Commercialization Without Capitalism: Processes of Environmental Change in South China, 1550–1850

Abstract

The place of China in the environmental history literature is paradoxical. On the one hand, prominent environmental historians hold up certain aspects of Chinese farming practice -such as the rice paddy system, or the fish pond and mulberry tree combination-as examples of ecologically sound, sustainable farming practices, at least in contrast to the destructive and unsustainable monocropping often found in North America. On the other hand, environmental historians who have attributed much environmental change in the modern world to the workings of capitalism implicitly incorporate China into their generalizations.' Which is it? Does China fit into the model of capitalist-driven environmental change? Or have the Chinese somehow been able to escape the worst forms of environmental degradation attributable to capitalism by creating more sustainable forms of farming? The history of south China from 1550 to 1850 shows that neither of these characterizations is accurate. Massive environmental change occurred during those centuries, but the driving force was not capitalism. Instead, a combination of population dynamics, state policy, and commercialization of the economy provided the impetus, linking environmental change and the way the economy became commercialized. Although the Chinese developed certain farming practices, which appear at first to have been more ecologically sound than European or American practice, only massive energy imports from outside the system served to sustain their practices, a development also related to the nature and extent of economic change in south China.