CHN 407/507: The Environment and Space in Early Chinese Literature

Cities of Aristocrats and Bureaucrats "This book provides an in-depth account of the process of transformation from the curfewed city of the Tang period to the open city of the Song. It analyses the multi-dimensional factors that gradually led to the development of an urban culture which in turn helped cement the trend towards the open city with its irregular layout and distinct urban tissue and silhouette."--BOOK JACKET.

Contemporary ecology research in China

Cultural Atlas of China by Caroline Blunden; Mark Elvin

Mountains and water : essays on the cultural ecology of south coastal China

Sediments of Time by Mark Elvin; Ts'ui-jung Liu; Alfred W. Crosby (Contribution by); Donald Worster (Contribution by) This collection of essays was the first relatively comprehensive survey of the environmental history of China. Written by some of the world's leading Western and Chinese experts, Sediments of Time crystallises a new and distinct field of scholarship that studies what happens when human social systems interact with the rest of the natural world. This book shows how deforestation, land-reclamation, settlement, and water-control, when mixed with an ever-changing climate, shape a distinct and often precarious environment. Pioneering essays explore new methodologies of historical environmental research, comparative perspectives setting China in the context of the West and Japan, and the impact of the early modern ecological transformation on the spread of diseases such as cholera and tuberculosis. This is an indispensable book for anyone who wants to understand either the foundations of modern China, or the deeper origins of many of China's most daunting contemporary challenges.

Urban Design Ethics in Ancient China by Gideon S. Golany Examines achitecture and urban design as a joint entity, using socio-cultural studies to develop a complete picture of the forces that shape Chinese design. This study incorporates information from other disciplines - history, archeology, anthropology - to elaborate the discussions and conclusions. It highlights the influence of Chinese thoughts, behavior and ethics upon the formation of their distinctive spatial form.