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Abstract
The development of environmental history in China has experienced several radically different phases. During a long time period after 1949 the research related to environmental history in China was confined to natural sciences while the phenomena of “lacking environmental perspective” in humanity and social science were serious. Since the 1990s, Chinese scholars have made great advances in the research on environmental history, and many new changes have appeared. The most important among them is that environmental history has been becoming an independent field separated from natural sciences and traditional historical geography, and its theoretical system of discipline has taken shape. During the process of constructing the theory of environmental history, Chinese scholars have had a broad and deep discussion on many issues of the field such as its definition, object, theory, principle, method, aim, and significance, focusing on the central theme——“what is environmental history?”. Through the discussion, Chinese scholars have recognized that environmental history has as its particular object, theory, method, and comparatively unique academic aim; thus, it is undoubtedly qualified to be an independent subject and field in history. Furthermore, as an independent field, environmental history applies a method which has typical inter-disciplinary characters, and covers various and comprehensive objects. Thus, all the aspects of the interaction between human beings and natural environment belong to the field of environmental history whose focus is on the continuum between nature and culture.
Acknowledgments
This paper was originally published in Chinese in Journal of Historical Science (史學月刊), No. 6, 2009 when I was a professor at Beijing Normal University. At the invitation of Professor Wang Qingjia, I modified it slightly, and Bai Lizan, a PhD candidate of Tsinghua University, translated it into English. I am so grateful for many people for the making of this paper, especially Prof. Qu Lindong 瞿林東, the former director of Center for Studies of Historical Theory and Historiography of Beijing Normal University, and Zhou Xiangsen 周祥森, the editor of Journal of Historical Science, as well as Professor Wang Qingjia and Bai Lizan.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1 J. Donald Hughes, What is Environmental History?, 2nd ed. (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2016), 35.
2 “The Top 10 Academic Hotspots in China of 2006” 2006 年度中國十大學術熱點, Guangming Daily 光明日報, January 16, 2007.
3 Hughes, What is Environmental History?, 19.
4 Chinese historians have begun such studies. For instance, Wang Peihua 王培華, School of History, Beijing Normal University, presided over the major project of the year 2008 “Research on Ecological Environment Thoughts in Ancient Chinese Historiography: Centered on Agriculture and Ecological Environment” 中國古代史學中的生態环境思想研究——以農業與生态环境為中心的考察 (No. 08JJD770100) funded by the key research bases of Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China on humanities and social sciences.
5 See Chen Xinli 陳新立, “Review and Prospect on Chinese Environmental History” 中國环境史研究的回顾與展望, Historiography Bimonthly 史學理論研究, no. 2 (2008). Wang Lihua 王利華, “Research Lines of China’s Ecological Historiography” 中國生态史學的思想框架和研究理路, Nankai Journal 南開學報, no. 2 (2006). Gao Kai 高凯, “A Review of Environmental History Studies in China since the 20th Century” 20 世纪以来國内环境史研究的述評, History Teaching 歷史教學, no. 11 (2006). Wang Zhiguo 汪志國, “A Summary of the Research on Ecological and Environmental History Since the 1980s” 20 世纪 80 年代以来生態环境史研究綜述, Ancient and Modern Agriculture 古今農業, no. 3 (2005). Bao Maohong, “Environmental History in China,” Environment and History 10, no. 4, 10th Anniversary Issue (November 2004). Jia Hongwei 佳宏偉, “A Review of the Studies on the Historical Changes of Environment in Recent Ten Years” 近十年来生態环境變遷史研究綜述, Journal of Historical Science 史學月刊, no. 6 (2004). Zhang Guowang 張國旺, “A Summary of the Research on Chinese Environmental History in Recent Years” 近年来中國环境史研究综述, Trends of Recent Researches on the History of China 中國史研究动态, no. 3 (2003).
6 Bao Maohong, “Survey of Chinese Environmental Historiography: An Interview with Prof. Mark Elvin” 中國环境史研究: 伊懋可教授訪談, Journal of Chinese Historical Geography 中國歷史地理論叢 19, no. 1 (2004), 128–9.
7 Born in Britain in 1938, Mark Elvin has retired from the Australian National University and returned to Britain.
8 Xia Mingfang 夏明方, “The Tendency of Non-humanities in the Study of Disaster History in China” 中國灾害史研究的非人文化傾向, Journal of Historical Science 史學月刊, no. 3 (2004): 17.
9 Wang Lihua, “Research Lines of China’s Ecological Historiography,” Nankai Journal (Philosophy, Literature and Social Science Edition), no. 2 (2006): 23.
10 John R. McNeill, “Observations on the Nature and Culture of Environmental History,” History and Theory, Theme Issue 42 (December 2003): 9.
11 Wen Huanran文焕然, The Change of the Plant and Animal in China during Different Historical Period 中國歷史時期植物與動物變遷研究, edited by Wen Rongsheng 文榕生, Chongqing: Chongqing Publishing Group, 2006.
12 Hou Renzhi 侯仁之, “It is Expected that Mr. Wen Huanran’s Monograph on the Study of Historical Animal and Plant Geography will be Published as a Collection of Monographs as Soon as Possible (Preface)” 期待着文焕然先生關於歷史動植物地理研究的專题論文能够以論文集的專著早日出版 (代序), Wen Huanran: The Change of the Plant and Animal in China during Different Historical Period, edited by Wen Rongsheng, p. i.
13 Shi Nianhai 史念海, “A Preface Written by Shi Nianhai,” Wen Huanran: The Change of the Plant and Animal in China during Different Historical Period, p. iv.
14 Wen Huanran, The Change of the Plant and Animal in China during Different Historical Period, ed. Wen Rongsheng (Chongqing: Chongqing Publishing Group, 2006), 207.
15 Huanran, The Change of the Plant and Animal in China during Different Historical Period, 211.
16 Ibid., 214.
17 Mark Elvin, The Retreat of the Elephants: An Environmental History of China (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2004), 9–11.
18 Donald Worster, “Why We Need Environmental History,” transl. Hou Shen 侯深, World History 世界歷史, no. 3 (2004): 4.
19 Hughes, What is Environmental History?, 115.
20 Editorial Committee of Physical Geography of China 中國科学院 ⟪中國自然地理⟫ 编辑委员会, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Introduction to Physical Geography of China 中國自然地理·總論 (Beijing: Science Press 科學出版社, 1985), 18.
21 In this regard, History of Western Botanical and Zoological Studies in China ⟪近代西方識華生物史⟫ (Jinan: Shandong Education Press 山东教育出版社, 2005) written by Luo Guihuan 罗桂环, a researcher at the Institute of the History of Natural Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is a very important introductory work.
22 J. Donald Hughes, “Forward to Chinese Edition,” What is Environmental History?, transl. Mei Xueqin 梅雪芹 (Shanghai: Shanghai Pictorial Publishing House 光啟書局, 2021), 2.
23 Bao Maohong, “Survey of Chinese Environmental Historiography: An Interview with Prof. Mark Elvin,” Journal of Chinese Historical Geography 19, no. 1 (2004): 128.
24 Zhu Kezhen 竺可楨, The Complete Works of Zhu Kezhen, vol. 4 竺可楨全集第 4 卷 (Shanghai: Shanghai Science and Technology Education Press 上海科技教育出版社, 2004), 510.
25 Kezhen, The Complete Works of Zhu Kezhen, 303.
26 Ibid.
27 Kezhen, The Complete Works of Zhu Kezhen, 497.
28 “Preface,” The Complete Works of Zhu Kezhen, vol. 4 (Shanghai: Shanghai Science and Technology Education Press, 2004), 11.
29 Kezhen, The Complete Works of Zhu Kezhen, 147–51.
30 Here are the important relevant writings of this period: Bai Shouyi 白壽彝, A General History of China, vol. 1 中國通史第1卷, Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House 上海人民出版社, 1989, 99–105. Ning Ke 寧可, “The Geographical Environment of the Historical Development of Ancient China” 古代中國歷史发展的地理环境, Ping Zhun Journal 平准學刊, Beijing: China Commercial Publishing House 中國商業出版社, (1986): 1–24. Ning Ke, “The Role of Geographical Environment in Social Development” 地理环境在社会發展中的作用, Historical Research 歷史研究, no. 6 (1986). Xu Yongxiang 徐咏祥: “On the Theoretical Source of Plekhanov’s Determinism of Geographical Environment” 論導致普列漢诺夫地理环境决定論傾向的理論根源, Social Sciences in China 中國社會科學, no. 1 (1986). Yang Qi 楊琪, Wang Zhaolin 王兆林, Several Questions on ‘Determinism of Geographical Environment’” 關於 “地理环境决定論” 的幾個問题, Social Science Front 社會科學戰線, no. 3 (1985). Yan Zhongkui 嚴鍾奎, “On the Influence of Geographical Environment on the Development of History” 論地理环境對歷史發展的影响, Jinan Journal (Philosophy & Social Sciences) 暨南學報 (哲學社會科學版), no. 3 (1985). Zhang Qing 章清, “Natural Environment: Historical Restriction and Restricting History” 自然环境: 歷史制约與制约歷史, Academic Journal of Jinyang 晋陽學刊, no. 2 (1985).
31 Bai Shouyi, A General History of China, vol. 1 (Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1989), 99–105.
32 Ibid., 113.
33 Hegel believed that although China also “takes the seas as the boundary of the country,” Chinese people regarded the seas as “faults of the land” and “edges of the land,” so they “did not establish connections positively with the sea”. See Shouyi, A General History of China, 116.
34 Shouyi, A General History of China, 117.
35 Ibid., 118–30.
36 Ibid., 132–54.
37 Recently, Dr. Wang Zhigang 王志剛 of the School of History of Beijing Normal University told me that he intended to review several of the five major issues of concern to Chinese historians in the mid-20th century from the perspective of environmental history. For example, the germination of capitalism and the long-term “stagnation” in traditional Chinese society. In addition, there is a famous question in the history of science, “Why did modern science not come into being in China,” also known as “Joseph Needham Problem” and so on. From the perspective of the unique format of the relations of man and the environment in China, we will get a lot of valuable knowledge. For example, can we regard the absence or late emergence of capitalism in China as a process of “progress” rather than “backwardness”? Can we regard the long-term “stagnation” of traditional Chinese society as a typical example of “sustainable development”? Can we regard traditional Chinese science and technology as a typical example of fully considering the “relationship between man and nature”? He feels that from the perspective of environmental history, reflecting on such issues seems to have some new gains. Dr. Wang thought about combining environmental history with Chinese political history, economic history, ideological and cultural history and other fields, so as to further study and explain many phenomena and problems in Chinese history.
38 Bao Maohong, “Environmental History in China,” Environment and History 10, no. 4, 10th Anniversary Issue (November 2004).
39 Wang Lihua, “Research Lines of China’s Ecological Historiography,” Nankai Journal (Philosophy, Literature and Social Science Edition), no. 2 (2006).
40 Bao Maohong, “Environmental History in China,” Environment and History 10, no. 4, 10th Anniversary Issue (November 2004). About the rise and academic origin of the study of Chinese environmental history, there has been a so-called “debate” among Chinese scholars due to misunderstanding. For details, see my article of the same name published in the 2nd issue of Nankai Journal in 2009.
41 Bao Maohong, “Environmental History in China,” Environment and History 10, no. 4, 10th Anniversary Issue (November 2004).
42 Here are the books translated by Hou Wenhui: Barry Commoner’s The Closing Circle (Lanzhou: Gansu Science and Technology Press 甘肃科技出版社, 1990); Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac (Beijing: Economic Science Press 經濟科學出版社, 1992); Donald Worster’s Nature’s Economy: A History of Ecological Ideas (Beijing: Commercial Press 商務印書館, 1999) and Dust Bowl: The Southern Plains in the 1930s (Beijing: SDX Joint Publishing Company 三聯書店, 2003).
43 Bao Maohong, “Environmental History: History, Theories and Methods” 环境史: 歷史、理論與方法, Historiography Bimonthly 史學理論研究, no. 4 (2000): 70.
44 Gao Dai 高岱, “A Summary of Contemporary American Environmental History Research” 當代美國环境史研究综述, Developments in World History Studies 世界史研究動态, no. 8 (1990).
45 “A New Vision of African History Research: Environmental History” 非洲史研究的新視野, Historiography Bimonthly, no. 1 (2002). “A Review of South Africa’s Environment History Research” 南非环境史研究概述, West Asia and Africa 西亞非洲, no. 4 (2002). “New Progress in the Study of American Environmental History” 美國环境史研究的新进展, Chinese Academic 中國學術, no. 4 (2002). “Donald Worster and his Studies of U.S. Environmental History” 唐纳德·沃斯特和美國的环境史研究, Historiography Bimonthly, no. 2 (2003). “Survey of Chinese Environmental Historiography: An Interview with Prof. Mark Elvin,” Journal of Chinese Historical Geography 19, no. 1 (2004). “Environmental History, a New Thinking in Interpreting Chinese History: A Review of Mark Elvin’s New Book The Retreat of the Elephants: An Environmental History of China” 解釋中國歷史的新思维:环境史——評述伊懋可的新著 〈象之退隐: 中國环境史〉, Journal of Chinese Historical Geography, no. 3 (2005). “Martin Melosi and his Studies of the U. S. Urban Environmental History” 馬丁·麦樂西與美國城市环境史研究, Journal of Chinese Historical Geography, no. 4 (2004). “Environmental Change and Studies of Environmental History in Germany” 德國的环境變遷與环境史研究——訪德國环境史學家亞克西姆·纳得考, Historical Science, no. 10 (2004). “Environmental History in the United Kingdom” 英國的环境史研究, Journal of Chinese Historical Geography 20, no. 2 (2005). “A Review of the Research on Environmental History of Southeast Asia” 东南亞环境史研究述評, Southeast Asian Studies 东南亞研究, no. 4 (2008).
46 2002, Xia Mingfang and I started to co-edit the translation series of Ecology and Man, in which I proof-read the Chinese version of Dust Storm, and translated Fire: A brief history into Chinese (Beijing: SDX Joint Publishing Company, 2006). In 2007, I translated What is Environmental History? In 2005, Gao Guorong wrote his dissertation entitled “The Rise and Early Development of Environmental History in the United States” 环境史學在美國的興起及其早期發展研究.
47 Mark Elvin and Liu Ts’ui-jung eds., Sediments of Time: Environment and Society in Chinese History, Cambridge University Press, 1998. Liu Ts’ui-jung introduced this conference and its proceedings in his article “On the Study of China's Environmental History” 中國环境史研究刍議 (Nankai Journal, no. 2 (2006)). Bao Maohong also mentioned this conference in his articles “Survey of Chinese Environmental Historiography” and “Environmental History, a New Thinking in Interpreting Chinese History”.
48 Bao Maohong, “Environmental History, a New Thinking in Interpreting Chinese History: A Review of Mark Elvin’s New Book The Retreat of the Elephants: An Environmental History of China,” Journal of Chinese Historical Geography, no. 3 (2005): 93.
49 Robert Marks, “Why China?,” Environmental History, Vol. 10, no. 1 (2005).
50 Bao Maohong, “Environmental History: History, Theories and Methods,” Historiography Bimonthly no. 4 (2000): 70.
51 Wang Lin 王琳, “Tension and Intimacy: Environmental History and Historical Geography” 紧張與親密: 环境史与歷史地理學, Shandong University, 2006, p. 15.
52 About the differences between environmental history and historical geography, see Wang Yude 王玉德, “An Analysis of the Causes and Trends of the Upsurge of Environmental History Research—Also on the Disciplinary Attribute of Environmental History Research” 試析环境史研究热的缘由與走向——兼論环境史研究的學科属性, Jiangxi Social Sciences 江西社會科學, no. 3 (2007).
53 Zhu Shiguang 朱士光, “Views on Several Problems of the Environmental History Research in China” 关于中國环境史研究幾個問题之管見, Journal of Shanxi University 山西大學學報, no. 3 (2006).
54 Zhu Shiguang, “Views on Several Problems of the Environmental History Research in China,” Journal of Shanxi University, no. 3 (2006).
55 Yuan Lifeng 袁立峰, “Environmental History and New Thinking of History,” 环境史與历史新思维 Journal of Capital Normal University 首都师范大學學報, no. 5 (2007): 6. In Bao Maohong’s article “Environmental History in the United Kingdom” (Journal of Chinese Historical Geography 20, no. 2 (2005).), based on the historical geography thoughts of Clifford Darby, a famous British historical geographer, Bao summarizes the obvious differences between British historical geography and environmental history research when the topics get quite close, “The former emphasizes the use of modern geographical methods to restore the past geographical environment, while the latter emphasizes the use of historical narrative methods to show the changes in the interaction between human and the environment. The former deliberately emphasizes the transformation of the environment by human activities in order to avoid environmental determinism, while the latter does not avoid the impact of the environment on human beings and emphasizes the two-way interactions between them. The former mainly studies the rural historical and geographical changes in the pre-industrial era, and seldom involves the environmental changes in the urban and industrial era, while the latter studies the history of the Earth, from the Big Bang to the present changes in the relationship between human society and the environment. The former has a strong scientific orientation of geography, while the latter is based on postmodernism.
56 Mei Xueqin, Environmental History and Environmental Problems 环境史學與环境問题 (Beijing: People’s Publishing House 人民出版社, 2004), 39–63.
57 Mei Xueqin, “From Environmental History to the Written History of Environment: A Comprehension of the Studies of Environmental History” 从环境的歷史到环境史: 關於环境史研究的一種認識, Academic Research Journal 學術研究, no. 9 (2006).
58 William Cronon, “The Uses of Environmental History,” Environmental History Review 17, Vol. 17, no. 3 (1993): 13.
59 Li Genpan 李根蟠, “Perspective of Environmental History and Economic History Studies—A Contemplation around Agricultural History” 环境史視野與经济史研究——以農史为中心的思考, Nankai Journal, no. 2 (2006). Wang Lihua, “Environmental History as a Kind of New History” 作為一種新史學的环境史, Journal of Tsinghua University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), no. 1 (2008).
60 Gao Guorong, “Environmental History and Its Focus on the Role of Nature” 环境史及其對自然的重新書寫, Journal of Chinese Historical Geography, no. 1 (2007): 124.
61 Mei Xueqin, “What is Environmental History?—A Probe of J. Donald Hughes’s Thinking about the Theory of Environmental History,” Journal of Historiography, no. 4 (2008).
62 J. Donald Hughes, An Environmental History of the World: Humankind’s Changing Role in the Community of Life (Taylor & Francis Group, 2009), 5.
63 Bao Maohong, “Environmental History: History, Theories and Methods,” Historiography Bimonthly, no. 4 (2000): 71–2. On Bao’s definition of environmental history and his views, Jing Ai comments that it’s “an overcorrection”. He said, “In recent years, some scholars have proposed to build up a new historical system, that is, a system centered on the ecological environment, also known as ecocentrism. This kind of opinion is based on the dissatisfactions against traditional historiography, but after careful consideration, I found that it’s an overcorrection. (Jing Ai, “Environmental History Continuation,” Journal of Chinese Historical Geography 20, no. 4 (2005): 153) However, if we understand Bao Maohong’s definition of environmental history comprehensively and completely, as well as his generalization of the stages of environmental history and his analysis of eco-centered civilization, it can be seen that Jing’s so-called “historical system centered on the ecological environment” or “ecocentrism,” was a misunderstanding of Bao’s idea.
64 Yuan Lifeng, “Environmental History and New Thinking of History”, Journal of Capital Normal University, no. 5 (2007).
65 Bao Maohong, Forest and Development: The Deforestation in the Philippines (1946-1995) 森林與發展:菲律宾森林濫伐研究 (1946∼1995) (Beijing: China Environmental Science Press 中國环境科學出版社, 2008), 141–2.
66 Jing Ai, “Environmental History: Definition, Contents and Methods” 环境史: 定義、内容與方法, Journal of Historical Science, no. 3 (2004).
67 Gao Guorong, “What is Environmental History?” 什麼是环境史?, Journal of Zhengzhou University 鄭州大學學報, no. 1 (2005).
68 Wang Lihua, “On the Academic Domain of Environmental History and Its Position in Disciplines” 生態环境史的學術界域與學科定位, Academic Research Journal, no. 9 (2006).
69 Xueqin, Environmental History and Environmental Problems, 46.
70 Mei Xueqin, “From Environmental History to the Written History of Environment: A Comprehension of the Studies of Environmental History,” Academic Research Journal, no. 9 (2006).
71 Mei Xueqin, “On the Understanding of Human Existence in Environmental History and Its Significance” 論环境史對人的存在的認識及其意義, World History, no. 6 (2006).
72 Jing Ai, “Environmental History Continuation,” Journal of Chinese Historical Geography 20, no. 4 (2005): 153.
73 Gao Guorong, “What is Environmental History?,” Journal of Zhengzhou University, no. 1 (2005).
74 Jing Ai, “Environmental History Continuation,” Journal of Chinese Historical Geography 20, no. 4 (2005): 153.
75 Gao Guorong, “Environmental History and Interdisciplinary Studies” 环境史學與跨學科研究, World History, no. 5 (2005).
76 Gao Guorong, “What is Environmental History?,” Journal of Zhengzhou University, no. 1 (2005).
77 Xueqin, Environmental History and Environmental Problems, 46.
78 Bao Maohong, “Environmental History: History, Theories and Methods,” Historiography Bimonthly, no. 4, (2000).
79 Bao Maohong, “Martin Melosi and his Studies of the U. S. Urban Environmental History,” Journal of Chinese Historical Geography, no. 4 (2004).
80 Yuan Lifeng, “Environmental History and New Thinking of History,” Journal of Capital Normal University, no. 5 (2007).
81 Bao Maohong, “Environmental History: History, Theories and Methods,” Historiography Bimonthly, no. 4 (2000): 70.
82 Hou Wenhui, “Environmental History and Ecological Consciousness in Environmental History Studies” 环境史和环境史研究的生態學意識 zhengshi, World History, no. 3 (2004).
83 Li Genpan, “Perspective of Environmental History and Economic History Studies—A Contemplation around Agricultural History,” Nankai Journal, no. 2 (2006).
84 Lihua, “On the Academic Domain of Environmental History and Its Position in Disciplines.”
85 Yuan Lifeng, “Environmental History and New Thinking of History,” Journal of Capital Normal University, no. 5 (2007).
86 Zhu Shiguang, “A Pioneering Work in the Study of the Ecological History of the Northwest during the Qing Dynasty” 清代西北生態环境史研究的開篇之作, Guangming Daily, Oct. 2, 2005.
87 Li Genpan, “Perspective of Environmental History and Economic History Studies—A Contemplation around Agricultural History,” Nankai Journal, no. 2 (2006).
88 Mei Xueqin, “Environmental History: A New Historical Narrative” 环境史:一种新的歷史叙述, History Research and Teaching 歷史教學問题, no. 3 (2007).
89 James O’Connor, Natural Causes—Essays in Ecological Marxism (New York: Guilford, 1998), 65.
90 Ibid., 54.
91 Ibid., 62.
92 William Cronon, “A Place for Stories: Nature, History, and Narrative,” Journal of American History, Vol. 78, no. 4 (1992): 1369–70, 1372–73.
93 Xueqin, Environmental History and Environmental Problems, 6.
94 Mei Xueqin, “Reflections on the Significance of Environmental History Research” 關於环境史研究意義的思考, Academic Research, no. 8 (2007).
95 Donald Worster, “Why We Need Environmental History,” transl. Hou Shen, World History, no. 3 (2004).
96 See Nankai Journal, no. 2 (2006).
97 Wang Lihua, “Environmental History as a Kind of New History,” Journal of Tsinghua University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), no. 1 (2008).
98 Mei Xueqin, “Reflections on the Significance of Environmental History Research,” Academic Research, no. 8 (2007).
99 Bao Maohong, “Environmental History: History, Theories and Methods,” Historiography Bimonthly, no. 4 (2000).
100 Gao Guorong, “Environmental History and Interdisciplinary Studies,” World History, no. 5 (2005).
101 Wang Lihua, “Environmental History as a Kind of New History,” Journal of Tsinghua University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), no. 1 (2008).
102 Xueqin, Environmental History and Environmental Problems, 13.
103 Mei Xueqin, “Water Conservancy, Cholera and Other Subjects: Some Thoughts under the Theme of Environmental History,” 水利、霍亂及其他: 關於环境史之主题的若幹思考, Study & Exploration 學習與探索, no. 6 (2007).
104 Bao Maohong, “Environmental History: History, Theories and Methods,” Historiography Bimonthly, no. 4 (2000).
105 Hou Wenhui, “Dust Bowl and Its Contributions to Environmental History Research” ⟪塵暴⟫ 及其對环境史研究的貢獻, Journal of Historical Science, no. 3 (2004).
106 Jing Ai, “Environmental History: Definition, Contents and Methods,” Journal of Historical Science, no. 3, 2004. and Wang Yude, “An Analysis of the Causes and Trends of the Upsurge of Environmental History Research—Also on the Disciplinary Attribute of Environmental History Research,” Jiangxi Social Sciences, no. 3 (2007).
107 Shi Nan, “A Conception on the Stratified Study of Environmental History” 關於环境史分层研究的構想, Journal of Historical Science, no. 3 (2004).
108 His exact words are, “The rapidly emerging study of ecological history mainly examines the historical changes in the ecological environment since human activities, especially in the last 10,000 years. As for its academic background, it was born out of historical geography, especially the study of physical historical geography. (Wang Lihua, “Social Ecological History: A New Research Framework” 社會生态史: 一個新的研究框架, Journal of Social History Research 社會史研究通讯, no. 3 (2000)).
109 Wang Lihua, “Social Ecological History: A New Research Framework,” Journal of Social History Research, no. 3 (2000).
110 Lihua, “On the Academic Domain of Environmental History and Its Position in Disciplines.”
111 Ibid.
112 J. Donald Hughes, “Forward to Chinese Edition,” What is Environmental History?, trans. Mei Xueqin (Shanghai: Shanghai Pictorial Publishing House, 2021), 4.
113 Hou Wenhui, “Translator’s Preface,” Donald Worster, Nature’s Economy: A History of Ecological Ideas, transl. Hou Wenhui (Beijing: The Commercial Press, 1999), 2–6.
114 Hou Wenhui, “Environmental History and Ecological Consciousness in Environmental History Studies,” World History, no. 3 (2004).
115 Yuan Lifeng, “Environmental History and New Thinking of History,” Journal of Capital Normal University, no. 5 (2007).
116 Mei Xueqin, “Environmental History in the Late 20th Century and Its Academic Significance” 20 世纪晚期的环境史及其學術意義, Environmental History and Environmental Problems (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2004), 6.
117 Xueqin, Environmental History and Environmental Problems, 18.
118 Mei Xueqin, Environmental History and Environmental Problems (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2004), 25–6.
119 Mei Xueqin, “From ‘Great Men’ to ‘Common People’: “Human’ and Its Activities in Environmental History” 從 “帝王将相” 到 “平民百姓”——“人” 及其活動在环境史中的體現, see Environment and Society in Chinese History 中國歷史上的环境與社會, ed. Wang Lihua (Beijing: SDX Joint Publishing Company, 2007), 60–72.
120 Mei Xueqin, “On the Understanding of Human Existence in Environmental History and Its Significance,” World History, no. 6 (2006).
121 Bao Maohong, “Survey of Chinese Environmental Historiography: An Interview with Prof. Mark Elvin,” Journal of Chinese Historical Geography 19, no. 1 (2004): 128.
122 Hughes, What is Environmental History?, 4.
123 Yuan Lifeng, “Environmental History and New Thinking of History,” Journal of Capital Normal University, no. 5 (2007).
124 Mei Xueqin, “From Environmental History to the Written History of Environment: A Comprehension of the Studies of Environmental History,” Academic Research Journal, no. 9 (2006).
125 Lihua, “On the Academic Domain of Environmental History and Its Position in Disciplines.”
126 Wang Lihua, “Environmental History as a Kind of New History,” Journal of Tsinghua University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), no. 1, 2008; “The Study of the History of Ancient Ecological Environment and the Utilization of the Existent Documents” 上古生態环境史研究與傳世文献的利用, History Research and Teaching, no. 5 (2007).
127 Li Genpan, “Perspective of Environmental History and Economic History Studies—A Contemplation around Agricultural History,” Nankai Journal, no. 2 (2006).
128 Jing Ai, “Environmental History Continuation,” Journal of Chinese Historical Geography 20, no. 4 (2005): 157–8.
129 Bao Maohong, “Environmental History in China,” Environment and History 10, no. 4, 10th Anniversary Issue (November 2004).
130 Journals like Journal of Historical Science, Journal of Chinese Historical Geography, Academic Research Journal and Nankai Journal have opened up columns on environmental history, and others, such as Historical Research, World History, Historiography Bimonthly, etc., have also published articles on environmental history from time to time. One scholar has also specially counted the number and growth rate of the academic papers written by mainland Chinese scholars on the study of foreign environmental history in the 6 years since 2000. Tao Chanjuan 陶婵娟, “A Review of Research on Foreign Environmental History by Mainland Chinese Scholars (1999–2006)” 中國大陆學者关于國外环境史的研究综述 (1999∼2006), Journal of Honghe University 红河學院學报, no. 4 (2008).
131 For example: Cheng Suiying 程遂营, On the Ecological Environment of Kaifeng in the Tang and Song Dynasties 唐宋開封生態环境研究, Beijing: China Social Sciences Press 中國社會科學出版社, 2002; Wang Xingguang 王星光, Ecological Change and the Rise of the Xia Dynasty 生態环境變遷与夏代的興起探索, Beijing: Science Press, 2004; Zhang Min 張敏, The Rise and Fall of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Northern Wei in the Perspective of Eco-history 生態史学視野下的十六國北魏興衰, Wuhan: Hubei People’s Press 湖北人民出版社, 2004; Chao Xiaohong 钞曉鴻, Ecological Environment and Social Economy in the Ming and Qing Dynasties 生態环境与明清社會經濟, Hefei: Huangshan Publishing House 黄山書社, 2004; Zhao Zhen 趙珍, A Study of the Ecological Changes in Northwest China during the Qing Dynasty 清代西北生態變遷研究, Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2005; Wang Jiange 王建革, Agro-pastoral Ecology and Traditional Mongolian Society 農牧生態與傳统蒙古社會, Jinan: Shandong People’s Press 山東人民出版社, 2006; Han Maoli 韩茂莉, Grasslands and Fields: Agriculture and Environment in the Xiliao River Basin during the Liao and Jin Periods 草原與田園:辽金時期西辽河流域農牧业與环境, Beijing: SDX Joint Publishing Company, 2006; Zhou Qiong 周琼, Study on Miasma and Ecological Changes in Yunnan during the Qing Dynasty 清代云南瘴氣與生態變遷研究, Beijing: China Social Sciences Press, 2007; Bao Maohong, Forest and Development: The Deforestation in the Philippines (1946–1995).
132 Two recent works, Bao Maohong’s “Maritime Asia: A New Development of Environmental History Research,” 海洋亚洲: 环境史研究的新開拓 (Academic Research, no. 6, 2008) and Mao Da 毛達’s “Trash: An Important Research Field in Unban Environmental History,” 垃圾: 城市环境史研究的一個重要主题 (Journal of Beijing Normal University(Social Sciences), no. 3 (2008)) are the best works in this respect.
133 This has been recognized by Chinese and foreign scholars, See: Xia Mingfang, “The Tendency of Non-humanities in the Study of Disaster History in China,” Journal of Historical Science, no. 3 (2004): 17. Wang Lihua, “Environmental History as a Kind of New History,” Journal of Tsinghua University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), no. 1 (2008). Wang Lihua, “Review of the Eco-Social History Research Roundtable,” Historiography Bimonthly, no. 4 (2008). J. R. McNeill, “China’s Environmental History in World Perspective,” in Sediments of Time: Environment and Society in Chinese History, ed. Mark Elvin and Liu Ts’ui-Jung (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), 31–49; Robert Marks, “Why China?,” Environmental History, Vol. 10, no. 1 (2005).
134 Bao Maohong, “Environmental History in China,” Environment and History 10, no. 4, 10th Anniversary Issue (November 2004), 491–3.
135 Chao Xiaohong, Ecological Environment and Social Economy in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, 50–3.
136 Wang Yude, “An Analysis of the Causes and Trends of the Upsurge of Environmental History Research—Also on the Disciplinary Attribute of Environmental History Research,” Jiangxi Social Sciences, no. 3 (2007).
137 Bao Maohong, “Environmental History: History, Theories and Methods,” Historiography Bimonthly, no. 4 (2000).
138 Chinese scholars from different disciplines discussed many issues on environmental history and Chinese environmental history research at the “Eco-Social History Research Roundtable” 生態—社會史研究圓桌會議 held at Nankai University in July 2008. See: Wang Lihua, “Review of the Eco-Social History Research Roundtable,” Historiography Bimonthly, no. 4 (2008).
139 Lihua, “On the Academic Domain of Environmental History and Its Position in Disciplines.”
140 Meizu Xueqin, “A Marxist Outline of Environmental History,” 馬克思主义环境史學論綱, Journal of Historical Science, no. 3 (2004).
141 Shepard Krech III, J. R. McNeill, and Carolyn Merchant ed., “Introduction,” in Encyclopedia of World Environmental History, vol. 1 (New York: Routledge, 2004), xv.
142 Lihua, “On the Academic Domain of Environmental History and Its Position in Disciplines.”
143 Richard White, “Afterword Environmental History: Watching a Historical Field Mature,” The Pacific Historical Review, Vol. 70, no. 1 (2001): 103–11.
144 Bao Maohong, “New Progress in the Study of American Environmental History,” Chinese Academic, no. 4 (2004).
145 Gao Guorong, “The Development of Environmental History in the United States,” 环境史在美國的發展軌迹, Social Science Front, no. 6 (2008).
146 Hu Jinchu ed., History and Culture of Giant Panda (China Science and Culture Publishing House, 2008).
147 See: François Dosse, L’histoire en miettes: De Annales à la “nouvelle histoire,” trans. Ma Shengli 馬勝利 (Beijing: Peking University Press, 2008), 82 and back cover.
148 Hughes, What is Environmental History?, 142–3.