Tides of History The State and the Environmental History of Early China: Interview with Professor Brian Lander
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Jan 4, 2024 Professor Brian Lander, author of The King's Harvest, discusses the environmental history of early China. Topics include the impact of human activities on the natural world, interpreting evidence, views of the natural world in ancient China, correlation between environmental factors and human society outcomes, state power and societal development, treatment of people as disposable commodities, and a recommendation for Professor Lander's book.
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Neolithic Farming Drove Early Biodiversity Loss
- Early Neolithic farmers already caused significant faunal loss and localized deforestation long before states.
- Zooarchaeology shows disappearance of large slow-breeding mammals like rhinoceros and soils show erosion under settlements.
Low Impact Farming Created Deer Habitats
- Some species benefited from low-intensity human landscapes: deer thrived in patchy cleared and burnt areas.
- This created a long-term human–deer relationship until western domesticates (cattle, sheep, goats) arrived.
Ancient Cosmology Doesn't Prove Environmental Policy
- Cosmological beliefs about linked natural forces were widespread, but it's hard to prove they directly shaped environmental management.
- Lander cautions that similar cosmologies exist across civilizations and linking them to practice is complex.