Water culture: The theoretic structure and dynamic mechanism

Abstract

Abstract Since water is comprehensively connected with human society, diversified way of thinking, using, and managing water have developed. This has led to the diversification of water culture worldwide. Water culture was generated from water management, the social demand, and the spiritual feel of water. Consequently, it has also influenced water management comprehensively beginning from the earliest times to the present age. People worldwide rely on their own ideas, values, social relationships, institutions, and religion to manage water. This, however, has made water culture an important dynamic in water management and has also made water management acceptable, effective, equal, and sustainable. Water culture also deeply influences the spiritual world and social life of mankind. Water culture has a structural make up involving the levels of ideas, institutions, social life, and physical factors and is based on the attributes of nationality, civilization, local, and times. This theoretical structure and attributes provide a better understanding of water culture based on scientific and holistic dimension. Meanwhile, a dynamics mechanism was modeled as Double Dynamics and Bidirectional Dynamics to explain the relationship between water and mankind so as to better understand how the cultural generation is driven by water and the cultural initiative in water management. This chapter aims to build the structure and define the types of water culture, to exploring the dynamic mechanism of water culture in water management and human society, and to understand the generation and formation of water culture.