Environmental History in East Asia
Environmental History in East Asia

Author: Tsui-jung Liu

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-04-16

Total Pages: 435

ISBN-13: 1317974891

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As environmental history has developed as growing sub-discipline within the study of history, great emphasis has been placed on the importance of adopting an interdisciplinary approach. Indeed, as Environmental History in East Asia shows, by drawing on research and methodologies from the fields of science, technology, geography, geology and ecology, we are able to develop a much richer understanding of a region’s history. This book provides a comprehensive examination of environmental history in East Asia, ranging temporally from the Ming dynasty to the 21st Century and spatially across China, Japan and Taiwan. Split into four parts, the chapters cover a wide range of fascinating topics, comparing environmental thought and policy in the East and West, the transformation of the landscape, land resource utilization and impact of agriculture and disasters and diseases across the region. A diverse selection of case studies are used to illustrate the chapters, including the role of Daoism, Qing pasturelands and 21st century swine flu. Truly interdisciplinary in approach, this book will be of huge interest to students and scholars of Asian environmentalism, environmental history, Asian anthropology, Asian development studies and Asian history more generally.

War and Popular Culture
War and Popular Culture

Author: Chang-tai Hung

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2023-12-22

Total Pages: 468

ISBN-13: 0520354869

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This is the first comprehensive study of popular culture in twentieth-century China, and of its political impact during the Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945 (known in China as "The War of Resistance against Japan"). Chang-tai Hung shows in compelling detail how Chinese resisters used a variety of popular cultural forms—especially dramas, cartoons, and newspapers—to reach out to the rural audience and galvanize support for the war cause. While the Nationalists used popular culture as a patriotic tool, the Communists refashioned it into a socialist propaganda instrument, creating lively symbols of peasant heroes and joyful images of village life under their rule. In the end, Hung argues, the Communists' use of popular culture contributed to their victory in revolution.

Water Societies and Technologies from the Past and Present
Water Societies and Technologies from the Past and Present

Author: Mark Altaweel

Publisher: UCL Press

Published: 2018-11-26

Total Pages: 334

ISBN-13: 1911576704

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Today our societies face great challenges with water, in terms of both quantity and quality, but many of these challenges have already existed in the past. Focusing on Asia, Water Societies and Technologies from the Past and Present seeks to highlight the issues that emerge or re-emerge across different societies and periods, and asks what they can tell us about water sustainability. Incorporating cutting-edge research and pioneering field surveys on past and present water management practices, the interdisciplinary contributors together identify how societies managed water resource challenges and utilised water in ways that allowed them to evolve, persist, or drastically alter their environment. The case studies, from different periods, ancient and modern, and from different regions, including Egypt, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Southwest United States, the Indus Basin, the Yangtze River, the Mesopotamian floodplain, the early Islamic city of Sultan Kala in Turkmenistan, and ancient Korea, offer crucial empirical data to readers interested in comparing the dynamics of water management practices across time and space, and to those who wish to understand water-related issues through conceptual and quantitative models of water use. The case studies also challenge classical theories on water management and social evolution, examine and establish the deep historical roots and ecological foundations of water sustainability issues, and contribute new grounds for innovations in sustainable urban planning and ecological resilience.

Evolution and Water Resources Utilization of the Yangtze River
Evolution and Water Resources Utilization of the Yangtze River

Author: Jin Chen

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-06-07

Total Pages: 468

ISBN-13: 981137872X

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This book provides a comprehensive overview of the Yangtze River system and its water resources development and management. From the perspectives of geology, hydrology, zoology, ecology, it discusses the Yangtze River’s geological history and aquatic environments, analyses the endangered species along the river basin, and reviews the effects of human hydrolytic activities on its ecosystem. By studying the history of Yangtze River system and its water resources development, it provides insights into the effects of evolution and human activities on the ecosystem of its basin, and offers strategic thoughts on conservation and sustainable development of the Yangtze River. Written by an author with extensive experience in the field, this book is an invaluable reference resource for researchers interested in the Yangtze River.