Yangzi Waters: Transforming the Water Regime of the Jianghan Plain in Late Imperial China

This book centers on the changes of polders and investigates the complex hydro-social relationships of the Jianghan Plain in late imperial China. Once a “hydraulic frontier” where local communities managed the polders, the Jianghan Plain became a state-led hydro-electric powerhouse by the mid-twentieth century. Through meticulous historical analysis, this book shows how water politics, cultural practice, and ecology interplayed and transformed the landscape and waterscape of the plain from a long-term perspective. By touching on topics such as religious beliefs, ethnic tension and militarization, the author reveals a plain in between nature and culture that has never been fully examined before.

Yan Gao, Ph.D., teaches in the Department of World Languages and Literatures at the University of Memphis. She specializes in social and environmental history of the central Yangzi valley, water history, and Asian environmental humanities.

"As a historial monograph Yangzi Waters is firmly based on a combination of clearly explained theory and well-picked, original material from local sources. This interesting study should not only be read by China specialists but should also appeal to historians interested in a comparative approach of water management within a global setting."
-Leonard Blussé, Leiden University, International Journal of Maritime History, 35(1)