Water Development And Water Conflict In Guan-gou River In Pingyao County From Ming Dynasty And Qing Dynasty

Human existence and development are closely bounded up to the nature resources. In Agricultural China, natural recourses have long been the decisive condition that restricted the existence and development of the human race. As long as the balance between population and natural resources or the environment was broken, the society that is highly depended on natural recourses usually suffered from a heavy blow. Finally, it lead to the occurrence and deterioration of social conflicts. The droughty upland areas with abominable natural environment, in particular, have formed their specific economical structure with distinct native characteristics based on the utilization and exploration of natural resources. Traditional anthropological evolution and geographical environment theories propose that it is the human activities that destroy the environment. Consequently, the deterioration of environment, in turn, accelerates the human contention for resources. A vicious circle is formed in this way.It is believed in the present study that one of the effective means that combat with disadvantageous environment in droughty upland is the utilization and exploration of the flood resources. Villages within the drainage area had gained rich and generous repay from crop selection, cultivation system, irragation-division and other systems that were built upon the artificial leading of the flood. Therefore, the stabilization and development of the local social economy had been sustained. Under thecircumstances of the increased population and drastically expended exploration of the earth, the scarcity of water had been gradually aggravated, which lead to the contention for flood resources. The continuous contention greatly challenged the original order for irrigation. Villagers within the drainage area attempted to maintain this order through adjusting systems and improving irrigation-division technology. Unfortunately, the over dependency on natural resources determined the inevitability of divergences and conflicts in such society with a relatively lower productivity. The state of poverty due to the economical structure would not be changed unless the productivity was greatly proved at first.This thesis examines irrigation cases happened in the Guan Gou river drainage areas in Ping Yao, Shanxi. The local epigraphy and government documents are consulted for reference. The inducement for irrigation cases are varied and complicated. Despite of positive flow and migration of population that alleviate population pressure to a certain degree and engagement in business or service as supplement, the atrocious weather offers no choice but a continuable policy on the exploration of natural resources.To be more specific, this thesis develops the discussion and analysis mainly in the following four sections:Chapter One presents the introduction about the latest research achievements, the theoretical framework, data collection, the approachesand questions that presupposed before the composition of this thesis. Meanwhile, the background knowledge and purpose of the present study are also included.Chapter Two presents a detailed introduction on the formation of two primary irrigation systems and the whole process of its establishment, based on a cursory review on the history of irrigative exploration of Guan Gou River in Ping Yao including its geographical position and economical conditions in general.Chapter Three presents irrigative conflicts within the drainage area of Guan Gou River and the mechanisms adopted to settle these conflicts. The main contribution lies in this chapter - an analysis of troubleshooting mechanisms. A case study is conducted to get a general picture, the historical origin and various gist and process of water cases.Chapter Four presents an overall conclusion of the present study. It is believed that a great many unstable factors exists in the society that highly depends on its natural recourses. No matter which of the three factors -population, resources and environment- is destroyed, the definite result is the inexistence of the balance. Consequently, the society will frequently be haunted with ceaseless lawsuits. It is only after the disappearance of resources that new economical models can take place of the original developmental pattern of social economy. In the same process, other unstable factors have already been there. The only way of getting rid ofstructural poverty and the subsequent continual conflicts is the transformation of the unitary model of existence and development that solely depends on natural resources.