that the eastern plains were mixed forest-steppe, and that the regions to the west were mostly steppe. The third chapter uses archaeological sources to explore the rise of civilisation, the fauna of the region in the Shang period and the spread of iron tools. The fourth chapter is divided into two sections, the first of which looks at what can be learned from the texts of the period concerning agriculture, land clearance, deforestation, hunting, fishing and economic geography. The second half concerns the intensification of state power in regulating and transforming natural environments through legal measures and water control projects, as well as the development of a market economy.