History of Water Conservancy Development in China -- Series of Thematic History Books

Author: Yao Han-yuan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: This book combs through historical records to briefly narrate the development of China's water conservancy industry from the legendary period of Yu the Great to the establishment of the People's Republic of China. The author divides the history of China's water conservancy development into six periods: (1) The preliminary development period, (2) The major development period centered on the Yellow River Basin, (3) The development toward the Jianghuai River Basin, (4) The period of fluctuating prosperity and decline in northern water conservancy and continuous development in the south, (5) The development toward the southeastern coastal areas and the Pearl River Basin, (6) The period of nationwide water conservancy from general development to decline. Each period is further divided into three main parts: flood control and river regulation, farmland water conservancy, and navigation engineering. Additionally, topics such as coastal defense, seawalls, urban water conservancy, hydropower utilization, water lifting tools, water control figures and literature are also extensively covered. After reading this book, one can gain a systematic and clear understanding of China's four thousand years of water conservancy development history. The book pays particular attention to the rise and fall of engineering projects, appearing as a history of engineering technology yet not entirely so. It touches slightly on the mutual constraints and influences between political economy and water conservancy, which are part of social development, but this aspect is far from sufficient to form a water conservancy history viewed from the perspective of economic development. It can only provide materials for experts concerned with this issue. In summary, the text is verbose and convoluted, making it not very readable, but it is still a book worth reading for beginners.