Cultural ecology and changes in 19th–20th century Jiangnan field landscapes

Abstract

This article analyzes the cultural power of changes in the Jiangnan region’s landscape since the nineteenth century. Historically, there were two main perspectives of evaluating landscapes. One historical perspective was the view of most traditional Chinese scholars and a few Western scholars who valued traditional culture and agriculture and believed in the value of classical landscape and traditional farming techniques. The other perspective was the Western understanding of modernization, which has been dominated by Ferdinand von Richthofen’s ideas of scientific land use and the Soviet model of unifying farm management. The grid planning in the era of collectivization and urbanization in more recent years reflects an oversimplified imitation of the West. This is one reason for the increasing chaos of farming landscapes. The future of rural landscape construction lies in combining traditional pastoral scenery and modern agricultural technology.