ABSTRACTS

A Holistic Approach to the Ecological Civilization Thought in the Collected Works of Marx and Engels

Fang Shinan

As an important part of Marxist theory system， the ecological civilization thought in the Collected Works of Marx and Engels is rich and profound. It includes such ideas as the harmony between man and nature， the social organisms that can develop sustainably through material transformation， the alienation of nature， labor， commodity， capital and human， the relationship between ecosystem and social system， the combination of mans natural attributes and social attributes and the unity of opposites of mans motility and passivity， as well as humankinds two great improvements， two great reconciliations and two major principles of social progress and development，within the holistic theoretical framework organically constructed by philosophy， political economics and scientific socialism. An in-depth study of ecological civilization thought in the Collected Works of Marx and Engels has great theoretical and practical significance in wholly and correctly mastering Marxism， promoting the construction of Marxist theoretical disciplines， strengthening the construction of ecological civilization in our country， building beautiful China guided by the idea of green development， and moving towards a new era of socialist ecological civilization.

Marxs Environmental Thought is the Theoretical Enrichment of Ecological Civilization Construction：An Interview with Professor Fang ShinanFang Shinan & Lu Bo

Mankind is facing an unprecedented and serious environmental crisis. Ecological environment has become a major issue of the century and a global concern for mankind. The profound environmental thought of Marx is an extremely rich mine in the history of human thought. Professor Fang Shinan is a famous scholar who has studied Marx's environmental thought since his early academic years. In the 1980s， when the ecological problems were less dramatic and striking， professor Fang put forward the coordinated development of trade， industry and rural areas in green development on the basis of a lot of empirical research. In the past thirty years， professor Fang has made an in-depth study of Marx's profound environmental thought and its contemporary value from the perspective of environmental philosophy， environmental economics and environmental politics， put forward the idea of guiding the concept construction， system construction and behavior construction of beautiful China with Marxs environmental thought and promoted the theoretical research and practice of socialist ecological civilization construction.

A Review of Fang Shinans thought on Ecological CivilizationLiu Hongjin

Professor Fang Shinan has devoted to the study of combining theory and practice of ecological civilization for more than thirty years， and has become a promoter and leader for the development of Chinas theoretical research of ecological civilization. His main contributions include： promoting the sinicization of Marxs ecological theories， making an early proposal to transform Chinas unscientific development mode into scientific one， and expounding ecological rights and ecological democracy in the context of ecological economy and ecological civilization. He also puts forward the importance and urgency of constructing a “four-type society”， which means a society integrated with the resource-saving type， the environmentally friendly type， the population balanced type and the ecological and environmental health and safety type. He discusses the basic ideas and main content of emerging disciplines like ecological economics， ecological politics， ecological culturology and so on. By historically tracking the theories and basic methods of Professor Fangs ecological-civilization research， we can better find Chinas ecological problems from a Chinese scholars view， and can also better understand the significance of sinicizing Marxs ecological theories to contemporary Chinas green development.

The Ecological Concern of a Marxist Scholar：A Review of Fang Shinans The Ecological Dream of Beautiful ChinaLuo Zhiyong

Environmental problems have become one of the serious challenges that affect Chinas future development， so it is a serious and urgent task to accelerate the construction of socialist ecological civilization. The Ecological Dream of Beautiful China：A Scholars Ecological Concern， a book of collected essays written by Professor Shinan is a masterpiece among the studies of Marxist ecological civilization thought in recent years and has very important theoretical value and practical significance of promoting the sinicization of Marxist ecological civilization theory. Professor Fangs work has objectively and truly recorded his feelings of more than 30 years assiduous research of ecological civilization， and reflected his keen insight into ecological crisis， environmental governance and ecological civilization and so on in contemporary China as a Marxist scholar with a strong sense of problems. Professor Fang has put forward a series of thought-provoking theoretical viewpoints， many of which have powerful influence on the decision-making of the CPC and government， and also have a broad impact in academia.

Sense of Place： What Does It Mean to Be Human？Yifu Tuan

The paper explores “place” — its ties to body， mind， and spirit， its rewards and obligations — at both the micro-and the macro-scales. The place varies in size， including a fireplace in the home， a house， neighborhood， community， Street， city， and the Earth， Solar System， the universe， etc. In the microscopic sense， it is not only the place of refuge and care， but also the link of blood relationship and other social relations. The place in the macroscopic sense is the habitat of the human mind. The standard model of the “sense of place，” with its stress on direct and complex experience over a period of time， appeals to common sense. In addition to the standard model there is a strong emotional sense of the spiritual level that has not been experienced for a long period， and the most representative is the awe of the sacred space and the sacred place. We are both earthbound creature and blithe spirit. In the case of physical existence， we need to feel content in a place of our own， one with a distinctive personality and ambience， and we have to give this place to love and respect. But as mind and spirit， we are often elsewhere — and that too is as it should be. Being elsewhere comes to us naturally. It is what liberal education at its best provides. In modern society， with the enhancement of space consciousness， the understanding of local uniqueness gradually weakens. The idea that the minds habitat is the universe and not some local place is exhilarating， but it can also lead to arrogance， irresponsibility toward what lies closer at hand， and， ultimately， placelessness. We need to have a stronger feeling for all things in the Earth， which is one of the basic understanding of the concept， enthusiasm and planning of modern environmental ecological movement.

The Land Care and Experimental Attempt in Postmodern AgricultureLai Gongou

“Postmodern agriculture” has not only become a commonly used concept in postmodern thought， but also made its “experimental attempt” in practice. From the value-oriented ideological experiment to the practical attempt on ecological civilization， “postmodern agriculture” has constructed the idea of “land care” on the basis of ecology with a timely proposal of “regenerative agriculture” and three principles， pointing out in detail how to improve land health by keeping soil fertility and protecting biological species with efforts of generation after generation. The initial attempt of “postmodern agriculture”， now a global model， has contributed to global ecological civilization construction. In addition， it shows in practice a holistic concept of postmodern thought that whether mankind survives or not depends on how it understands its relationship with nature and how it improves its adaptability to nature.

Man as the Ultimate Subject：How Semiotics Transcends EcocentrismPeng Jia

Ecocentrism， as reflections that transcend anthropocentricism， is an important branch of ecocriticism. Taking ecosystem as a whole and emphasizing that all beings are interconnected with equal rights， ecocentrism insists that an overall development is the ultimate goal. Though progressive， this idea of ecocentrism is also very limited. Contemporary semiotics points out that as the subjects of their surroundings， all living things are not linked with hierarchy or class but equality. In making their own worlds of meaning， man has to regard the rights and well-being of other living creatures instead of using subjectivity to support egocentrism. Semiotics juxtaposes ecological crisis and semiotic crisis in the context of globalization， and argues that man as the “semiotic animal” is the only one who can empathetically reflect on the relations between Self and Other in the homogenization brought by globalization. Therefore， only man can bear the ultimate ethic responsibility for other creatures. Human beings capacity to shift from subjectivity to otherness and vice versa enables them to rethink the influence that their construction of cultural symbols has on the worlds of lifes meaning and the network of ecology. While considering their own rights of development， they can listen to and care for other creatures so that they can ensure a harmonious ecology and healthy semiosis.

An Interpretation of Green Development from the Perspective of Marxist Political EconomicsGuo Xiuqing

In order to build a well-off society in an all-round way， the fifth plenary session of the 18th CPC central committee put forward the new concept of innovative， coordinated， green， open and shared development. The concept of the green development not only adheres to the basic principles of Marxist political economics， but also represents the epochal progress of Marxist political thought. Centered still on development， green development has realized the transformation of its ideas， ways of thinking and patterns. Green development adheres to peoples dominant status， providing more ecological products to benefit them. Green development implements green production， guides green consumption， and promotes supply-side reform. Green development gives full play to the role of the government and the market， and realizes the effective protection of the ecological environment through the new institutional mechanism， and promotes the development of the socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics.

Ecological Culture：Cultural Consciousness of Human ExistenceZhao Guanghui

Ecological culture is the epochal symbol of human existence， signifying not only the ecological consciousness but also the cultural consciousness of mankind. In the historical development of human civilization from its primitive and agricultural periods to the industrial one， the ecological wisdom of human beings has shone everywhere. The ecological culture， meanwhile， evolving on the basis of inheritance and reflection， symbolizes a new stage， new future and new hope of human cultural development. As a mode of human survival， ecological culture is the essence and soul of ecological civilization， becoming stronger while leading the construction of ecological civilization. Based on the reflection of industrial civilization， instrumental rationality and capital logic， ecological culture is not only consistent with the essence of socialism， but also epitomizes the socialist core values in the mainstream culture during the construction of ecological civilization， which will definitely lead mankind to the new era of ecological civilization.

Origin Tracing：A Study on the Environmental History of Prehistoric ChinaZhao Jiuzhou

In most of the existing research on environmental history， the prehistoric part has not attracted enough attention. It is necessary to extend the time range of environmental history research to prehistoric times. When carrying out the research on environmental history of Prehistoric China， we need to be interdiscipline conscious. Through the study of the ancient history of the environment， we can trace ecology and culture back to their origins so as to have a better understanding of our own times and ourselves. We also need to work hard to clarify the concept， goal and methods in our study.

A Historical and Geographical Review of the Development of Liuzhou，Pengze County，Jiangxi Province during Ming and Qing DynastiesLi Hao

Located in the marshland northwest to the town of Pengze， Liuzhou（Willow Islet） came into being due to the diversion of the Yangtze River during Zhengtong period of Ming Dynasty. There were naturally-formed dense woods of willow trees in the islet， hence the name. Liuzhou is among the eight beautiful scenes of Pengze for its Liuzhouningwu（Foggy Willow Islet）. In the process of managing and developing Liuzhou， there have always had two totally different opinions. In history， Liuzhou had repeatedly been appropriated and destroyed， but each time Pengze residents called for restoration of Liuzhou， and under the leadership of local officials planted willow trees again and again in the islet. Liuzhous unique geographical location， the willow woods importance to Pengze residents， and the gradual improvement of the management system lead to several changes in the development of Liuzhou.

The Change of Water Environment and the Improvement of Drinking water in Huzhou During the Period of Republic of ChinaLiang Zhiping

Most of the drinking water of Huzhou residents was surface water from rivers，streams， springs and so on during the period of Republic of China.The east of Huzhou is covered with water towns and plain， while the west mainly mountains and hills. With the development of industry in the Republic of China，water pollution mainly occurred in the eastern plain，especially in Wuxing district. In order to get clean drinking water，some far-sighted residents proposed to build water supply system.However，due to lack of funds and the impact of the war，the establishment of water supply system only remained ideas on paper. As to the governance and disinfection of the drinking water sources， the government took measures in certain areas， but resulted almost in nothing and did not last long as restricted by the social reality，especially peoples economic ability and consciousness of the environment.

Retrospection and Reflection on the Study of Historical Data of Environmental History in China（1980-2016）

Li Mingkui

In the past 40 years， the research on historical data of environmental history in China has been characteristic of fruitful achievements in theories， cases， regions， etc， large number of researchers， concentrated period of study and so on. However， there are problems and shortcomings like attaching too much importance to historical data while ignoring narrative and graphic materials and analyzing many individual cases while doing few comprehensive researches. In order to propel the construction of historical data of Chinese environmental history and promote the localization of Chinas environmental history research， Chinas future environmental history research need to broaden the scope of historical data， and strengthen the integrated， comparative and theoretical study by comprehensively sorting out Chinese environmental history data.

Reviews on Chen Wang-hengs Chinese Environmental Aesthetics by Foreign Scholars

Holms Rolston III， Jos de Mul， David Brubaker & Andrew Lambert

After being published in 2015 by Routledge， Chinese Environmental Aesthetics written by Professor Chen Wang-heng at Wuhan University has provoked huge reaction around international academia. The book has been introduced in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and is highly praised for “developing robust versions of ecological aesthetics”. Meanwhile， a number of important scholars abroad have written reviews on the book. American scholar Holms Rolston III thinks Professor Chen brings the Western world the most comprehensive Chinese environmental aesthetics in his book. Chens great strength is his account of how in China man and nature interact with each other. The Chinese have a strong sense of being “at home” in nature. The “sense of home” represents thus the highest level of identification with the environment. Rolston also points out that Chinese environmental aesthetics is different from its American counterpart in that the beauty of wild nature is not well celebrated. Dutch scholar Jos de Mul holds that Chinese Environmental Aesthetics not only conceptualizes the“sense of home”， but also shows how this ancient wisdom can be applied today to protecting environment which nowadays is suffering from serious problems.American scholar David Brubaker makes positive remarks on the book in four aspects： first， the book has deep theoretical basis by tracing the ancient Chinese philosophy and taking aesthetics of nature as foundation of environmental aesthetics； second， the book tells us that unity of subject and object in nature is contained in the traditional principle that “man is an integral part of nature”， and based on the unity of environmental aesthetics， the constructive system framework of environmental aesthetics has been established； third， instead of applying analytic and pragmatic philosophies of nature and art， the interpretation of environmental beauty in this book will inspire an aesthetic revolution； fourth， it serves as a guide to planning and designing agricultural and urban environments.According to American scholar Andrew Lambert， the book is especially enlightening in the background of environmental degradation nowadays. It denies the previous dichotomy between humans and nature， and reconstructs the relationship by referring to traditional Chinese philosophy. He believes that it has practical significance to claim that natural beauty“should be understood as the highest form of beauty”，and “sense of home” should be used to observe the environment. Meanwhile he proposes that we should be aware of the distinction between the beauty of nature and beauty in the natural environment and pay more attention to learning from traditional Chinese gardens to build our modern environment.