American Geographical Society

China by Yi-Fu TuanReview by: Theodore HermanGeographical Review, Vol. 61, No. 3 (Jul., 1971), pp. 463-464Published by: American Geographical SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/213444 .

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GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS

multipurpose development. The Swiss experimental farm, which is part of this program, attracts considerable interest from people in the area, but its full impact on the economy is difficult to measure. However, this reviewer has noticed that some modem farming practices being carried on at the demonstration farm, including livestock and pasture improvement and seed and tool experimentation, are being adopted. The relatively small Swiss aid pro- gram in Nepal has been quite successful. Unlike the American, Indian, Russian, and Chinese

projects, the Swiss have no intention of making a rapid nationwide impact with their aid in Jiri.

Land-use maps comprise a substantial body of original material in the volume, and the extensive use of maps, flow charts, and tables to illustrate spatial aspects oftheJiri economy strengthens the work. However, on page 22 the outline base map has been reproduced from the Survey of India topographic sheet without acknowledgment, and on page 28 a map of

Nepalese transportation from the reviewer's "Nepal: A Cultural and Physical Geography" (Lexington, Ky., 1960) has also been included without acknowledgment.

In a carefully limited context Schmid's study should be of interest to students of develop- mental change as well as of contemporary Nepal.-P. P. KARAN

CHINA. By YI-Fu TUAN. xi and 225 pp.; maps, diagrs., ills., bibliogr., index. (The World's

Landscapes.) Aldine Publishing Company, Chicago; Longman Group Ltd., London; 1969. $5.95 (hardbound); $2.45 (paperbound). 82 x 52 inches.

A tremendous amount of work has been invested in the compilation and writing of this small book. In it Professor Tuan, one of my favorite authors, has traced the imprint of China's material culture on the landscape since prehistoric time. In addition, his full bibliography, mostly of English-language sources, is of great value to the student.

The first section discusses the physical patterns in somewhat standard fashion, emphasiz- ing processes of change in landforms, streams, climate, soils, and vegetation. There is some regional treatment, but it is subordinated to evidence of change that is largely natural. The second section, "Landscape and Life in Chinese Antiquity," is difficult reading, for here Tuan reconstructs landscape and life from Neolithic times to the third century before Christ, the end of the feudal states. He grapples with the causes of climatic change since the end of the Pleistocene from a warmer and more humid setting to one of increasing aridity as man

spread over China. Although the people depended on fish and game, as they continued to do into the twentieth century, cropping spread rapidly until in the third century before Christ the political form of the imperial Chinese state took shape, based on the control of large-scale irrigation systems.

From that time, Chinese culture diffused steadily outward, especially to the east and to the south. This culture, borrowing and transplanting, carried Han institutions and techniques into different environments and stamped them strongly on the earth. The next section, "Landscape and Life in Imperial China," is the fullest in the book, for it includes changes in population numbers and distribution, land use, the growth and function of cities, architecture, and landscape. Contemporary comments on farm organization, natural beauty, forest con- servation, urban life, and frontier conquest enliven this long period of two thousand years. We learn that this was a period of much innovation, slow but steady, and certainly not one of unbroken poverty and oppression such as we associate with China in the decline of the

multipurpose development. The Swiss experimental farm, which is part of this program, attracts considerable interest from people in the area, but its full impact on the economy is difficult to measure. However, this reviewer has noticed that some modem farming practices being carried on at the demonstration farm, including livestock and pasture improvement and seed and tool experimentation, are being adopted. The relatively small Swiss aid pro- gram in Nepal has been quite successful. Unlike the American, Indian, Russian, and Chinese

projects, the Swiss have no intention of making a rapid nationwide impact with their aid in Jiri.

Land-use maps comprise a substantial body of original material in the volume, and the extensive use of maps, flow charts, and tables to illustrate spatial aspects oftheJiri economy strengthens the work. However, on page 22 the outline base map has been reproduced from the Survey of India topographic sheet without acknowledgment, and on page 28 a map of

Nepalese transportation from the reviewer's "Nepal: A Cultural and Physical Geography" (Lexington, Ky., 1960) has also been included without acknowledgment.

In a carefully limited context Schmid's study should be of interest to students of develop- mental change as well as of contemporary Nepal.-P. P. KARAN

CHINA. By YI-Fu TUAN. xi and 225 pp.; maps, diagrs., ills., bibliogr., index. (The World's

Landscapes.) Aldine Publishing Company, Chicago; Longman Group Ltd., London; 1969. $5.95 (hardbound); $2.45 (paperbound). 82 x 52 inches.

A tremendous amount of work has been invested in the compilation and writing of this small book. In it Professor Tuan, one of my favorite authors, has traced the imprint of China's material culture on the landscape since prehistoric time. In addition, his full bibliography, mostly of English-language sources, is of great value to the student.

The first section discusses the physical patterns in somewhat standard fashion, emphasiz- ing processes of change in landforms, streams, climate, soils, and vegetation. There is some regional treatment, but it is subordinated to evidence of change that is largely natural. The second section, "Landscape and Life in Chinese Antiquity," is difficult reading, for here Tuan reconstructs landscape and life from Neolithic times to the third century before Christ, the end of the feudal states. He grapples with the causes of climatic change since the end of the Pleistocene from a warmer and more humid setting to one of increasing aridity as man

spread over China. Although the people depended on fish and game, as they continued to do into the twentieth century, cropping spread rapidly until in the third century before Christ the political form of the imperial Chinese state took shape, based on the control of large-scale irrigation systems.

From that time, Chinese culture diffused steadily outward, especially to the east and to the south. This culture, borrowing and transplanting, carried Han institutions and techniques into different environments and stamped them strongly on the earth. The next section, "Landscape and Life in Imperial China," is the fullest in the book, for it includes changes in population numbers and distribution, land use, the growth and function of cities, architecture, and landscape. Contemporary comments on farm organization, natural beauty, forest con- servation, urban life, and frontier conquest enliven this long period of two thousand years. We learn that this was a period of much innovation, slow but steady, and certainly not one of unbroken poverty and oppression such as we associate with China in the decline of the

463 463

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THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

last two hundred years. The work of Professor Ho Ping-ti is cited to show the increased

pressure on slope land with the introduction of New World crops since the seventeenth

century. For the modern period, 1850 to 1950, the key causes of change are the cumulative effects

of population growth, of industrialization under Western influence, and of Chinese Com- munist economic direction. Change is clearly reflected in the developments since 1950 that are markedly counteracting the former export-import orientation along the east coast. Collectivized farmland, urban centers, large-scale mining, water conservancy, railroads-all these show extensive changes in pattern under a government of centralized power. As part of the explanation of the spatial changes, I would certainly add the experience of the Sino-

Japanese War (1937-1945), which stimulated the opening of the vast interior for modem

development. This review began with a strong tribute to the author's tremendous labors in assembly

and presentation. Yet somehow, after three readings, the book still does not reach my spatial sensibilities as it should. The reason, as I see it, is the lack of cultural spatial conceptualization. Skinner on marketing centers and a bit of Lattimore on frontier sinicization are used, but Chi

Ch'ao-ting on key economic areas, a much more basic theme, is not. Nor are the ideas of such scholars as Spencer, Wittfogel, and Buchanan. Surely fewer spot details and more map diagrams would have helped.

Professor Tuan has emphasized rapid change in technology, less change in institutions, and hardly any in ideas until 185o and after. The reader who applies a cultural analysis to the Chinese landscape, both traditional and contemporary, asks what group values appear on the Good Earth under such headings as the relation between man and nature (heaven), between man and man today, or between man and his descendants. The discussion of such values would, I feel, provide the reader with more understanding of the interaction of culture and landscape than now appears. Both the subject and the author's careful work lead to such expectations.-THEODORE HERMAN

SETTLEMENT AND ENCOUNTER: Geographical Studies Presented to Sir Grenfell Price. Edited by FAY GALE and GRAHAM H. LAWTON. xviii and 251 pp.; maps, diagrs., ills., bibliogr., index. Oxford University Press, Melbourne, London, and elsewhere, 1969. $6.50 (hardbound); $3.75 (paperbound). 82 x 512 inches.

Geography as a discipline has a relatively brief history in Australia and has produced only a handful of scholars of international repute. One of these few is Sir Archibald Grenfell Price, to whom homage has been paid by the publication of this volume of research studies. The eleven persons, authors and editors, who contributed to thefestschrift have all been associated with Sir Grenfell at the University of Adelaide. Some were his students and/or colleagues in the Department of Geography, others were students resident in St. Mark's College, of which Sir Grenfell was both Master and historian for many years. The organizers of the volume span the history of the department at Adelaide. Ann Marshall, who wrote the de- lightful biographical appreciation that opens the book, was cofounder with Sir Grenfell of the department; Fay Gale, coeditor of the volume, is the youngest staff member in point of service; and Graham Lawton, the other editor, is the Professor of Geography in the depart- ment. The brief but warm Foreword is by Sir Robert Menzies, who for eighteen years was Prime Minister of Australia and who has long been a personal friend of Archie Price.

last two hundred years. The work of Professor Ho Ping-ti is cited to show the increased

pressure on slope land with the introduction of New World crops since the seventeenth

century. For the modern period, 1850 to 1950, the key causes of change are the cumulative effects

of population growth, of industrialization under Western influence, and of Chinese Com- munist economic direction. Change is clearly reflected in the developments since 1950 that are markedly counteracting the former export-import orientation along the east coast. Collectivized farmland, urban centers, large-scale mining, water conservancy, railroads-all these show extensive changes in pattern under a government of centralized power. As part of the explanation of the spatial changes, I would certainly add the experience of the Sino-

Japanese War (1937-1945), which stimulated the opening of the vast interior for modem

development. This review began with a strong tribute to the author's tremendous labors in assembly

and presentation. Yet somehow, after three readings, the book still does not reach my spatial sensibilities as it should. The reason, as I see it, is the lack of cultural spatial conceptualization. Skinner on marketing centers and a bit of Lattimore on frontier sinicization are used, but Chi

Ch'ao-ting on key economic areas, a much more basic theme, is not. Nor are the ideas of such scholars as Spencer, Wittfogel, and Buchanan. Surely fewer spot details and more map diagrams would have helped.

Professor Tuan has emphasized rapid change in technology, less change in institutions, and hardly any in ideas until 185o and after. The reader who applies a cultural analysis to the Chinese landscape, both traditional and contemporary, asks what group values appear on the Good Earth under such headings as the relation between man and nature (heaven), between man and man today, or between man and his descendants. The discussion of such values would, I feel, provide the reader with more understanding of the interaction of culture and landscape than now appears. Both the subject and the author's careful work lead to such expectations.-THEODORE HERMAN

SETTLEMENT AND ENCOUNTER: Geographical Studies Presented to Sir Grenfell Price. Edited by FAY GALE and GRAHAM H. LAWTON. xviii and 251 pp.; maps, diagrs., ills., bibliogr., index. Oxford University Press, Melbourne, London, and elsewhere, 1969. $6.50 (hardbound); $3.75 (paperbound). 82 x 512 inches.

Geography as a discipline has a relatively brief history in Australia and has produced only a handful of scholars of international repute. One of these few is Sir Archibald Grenfell Price, to whom homage has been paid by the publication of this volume of research studies. The eleven persons, authors and editors, who contributed to thefestschrift have all been associated with Sir Grenfell at the University of Adelaide. Some were his students and/or colleagues in the Department of Geography, others were students resident in St. Mark's College, of which Sir Grenfell was both Master and historian for many years. The organizers of the volume span the history of the department at Adelaide. Ann Marshall, who wrote the de- lightful biographical appreciation that opens the book, was cofounder with Sir Grenfell of the department; Fay Gale, coeditor of the volume, is the youngest staff member in point of service; and Graham Lawton, the other editor, is the Professor of Geography in the depart- ment. The brief but warm Foreword is by Sir Robert Menzies, who for eighteen years was Prime Minister of Australia and who has long been a personal friend of Archie Price.

464 464

This content downloaded from 169.229.32.137 on Thu, 8 May 2014 21:29:50 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions