LEADER 04071nam 22006974a 450 001 9910452231603321 005 20210527215559.0 010 $a1-281-72302-9 010 $a9786611723026 010 $a0-300-13353-7 024 7 $a10.12987/9780300133530 035 $a(CKB)1000000000472100 035 $a(EBL)3419823 035 $a(OCoLC)923587147 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000237330 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11217888 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000237330 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10188785 035 $a(PQKB)11748533 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3419823 035 $a(DE-B1597)484906 035 $a(OCoLC)952732132 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780300133530 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3419823 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10167871 035 $a(CaONFJC)MIL172302 035 $a(EXLCZ)991000000000472100 100 $a20030801d2004 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurun#---|u||u 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 14$aThe retreat of the elephants$b[electronic resource] $ean environmental history of China /$fMark Elvin 210 $aNew Haven $cYale University Press$dc2004 215 $a1 online resource (593 p.) 300 $aDescription based upon print version of record. 311 0 $a0-300-10111-2 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [530]-547) and index. 327 $tFront matter --$tContents --$tList of Illustrations --$tAcknowledgments --$tPermissions --$tConventions --$tIntroductory Remarks --$t1. Landmarks and Time-marks --$t2. Humans v. Elephants: The Three Thousand Years War --$t3. The Great Deforestation: An Overview --$t4. The Great Deforestation: Regions and Species --$t5. War and the Logic of Short-term Advantage --$t6. Water and the Costs of System Sustainability --$t7. Richness to Riches: The Story of Jiaxing --$t8. Chinese Colonialism: Guizhou and the Miao --$t9. The Riddle of Longevity: Why Zunhua? --$t10. Nature as Revelation --$t11. Science and Superfauna --$t12. Imperial Dogma and Personal Perspectives --$tConcluding Remarks --$tNotes --$tBibliography --$tIndex 330 $aThis is the first environmental history of China during the three thousand years for which there are written records. It is also a treasure trove of literary, political, aesthetic, scientific, and religious sources, which allow the reader direct access to the views and feelings of the Chinese people toward their environment and their landscape. Elvin chronicles the spread of the Chinese style of farming that eliminated the habitat of the elephants that populated the country alongside much of its original wildlife; the destruction of most of the forests; the impact of war on the environmental transformation of the landscape; and the re-engineering of the countryside through water-control systems, some of gigantic size. He documents the histories of three contrasting localities within China to show how ecological dynamics defined the lives of the inhabitants. And he shows that China in the eighteenth century, on the eve of the modern era, was probably more environmentally degraded than northwestern Europe around this time. Indispensable for its new perspective on long-term Chinese history and its explanation of the roots of China's present-day environmental crisis, this book opens a door into the Chinese past. 606 $aHuman ecology$zChina$xHistory 606 $aElephants$xMigration$zChina 606 $aDeforestation$zChina$xHistory 606 $aEnvironmental degradation$zChina$xHistory 607 $aChina$xEnvironmental conditions 608 $aElectronic books. 615 0$aHuman ecology$xHistory. 615 0$aElephants$xMigration 615 0$aDeforestation$xHistory. 615 0$aEnvironmental degradation$xHistory. 676 $a304.2/0951 686 $aAR 13962$2rvk 700 $aElvin$b Mark$0642100 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910452231603321 996 $aThe retreat of the elephants$92479245 997 $aUNINA