Yangzi waters : : transforming the water regime of the Jianghan Plain in late imperial China / / by Yan Gao.

• Superior document: China Studies
• VerfasserIn: Gao, Yan (Professor of Chinese history),
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, The Netherlands ;, Boston : : Brill,, [2022]; ©2022
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Series: China Studies
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (289 pages)

"This book centers on the changes of polders and investigates the complex hydro-social relationships of the Jianghan Plain in late imperial China. Once a "hydraulic frontier" where local communities managed the polders, the Jianghan Plain became a state-led hydro-electric powerhouse by the mid-twentieth century. Through meticulous historical analysis, this book shows how water politics, cultural practice, and ecology interplayed and transformed the landscape and waterscape of the plain from a long-term perspective. By touching on topics such as religious beliefs, ethnic tension and militarization, the author reveals a plain in between nature and culture that has never been fully examined before"-- Provided by publisher.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Water, society and politics -- Water-based disasters and a cultured nature -- Disordering nature : wetlands and empire reconstruction (1600s-early 1700s) -- The retreat of the horse : the Manchus, pasturelands, and water management on the Jianghan Plain (ca.1700s-mid-1800s) -- Militarizing water : forts, polders, and landscape in an era of crisis (1796-1860s) -- Coping with the environmental crisis in the post-Taiping era -- Centering the Plain.