Examination of the changing patterns through which the physical environment and culture are mutually formed in late imperial and modern China. Culture includes creation of cosmological and social ideas as well as long term practices of settlement and utilization of the environment. In what ways did cultures represent limits to environmental exploitation? Special attention to how communities and the state respond to environmental disasters and explore the feedback loops for protection and prevention. Explores the importance of long-term understanding for the current environmental crisis in China.
