B-V49: Rivers of Empire, Trees of Nation: Environment and State in China’s Inner Asian Frontiers

Virtual Organizer(s)

• YG

  Yuan Gao

  Georgetown University, United States

Virtual Chair(s)

• JS

  Jonathan Schlesinger

  Indiana University, United States

Virtual Paper Presenter(s)

• AP

  Anne-Sophie Pratte

  University of Montreal, Canada
• XZ

  Xue Zhang

  Tel Aviv University, Israel
• YG

  Yuan Gao

  Georgetown University, United States
• LP

  Larissa Pitts

  Quinnipiac University, United States

Virtual Discussant(s)

• JS

  Jonathan Schlesinger

  Indiana University, United States

Session Abstract: This panel explores Qing and early Republican China’s Inner Asian frontiers through the lens of environmental history. Building on recent works in the history of China and Inner Asia that emphasize human-nature interactions, the presentations jointly examine how the Qing and Republican states perceived, charted, and interacted with the diverse ecological landscapes of this vast Eurasian landmass. Bringing together the regions of Xinjiang, Mongolia, and Manchuria, this panel focuses on the articulation of state-society relations around the administration of natural resources from the late eighteenth to the early twentieth century. The presentations first highlight the significance of water resources in Inner Asia that often provided orientation and incentives for military expansion, state administration, and settlements in the borderlands. Second, we investigate the state’s systematic effort in building the infrastructure, such as irrigation and forestry management, to regulate natural resources in the borderland regions towards the early twentieth century. These efforts reflected China’s transition towards a nationalized modern state in the early twentieth century. Lastly, we pay attention to the importance of local peoples’ knowledge in their interaction with the environment. We show that local perspectives and expertise, though often not well-represented in the state narratives, were indispensable for the state to make sense of frontier regions. They supplied vital information for imperial cartographers, water workers, and policy-makers. Together, we strive to show that the environment played an important role in shaping China’s strategic choices in Inner Asia.

Presentations:

• Mapping Steppe and Rivers in Qing Mongolia
  

  Virtual Paper Presenter: Anne-Sophie Pratte – University of Montreal
• Water Matters: The Forming of a Fiscal Vision of Southern Xinjiang from the 1820s to the 1840s
  

  Virtual Paper Presenter: Xue Zhang – Tel Aviv University
• Water on Sand: Building Irrigation in Early Republican Xinjiang
  

  Virtual Paper Presenter: Yuan Gao – Georgetown University
• Planting National Trees in the Borderlands: The Ecological Impact of Republican National Forest Policy on Jilin Province
  

  Virtual Paper Presenter: Larissa Pitts – Quinnipiac University