China is not alone in having a water problem. But as with much else, its sit- uation is unique. In The Yellow River, historian David Pietz examines why. Having done so much in modern times to expunge its past, China remains peculiarly constrained by it. Not only has every ruling power inherited the hydraulic legacy of its predecessors - for better or worse - but the idea that political legitimacy depends on "ordering the waters" is felt as keenly by modern leaders as it was by emperors from the Qin to the Qing.
展开▼
