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ABSTRACT
In addition to examining how wartime imperatives shaped the agricultural research, demonstration, and extension programs undertaken by the Nationalist government’s Tianshui Water and Soil Conservation Experiment Area (the Experiment Area) after its founding in 1942, this article assesses the rural populace’s responses to these conservation measures. While the Experiment Area’s plans to construct terraces and ditches were not well suited to the socioeconomic and environmental conditions that existed in rural Gansu during the 1940s, its introduction of non-native tree and grass species to check water and soil loss met with an enthusiastic response from Tianshui’s populace. Water and soil conservation specialists aspired to rationalize human interactions with the environment as part of wartime efforts to develop the northwest, but to realize these goals they had to take socioecological realities in the region and the needs of rural residents into account. Wartime conservation’s environmental legacies, the article also shows, extended into the period after 1949.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Glossary
| ailin guannian | = | 爱林观念 |
| baihua caomuxi | = | 白花草木樨 |
| baobei cao | = | 宝贝草 |
| baochi tudi yongjiu shengchan nengli zhi yuanze | = | 保持土地永久生产能力之原则 |
| baoxu | = | 保蓄 |
| caodai | = | 草带 |
| caomuxi | = | 草木樨 |
| chaihuang | = | 柴荒 |
| chonghua | = | 重画 |
| cihuai | = | 刺槐 |
| Daliushugou | = | 大柳树沟 |
| dibian geng | = | 地边埂 |
| di jin qi li zhi fangfa | = | 地尽其利之方法 |
| Chongqing | = | 重庆 |
| Chongqing tongyou yanjiusuo | = | 重庆桐油研究所 |
| Deguo huai | = | 德国槐 |
| Emeishan linye shiyanchang | = | 峨眉山林业试验场 |
| Gansu | = | 甘肃 |
| gaijin tudi | = | 改进土地 |
| Guangxi | = | 广西 |
| Guoli Xibei jishu zhuanke xuexiao | = | 国立西北技术专科学校 |
| huailü | = | 怀虑 |
| Huanghe shuili weiyuanhui | = | 黄河水利委员会 |
| Huanghe shuitu baochi Tianshui zhili jiandu ju | = | 黄河水土保持天水治理监督局 |
| huanghua caomuxi | = | 黄花草木樨 |
| Huangtu gaoyuan | = | 黄土高原 |
| huaxia minzu de faxiangdi | = | 华夏民族的发祥地 |
| Hunan | = | 湖南 |
| jianshe Xibei | = | 建设西北 |
| Jiangyin | = | 江阴 |
| kaifa bianjiang | = | 开发边疆 |
| Liangjiaping | = | 梁家坪 |
| Liguanwan | = | 李官湾 |
| Liucheng linchang | = | 柳城林场 |
| Liuzhou kenhuangju | = | 柳州垦荒局 |
| Longnan shuitu baochi shiyanqu | = | 陇南水土保持实验区 |
| Longwanggou | = | 龙王沟 |
| Longxi nongmin yinhang | = | 陇西农民银行 |
| Lüergou | = | 呂二沟 |
| Ma Xiaolin | = | 马效林 |
| Ma Zhanbiao | = | 马占彪 |
| Mi Jihou | = | 米积厚 |
| mucao yuanzhongchang | = | 牧草原种场 |
| Mu Dezi | = | 穆德子 |
| Nanjing | = | 南京 |
| Nonglinbu | = | 农林部 |
| Nongminjie dahui | = | 农民节大会 |
| Qingdao | = | 青岛 |
| Qinghai | = | 青海 |
| Ren Chengtong | = | 任承统 |
| Shaanxi | = | 陕西 |
| shengtu | = | 生土 |
| shengwu zhili | = | 生物治理 |
| shengzhi nengli | = | 生殖能力 |
| Shimaping | = | 石马坪 |
| shitu | = | 失土 |
| shouyi | = | 受益 |
| shuitu baochi | = | 水土保持 |
| Shandong | = | 山东 |
| Sichuan | = | 四川 |
| teyue nongjia | = | 特约农家 |
| Tianjiazhuang | = | 田家庄 |
| Tianshui | = | 天水 |
| Tianshui nongye tuiguangsuo | = | 天水农业推广所 |
| Tianshui san da bao | = | 天水三大宝 |
| Tianshui shuitu baochi kexue shiyanzhan | = | 天水水土保持科学试验站 |
| Tianshui shuitu baochi shiyanqu | = | 天水水土保持实验区 |
| titian gouxu | = | 梯田沟洫 |
| wangpai shuzhong | = | 王牌树种 |
| Wei Zhanggen | = | 魏章根 |
| xianfeng shuzhong | = | 先锋树种 |
| Xibei kaochatuan | = | 西北考察团 |
| Xibei nongxueyuan | = | 西北农学院 |
| xuanchuan | = | 宣传 |
| Yan Wenguang | = | 闫文广 |
| yang muxu | = | 洋苜蓿 |
| Yang Shirong | = | 杨世荣 |
| Ye Peizhong | = | 叶培忠 |
| yu si | = | 淤死 |
| zigeng nongmin | = | 自耕农民 |
| Zongli lingyuan | = | 总理陵园 |
Notes
1 Dong Xianghua, “Jiefang qianhou Tianshui shuitu baochi keyan shiyan gongzuo,” 379; and Gao Jishan, “Zhongguo shuitu baochi shihua (caogao),” 64.
2 Muscolino, The Ecology of War in China.
3 Muscolino, “Woodlands, Warlords, and Wasteful Nations.”
4 Laakkonen, Tucker, and Vuorisalo, “Hypotheses: World War II and Its Shadows,” 323.
5 Muscolino, “Refugees, Land Reclamation, and Militarized Landscapes in Wartime China.”
6 Dong Xianghua, “Jiefang qian de Tianshui shuitu baochi gongzuo”; Dong Xianghua “Jiefang qianhou Tianshui shuitu baochi keyan shiyan gongzuo”; Yang Hongwei, “1940 niandai de Tianshui shuitu baochi shiyanqu shulun”; and Mo Shiao, “Zhongguo shuitu baochi de faxiangdi – Tianshui.”
7 Ren Chengtong, “Jianshe Xibei yu shuitu baochi,” 470. In late 1940, Ren Chengtong set up China’s first water and soil conservation research organ, the Longnan Water and Soil Conservation Experiment Area (Longnan shuitu baochi shiyanqu), which was also based in Tianshui, on behalf of the central government’s Yellow River Conservancy Commission (Huanghe shuili weiyuanhui), but it soon folded due to lack of funds and bureaucratic in-fighting. After 1943, Ren worked as an advisor to the Tianshui Water and Soil Conservation Experiment Area. Zhongguo kexue jishu xiehui, Zhongguo kexue jishu zhuanjia zhuanlue, 156–167. On Ren Chengtong’s earlier career see Muscolino, “Woodlands, Warlords, and Wasteful Nations.”
8 Ye Peizhong, “Xu,” in Nonglinbu shuitu baochi shiyanqu, San nian lai zhi Tianshui shuitu baochi shiyanqu (1946), a book found in Tianshui shuitu baochi shiyanqu dang’an, file no. 20-59-013-03.
9 Wei Zhanggen, “Titian gouxu zhi sheji yu shishi,” 59. My research has unfortunately not uncovered any biographical information on Wei Zhanggen.
10 Wei Zhanggen, “Titian gouxu zhi sheji yu shishi,” 59.
11 Ibid.
12 Ibid., 60.
13 Ibid., 64.
14 On Lowdermilk’s research in China during the 1920s see Muscolino, “Woodlands, Warlords, and Wasteful Nations.”
15 “San nian lai zhi Tianshui shuitu baochi shiyanqu,” 3. See also Wei Zhanggen, “Titian gouxu zhi sheji yu shishi,” 72; Mo Shiao, “Huanghe shuili weiyuanhui Tianshui shuitubaochi kexue shiyanzhan zhanzhi,” 124; Tianshui shi difangzhi bianweihui, Tianshui shizhi, 1111–1112, and 1115; Tianshui shi kexue jishu zhi bianjibu, Tianshui shi keji jishu zhi, 611–612.
16 Yan Wenguang, “Minguo shiqi shuitu baochi zhi zui,” 73. See also Wei Zhanggen, “Titian gouxu zhi sheji yu shishi,” 72; Mo Shiao, “Huanghe shuili weiyuanhui Tianshui shuitu baochi kexue shiyanzhan zhanzhi,” 124; Tianshui shi difangzhi bianweihui, Tianshui shizhi, 1112, and 1115; and Tianshui shi keji jishu zhi bianjibu, Tianshui shi keji jishu zhi, 611–612. Born in Xi’an in 1920, Yan Wenguang found employment as a technician at the Tianshui Water and Soil Conservation Experiment Area in 1944 after he graduated from the water conservancy section at National Northwest Technical School (Guoli Xibei jishu zhuanke xuexiao). Yan went on working at the Tianshui Water and Soil Conservation Experiment Area for forty years and served as its director for a time. Xiang Hua, “Gansu shuitu baochi gongzuo de jiwei kaichuangzhe,” 167–168; and Mo Shiao, “Huanghe shuili weiyuanhui Tianshui shuitu baochi kexue shiyanzhan zhanzhi,” 220.
17 Wei Zhanggen, “Titian gouxu zhi sheji yu shishi,” 73.
18 Yan Wenguang, “Minguo shiqi shuitu baochi zhi zui,” 73.
19 Ibid.
20 Ibid., 74.
21 Wei Zhanggen, “Titian gouxu zhi sheji yu shishi,” 73–74. See also Yan Wenguang, “Minguo shiqi shuitu baochi zhi zui,” 74.
22 Yan Wenguang, “Minguo shiqi shuitu baochi zhi zui,” 74. On difficulties that landlord-tenant relations created for conservation work, see also Nonglinbu shuitu baochi shiyanqu sanshiliu niandu shangbannian gongzuo jindu jiantao baogao biao [Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Water and Soil Conservation Experiment Area Work Progress Examination Report Table for the First Half of 1947] (July 1947), Nonglinbu Tianshui shuitu baochi shiyanqu dang’an, file no. 27-2-39.
23 The report indicated that planting grass strips on the edge of terraces exposed a wider area to sunlight and air, which caused moisture to evaporate easily and dried the soil. For that reason, grass did not grow well. Nonglinbu shuitu baochi shiyanqu sanshiqi niandu shangbannian gongzuo jindu jiantao baogao biao [Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Water and Soil Conservation Experiment Area Work Progress Examination Report Table for the First Half of 1948] (July 1948), Nonglinbu Tianshui shuitu baochi shiyanqu dang’an, file no. 27-2-46. The same report appears in Nonglinbu shuitu baochi shiyanqu sanshiqi niandu zhengji bijiao biao [Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Water and Soil Conservation Experiment Area 1948 Achievement Comparison Table] (January 1949), Nonglinbu Tianshui shuitu baochi shiyanqu dang’an, file no. 27-2-49. See also Mo Shiao, “Huanghe shuili weiyuanhui Tianshui shuitu baochi kexue shiyanzhan zhanzhi,” 24.
24 Nonglinbu shuitu baochi shiyanqu sanshiqi niandu shangbannian gongzuo jindu jiantao baogao biao (July 1948), Nonglinbu Tianshui shuitu baochi shiyanqu dang’an, file no. 27-2-46; Nonglinbu shuitu baochi shiyanqu sanshiqi niandu zhengji bijiao biao (January 1949), Nonglinbu Tianshui shuitu baochi shiyanqu dang’an, file no. 27-2-49.
25 Mo Shiao, “Huanghe shuili weiyuanhui Tianshui shuitubaochi kexue shiyanzhan zhanzhi, 124–125.
26 Tianshui shi difangzhi bianzuan weiyuanhui, Tianshui shizhi, 1115; and Mo Shiao, “Huanghe shuili weiyuanhui Tianshui shuitu baochi kexue shiyanzhan zhanzhi,” 124–125.
27 The pasturage station’s activities are described in Li Ronghua, “Minguo Tianshui shuitu baochi shiyanqu mucao pinzhong de xuanyu.”
28 Zhongguo kexue jishu xiehui, Zhongguo kexue jishu zhuanjia zhuanlue, 199–214.
29 Mo Shiao, “Caomuxi shihua,” 102.
30 Cheng Xingzhengyuan [Report to the Executive Yuan] (Jan. 9, 1945), Tianshui shuitu baochi shiyanqu dang’an, file no. 20-59-011-08.
31 Quanguo mucao pinzhong shending weiyuanhui, Zhongguo mucao dengji pinzhong ji, 151. See also Mo Shiao, “Woguo caomuxi de yinzhong tuiguang jingguo,” 67; and “San nian lai zhi Tianshui shuitu baochi shiyanqu,” 8.
32 Mo Shiao, “Caomuxi shihua,” 102; Tianshui shi kexue jishu zhi bianjibu, Tianshui shi kexue jishu zhi, 609.
33 Yan Wenguang, “Minguo shiqi shuitu baochi zhi zui,” 72–73. See also Mo Shiao, “Caomuxi shihua,” 102; and Dong Xianghua, “Jiefang qian de Tianshui shuitu baochi gongzuo,” 119–120.
34 Ren Chengtong, “Gansu shuitu baochi shiyanqu zhi kancha,” 7.
35 Yan Wenguang, “Minguo shiqi shuitu baochi zhi zui,” 72–73. See also Mo Shiao, “Caomuxi shihua,” 102; and Dong Xianghua, “Jiefang qian de Tianshui shuitu baochi gongzuo,” 119–120.
36 Nonglinbu shuitu, baochi shiyanqu sanshiwu niandu zhengji bijiao biao [Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Water and Soil Conservation Experiment Area 1946 Achievement Comparison Table] (January 1947), Nonglinbu Tianshui shuitu baochi shiyanqu dang’an, file no. 27-2-63.
37 Nonglinbu shuitu baochi shiyanqu sanshiliu nian qiyuefen gongzuo yuebao biao [Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Water and Soil Conservation Experiment Area July 1947 Monthly Work Report Table] (August 1947), Nonglinbu Tianshui shuitu baochi shiyanqu dang’an, file no. 27-2-39. For another copy of the document, see Tianshui shuitu baochi shiyanqu dang’an, file no. 20-59-014-04.
38 Mo Shiao, “Caomuxi shihua,” 102.
39 Nonglinbu shuitu baochi shiyanqu sanshiliu nian qiyuefen gongzuo yuebao biao (August 1947), Nonglinbu Tianshui shuitu baochi shiyanqu dang’an, file no. 27-2-39. See also Mo Shiao, “Caomuxi shihua,” 102.
40 Nonglinbu shuitu baochi shiyanqu sanshiqi nian jiu yuefen gongzuo jianbao biao [Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Water and Soil Conservation Experiment Area September 1948 Brief Work Report Table] (October 1948), Tianshui shuitu baochi shiyanqu dang’an, file no. 20-59-015-04. On planting demonstrations conducted by the Tianshui Agricultural Extension Office and the Longxi Farmers Bank, see also Mo Shiao, “Caomuxi shihua,” 102.
41 Nonglinbu shuitu baochi shiyanqu sanshiqi niandu zhengji bijiao biao (January 1949), Nonglinbu Tianshui shuitu baochi shiyanqu dang’an, file no. 27-2-49. See also Nonglinbu shuitu baochi shiyanqu sanshiqi nian jiu yuefen gongzuo jianbao biao, (October 1948), Tianshui shuitu baochi shiyanqu dang’an, file no. 20-59-015-04.
42 Yan Wenguang, “Minguo shiqi shuitu baochi zhi zui,” 72–73. Other sources state that one sheng of grain could be traded for one sheng of sweet clover. Mo Shiao, “Caomuxi shihua,” 102.
43 Mo Shiao, “Caomuxi shihua,” 102.
44 Dong Xianghua, “Jiefang qian de Tianshui shuitu baochi gongzuo,” 119–120; Gao Jishan, “Zhongguo shuitu baochi shihua (caogao),” 64. See also Mo Shiao, “Caomuxi shihua,” 102–103.
45 Mo Shiao, “Woguo caomuxi de yinzhong tuiguang jingguo,” 67.
46 Nonglinbu shuitu baochi shiyanqu sanshisan niandu zhengji bijiao biao” [Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Water and Soil Conservation Experiment Area 1944 Achievement Comparison Table] (January 1944), Nonglinbu shuitu baochi shiyanqu dang’an, file no. 27-2-44.
47 Yan Wenguang, “Minguo shiqi shuitu baochi zhi zui,” 72.
48 Wan Huiyu, “Jiefang qian de Tianshui linye,” 88; Tianshui shuitu baochi kexue shiyanzhan, “Tianshui diqu de yanghuai gougu zaolin,” 93; Jiang Shikui, “Yanghuai zaipei jingyan ji qi shuitu baochi xiaoyi de ceyan,” 181; and Jiang Shikui and Zhang Bingzhong, “Weihe shangyou yanghuai shuitu baochilin yanjiu baogao,” 124.
49 Yan Wenguang, “Minguo shiqi shuitu baochi zhi zui,” 72. See also Wan Huiyu, “Jiefang qian de Tianshui linye,” 88.
50 Tianshui shi kexue jishu zhi bianjibu, Tianshui shi kexue jishu zhi, 606.
51 Yan Wenguang, “Minguo shiqi shuitu baochi zhi zui,” 73. See also Gao Jishan, “Zhongguo shuitu baochi shihua (caogao),” 64.
52 Nonglinbu shuitu baochi shiyanqu sanshiqi niandu shangbannian gongzuo jindu jiantao baogao biao, (July 1948), Nonglinbu Tianshui shuitu baochi shiyanqu dang’an, file no. 27-2-46.
53 Nonglinbu shuitu baochi shiyanqu sanshiliu niandu yuan yuefen gongzuo jianbao biao [Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Water and Soil Conservation Experiment Area January 1947 Brief Work Report] (February 1947), Nonglinbu shuitu baochi shiyanqu dang’an, file no. 27-2-25. This document is also available in Tianshui shuitu baochi shiyanqu dang’an, file no. 20-59-014-04.
54 Nonglinbu shuitu baochi shiyanqu sanshisi niandu zhengji bijiao biao [Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Water and Soil Conservation Experiment Area 1945 Achievement Comparison Table] (January 1946), Nonglinbu shuitu baochi shiyanqu dang’an, file no. 27-2-44. This document is also found in Tianshui shuitu baochi shiyanqu dang’an, file no. 20-59-013-07. Nonglinbu shuitu baochi shiyanqu sanshiliu nian er yuefen gongzuo jianbao biao [Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Water and Soil Conservation Experiment Area February 1947 Brief Work Report] (March 1947), Nonglinbu shuitu baochi shiyanqu dang’an, file no. 27-2-25; and Nonglinbu shuitu baochi shiyanqu sanshiliu nian san yuefen gongzuo jianbao biao [Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Water and Soil Conservation Experiment Area March 1947 Brief Work Report] (April 1947), Nonglinbu shuitu baochi shiyanqu dang’an, file no. 27-2-25. The last two documents cited are also in Tianshui shuitu baochi shiyanqu dang’an, file no. 20-59-014-04.
55 Gao Jishan, “Zhongguo shuitu baochi shihua (caogao),” 64; and Wan Huiyu, “Jiefang qian de Tianshui linye,” 88.
56 Kou et al., “The Effect of Robinia pseudoacacia Afforestation,” 147.
57 Chen et al., “Invasion of Farmland-Grassland Ecosystems,” 1012–1016.
58 Kou et al., “The Effect of Robinia pseudoacacia Afforestation,” 146–158 (quotation from p. 157). See also Jiang et al., “Negative Impacts of Afforestation.”
59 See, for example, Brazelton, “Danger in the Air”; Shen, Unearthing the Nation, chapter 5; and Kinzley, Natural Resources and the New Frontier, chapters 5–6.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Micah S. MUSCOLINO
Micah S. MUSCOLINO is a professor and Paul G. Pickowicz Endowed Chair in Modern Chinese History at the University of California, San Diego. He is the author of two monographs, Fishing Wars and Environmental Change in Late Imperial and Modern China (Harvard University Press, 2009) and The Ecology of War in China: Henan Province, the Yellow River, and Beyond, 1938—1950 (Cambridge University Press, 2015). His current research focuses on the history of water and soil conservation in Northwest China’s Loess Plateau region from the 1940s to the present.