GEOG3822 Geog China first exam

Why is it likely that dirtier fossil fuels will dominate China's energy mix for the foreseeable future? (wang reading)

"Clean tech" is growing rapidly in China, but it remains a very small portion of the total mix; it requires large amounts of investment, and overall energy demand will keep growing rapidly. Coal remains cheap and relatively easy to exploit in China

What is China's 3-step topography?

- 1st) The Qinghai-Tibet plateau is the highest step and it consists of the Tian, Kunlun, Himalaya, and Hengduan mountain ranges - middle) the Central Mountains that included the Qinling, Taihang, Loess Plateau and Karst Plateau - lowest) the Eastern Lowlands of Dongbei, N. China, Changjang Basin, Sichuan Basin and Pearl River Delta

Qinghai-Tibet Plateau - waters, agriculture?

- Many glaciers that provide stored water, strongest monsoon on earth occurs here - highest plateaus - holds less than 1% of China's arable land - not agriculturally functioning land - most of China's rivers originate from here

What are some examples of 'bottom-up' pressure for action on China's environmental pollution?

- The Xiamen PX case: used web chat rooms and text messages to organize a protest on the development of a chemical plant. NGOs (although largely ineffective) also play an important role for increasing environmental awareness. We have seen a large increase of NGOs since 1994 when the first non-governmental group was created

why is the frontier so politically sensitive in China?

- The integrity of state territorial claims - the importance of internal cultural coherence - a story of inevitability (manifest destiny) - challenging the sinicization myth - China is too diverse to be simplified into one idea

Control the Waters; Nourish the People

- a job of the ruler - the heaven-centered mode of political criticism Cosmic Resonance theory Confucian Ideal of statecraft "Controlling the waters" and "nourishing the people" - during famine of late 19th Century - a lot of talk about leaders not doing their job

consequences of the single-child policy

- aging population - China has become old before it became rich - lopsided sex ration (in 2020, 24 million men won't have a mate) - collapse of reliable birth reporting system

Sinicization

- all culture bends to China / China is not a mixture of external influence over time, but an already-always formed civilization and culture that converts everything in its path - depends on isolation from other cultures

What have been some of the demographic and social consequences of the policy?

- an aging population (China has become old before it became rich) - lopsides sex ratio (more men than there are women) - fertility rate has drastically decreased - collapse of reliable birth reporting system

What are some basic features of Lester Brown's argument regarding China's food security? In what ways in this a neo-malthusian argument?

- argues that China will run out of food because population grows at an exponential rate while food/resources grow at an arithmetic rate. This is the central idea behind Malthusian argument - Brown failed to account for technological advances in efficiency that allow resources to grow at a faster rate - he also says that farmers will leave agriculture for ?bind us try? which more profitable? -Chinas import of food doesnt solve the problem

What was the "heaven-centered mode of political criticism" in traditional Chinese philosophy? How was this idea challenged by modern nationalism in 20th century China, and how is the 1938 Yellow River disaster an illustration of that challenge?

- based on the Chinese belief of Cosmic Resonance, that there were rituals that the leaders could do in order to appease the Gods so that they would be blessed with rain/agriculture/etc. -the thought was that rulers HAD to sacrifice for their people -yellow river flood: the gov willingly broke the dam; killed millions of their own; desperate times call for desperate measures - no longer the people that need nourishing, it is that people need to sacrifice in order to protext the nation - traditions were being rejected for science and technology - it was the invasion of Japan that forced China to become a nation of these terms

Describe China proper

- constantly changing over time - chinese culture was dominant - chinese dynasties sometimes had control of sig regions populated by other groups -gradual expansion

Loess (Huangtu or 'Yellow Earth') Plateau - geography, climate, examples of...?

- creates North China Plain / part of key civilization hearths of China - major wint weathering that provides sediment for the Yellow River / Deposits are by wind / very fine soil deposits / lots of erosion during summer rainstorms - example of China's environmental degradation -(created by monsoon)

some critics have argued that the one-child policy was not necessary when it was implemented in the early 1980s, and its still not necessary today. What are some of the key arguments they make in support of this claim? (wang reading)

- fertility levels in the 1970s had already dropped 2.7 in 1979 // fertility levels did not respond to the policy by dropping further / they only began to drop again after the implementation of market reforms. - rural economic security and income opportunities improved, removing incentives for more births. - families also were encouraged to invest in education, increasing the cost of childbearing

Yu the Great - who was he, example of, what did he do?

- founder of the Shao dynasty / responsible for controlling waters / emerged from Loess Plateau - earliest example of big engineering - build canals to redirect flood waters / allowed Chinese to gain control over floods which led to many agricultural improvements / after controlling the floodwater, Dayu organized people to develop agriculture by fully utilizing water and soil - water control projects "unequalled anywhere in premodern history"

Peasant-gardening ecosystem - produced by, cultivation, labor, management ?

- human produced / parallels natural ecosystem / whole nutrient cycle / self sustaining through system - continuous cultivation / irrigation and water control whenever possible - labor intensive composting and fertilizing / linked to agriculture and pig raising - integrated spatial management of adjacent lands and water bodies

Karst (Tunnan-Guizhou) Plateau - geography, climate, socioeconomics?

- in SW china / erodible terrain bc full of limestone / lots of caves and unique landscapes , subteranean rivers, stone forests - subtropical climate / rainfall hard to control - poor region / scenic and tourist resource

How are local governments dealing with the 2 child policy now? What are peoples reactions?

- incentivizing people to have 2 children - people are saying that for past 30 years youve been telling us to have 1 kid, being crazy about it (late abortions etc) and now what are they supposed to think about this? - they say that there is an increased cost of living in cities and they cant have two kids because the cost of living is so high

Government implications?

- many of the offices that enforce the law are funded through the fines of people no obeying it, so now there probably won't be a ton of funding and shutting down these offices would have major implications / it has been a major revenue source to local governments

Unsettled Territoriality - maps, modern frontier, imperial frontiers?

- maps are territorial narratives, China's imperial frontier tends to not be dramatically defined and contains multiple sovereignties / while modern frontier is sharply defined where overlapping sovereignties are not allowed - Chinese territory was a continuum due to the fact that the imperial frontiers were relatively 'open'

China Proper - location, population, ag?

- mostly situated in the river basins of Yellow and Yangtze (right of the Great Wall) -highest population density - well suited for agriculture - fertile alluvial soil, adequate water and moderate temps

Monsoon - when, what does this create? winter vs summer

- november to march - responsible for dust deposition creating the Loess Plateau - monsoon: very dry winds with little rain - summer: warm and wet / rain very variable / flooding occurs where most of China's population lives (SE region) - floods common in times of drought

PM 2.5 - definition, story?

- particulate matter 2.5 microns or smaller (unit of measure for air pollution) - US embassy in China did air measurements using PM10 and found the air quality to be much worse than the Chinese government was telling its citizens

Qinling-Huai Divide

- separated by Huai River and Qinling mountain range - cultural norms separate north and south people instead of these physical barriers - proper China is south of the line and outer China is north / North Chinese were more ranchers than farmers, grew more wheat as it was very dry - South Chinese grew rice

Minzu, meaning and derived from?

- several different translations - most accurate = "nationality" but also means "ethnicity" - derived from: the Japanese 'minzoku' / Minzu is an institution created to unify China meaning that each minority is a building block to their society

Why has China pursued such "big solutions" in order to "control the water" in order to provide agriculture/nourishment for the people.

- started with Yu the Great when he implemented big engineering projects to divert and control the rivers so that areas with little to no water would be able to grow crops. - recent projects: the more recent Three Gorges Dam

what have been some of the key social and economic costs of the policy? (wang reading)

-aging population - wont be enough young people to care for the elderly -lopsided sex ratio - males wont have a mate -increased female infanticide and child mortality -collapse of the government birth reporting system (need details for each of these costs)

South-to-North Water Transfer Project - two uses, what did it do?

-the south to north river was built in order to transport grain and was also used as a commercial waterway which has its own economic advantage. - connected cities together and it showed the government's capacity to control the water

What are the two dimensions of Sinicization?

1) isolated China (myth of single origin) 2) civilizing China (myth of benevolence)

What were the two main factors explaining China's late-imperial population growth and in what ways did each factor enable that population growth?

1) the expansion of agricultural land (migration) 2) increased agricultural productivity - More food + more space = able to feed more people

What is the estimated economic impact of pollution in China?

5.3% of GDP in 2012 - 4.3% of this was health-related significant

How much of China's electricity comes from burning coal?

80% of China's electricity comes from burning coal

Wan Xi Shao - what was it, what did it try to do?

= 1970s population policy - later, longer, fewer - attempt to limit fertility, encouraging families to get married later, wait between children longer, and have fewer children

Single-child family policy - definition

= a population planning policy of China - was a 30 year 'temporary' policy

Neo-Malthusianism

= an environmental approach where people advocate population control programs (birth control and such) - advocating for population control through birth control, one child program, etc.

Malthusianism

= population growth is exponential while food supply is linear / pollution is negatively affecting this curve and accelerating this progess - it is unchecked population growth (exponential) / certain checks would keep the population in balance (moral, catastrophic events, lawful)

"I argue that these normative national maps actually tell us more about the fragile biopolitics of China's new identity as a great power than about the geopolitics of Asian security." What does Callahan mean by this argument, in your own words?

Callahan thinks that China's 'National Humiliation Maps' are not really about asserting territorial claims against other nations as much as they're about asserting national honor and pride among China's citizens. // That is, Callahan doesn't think China is actually trying to recover 'lost' territory. // Instead, the maps are about securing Chinese identity, particularly in the country's minority-dominated borderlands such a Xinjiang.

What is the governments food-security "Red line"? How close to that line are they? Since 1949, has food security improved or deteriorated in China? Explain

China's redline is 120 million ha of arable land that is needed in order to maintain their "food security". Although the 2013 survey states that 134.5 ha was needed - since 1949, food security has improved due to technological advances in ag technology, institutional reform, incentives, rural development and sector specific policies

Who created China Proper and why?

Han Chinese Dynasties (Ming Dynasty) --- due to socioeconomic and political/administrative reasons in order to control the area

What has been the role of social media in China's efforts to curb environmental pollution?

Social media has helped to push the Chinese government to enact more policies to curb environmental pollution -american embassy released reports with the PM amounts and raised public awareness about the severity of the issue and when the public found out, they went to social media in order to vent their frustrations / increase in social media presence by public helped put pressure on the Government to publicly post PM2.5 readings

What does it mean to say that the single-child family policy is actually a "multipolicy"

There were many exceptions to the policy and minorities were allowed to have more than one child, areas with a small population were also allowed to have more than one child. - minorities, couples that had one or more spouses come from a single child home, or couples that had a daighter as the first child were among the groups that were allowed to have more than one child

What are the basic dynamics of the monsoon?

They consist of a seasonal (winter and summer) reversal of winds that cause heavy precipitation during the summer in many areas in southeastern China. - In November thru March winds originate over the landmass of China for they are dry and dont contain very much moisture - April thru October winds originate in the warm Pacific ocean and once they reach land it causes rainfall in high amounts

Why do only 2/3 of China's couples actually fall under the jurisdiction of the one-child policy? (wang reading)

Wang estimates that about 63% of the total population is effectively governed by the policy -these are people who are not living in impoverished areas, are not ethnic minorities, and whose first child is not a girl

How do issues of class (that is, income inequality) complicate the applicability of Beck's 'risk society' approach to the case of food safety in contemporary China?

a) beck argues that post-industrial risk is 'democratic' and affects everyone (we all face nuclear annihilation); but in China, the rich can shield themselves from the risks of poisonous or unsafe food (just like they can shield themselves - somewhat - from the risk of air pollution) b) there is an unequal distribution of risk in China. Indeed, some cases of food contamination are acts of 'revenge' by poorer classes toward wealthier ones.....

What effects did China's topography have on the development and spread of Chinese civilization?

a) communication, trade, a need to work together, and areas with lots of mountains, cannot have much expansion b) many parts of West China remain poor due to water deficit c) formidable terrain and great distances of China's West hamper westward connections with the rest of Asia d) China has mountains that encircle the country and encourage development within the more accessible eastern alluvial and coastal plains

Citing work by Ulrich Beck, Yan argues that increased risk is postindustrial society is the unintended consequences "of the very advances in science and technology that once made the world seem more predictable and less risky". How have advances in science and technology created new risks, according to Beck's approach? What are some examples of this from Yan's article?

a) high speed trains; nuclear weapons; cyber-attacks (new vulnerabilities); fertilizers and pesticides; hormones; preservatives b) non-seasonal growing, intensive factory farming c) modern farming and food-processing technologies (you no longer know the producer; large-scale proliferation of disease; dominance of profit motive...) d) the new risk of social distrust (undermines governance, social stability, political control

What is the difference between the "late imperial Chinese concept of unbounded domain" (jiangyu) and a "modern understanding of bounded sovereign territory" (zhuquan lingtu)? Why does Callahan seek to challenge the argument that China has undergone a shift from the former to the latter conception of territory? (Callahan reading)

a) imperial conceptions of territoriality were hierarchical, meaning that the empire was thought of as a domain with varying degrees of control or sovereignty, and varying degrees of 'civility', particularly as one moved from the center out toward the edges. The actual borders of the empire were often ambiguous and overlapping with those of other imperial powers or local tribes or chieftains // in contrast, the modern understanding of sovereign territory assert that the state has complete sovereignty over all its territory, without any variation, and that the borders of that territory are unambiguous and non-overlapping b) Callahan wants to challenge the idea that there has been a straightforward shift from imperial to modern conceptions of territoriality in China. He wants to argue that China's territoriality is still influenced by the idea of an imperial domain.

What is ONE reason Why the PRC seek to categorize its population according to minzu labels?

a) nearly all of the 55 recognized Minzu groups live on China's borders, where many minority populations live / in 1949 when the Communist government did the Minzu classifications, they focused heavily upon the border regions with these minorities for 3 reasons: 1) this area buffers strategic international borders, 2) there are critical natural resources in this territory, 3) China's population needs area into which to expand

What is a 'geobody'?

a) term coined by Thongchai to express an idea of national territory that is not simply about the land under the state's sovereign control, but is more importantly about how people identify with and take pride in that land. // thus the geobody is not just a geopolitical concept (in which sovereign territory is the central issue) but also a 'biopolitical' one (in which the focus is on the welfare of the population). the geobody ties the welfare of the population (its pride, strength, growth, etc), to the territorial space of the state b) following Thongchai, Callahan finds that maps are crucial tools through with the geobody is constituted and reproduced.

What does Wang mean when he calls China's population control efforts a "multipolicy regime"?

after the policy's implementation, the government was forced to retreat from a nationwide 'one-size-fits-all" approach due to resistance, particularly in rural areas. -now, different regions of China have different policies, with many different categories of exception to the policy

What is the OTHER reason why the PRC seeked to categorize its population according to minzu labels?

b) the Chinese government also thought that ethnic groups were the building blocks of nations, with a single majority group seen as central to the nation - thus, recognition was an important part of building the new Chinese nation / China also had close ties to the USSR, which had its own ethnic classification system (territory, culture, language, economy)

Why has the single-origin story of Chinese civilization been criticized as a 'myth'?

because many different groups and ethnicities made up historical china. Archeology has played a large role in disproving this single theory myth by showing ancient cultures in areas such as the changjuang basin (and mummies?)

Why does China Proper have high population density?

because of the harsh environment of "outer china"

Religion in China "supports a general not-in-my-backyard tendency, where people broadly support nuclear power or heavy industry, as long as it is built somewhere else". Why does Chinese religion support NIMBY-ism according to Weller and Bol

becuase of it localist tendencies: "the gods of local temples above all protect their human communities, and worry about the environment only when it threatens their people"

How does a ruler, according to "cosmic resonance theory" bring about harmony within his kingdom? (Weller reading)

by folowing the rules of "resonant affinity" --> by following proper ritual observance according the seasons and the five-phase periods, including appropriate modes of dress, tasks, observance of colors, and so on. In short, by maintaining harmony between the world of humans and the broader cosmic world

Why has 'sinicization' been such a powerful story about Chinese civilizations origins and spread? Why has it been criticized as a myth by recent scholarship?

defn: all culture bends to China; China is not a mixture of external influences over time, but an already-always formed civilization and culture that converts everything in its path - during the Qing Dynasty, other cultures were taken over by the Manchus // but China had many outside influences and even some inside (Tarim mummies) that changed China's history - evidence: pipa (South Asian instrument), African shell coins found

at the beginning of the chapter, Wang argues that the "public response" to China's environmental woes has been "weak". Later in the chapter he provides a section on the public response. In what sorts of ways, as documented by Wang, has that public response been "weak"?

despite new laws, there remains little transparency in the regulation and enforcement of environmental standards, and there are few official channels for public participation in environmental regulation or for public disputes with polluters and/or government. - the public response has been relegated to local movements against specific cases. - Environmental organization (NGOs) are growing, but remain relatively small and weak. - Environmental law, while in existence, remains mostly inaccessible to the public.

how did food poisoning cases in China change between two period studied by Yan?

earlier cases of 'backwardness' (lack of education, hygiene) replaced by later cases of unsafe food in restaurants and unsafe food additives (deliberate contamination)

Why was the single-child family policy implemented in China when it was?

implemented due to demographic, socioeconomic and political reasons - of the main reasons: to curb the surging population growth in order to reduce demand for water/other resources

Is the single-child policy going away any time soon? How did the government change the policy? What happened in 2015?

in 2012/14 when previous policy of (BOTH parents themselves single children, then they would be allowed a second birth), they loosened it to be if EITHER of them were then they could have second child / after a year there was barely any change - in 2015, now it is a two child policy regardless of parents status (governments way of dealing with the aging population)

What is the contradiction between maintaining food security and the marketization of agriculture in China? How has the government dealt with that contradiction?

it is not profitable to make massive amounts of grain, however, massive amounts of grain are needed to feed Chinese population - many farmers would rather grow cash crops - government has responded by subsidizing production of grains.

What is the single-origin story of Chinese civilization?

it refers to the idea that all of Chinese civilization began in the Loess Plateau region. It was purported by different dynasties -- but Mao used this story to help gain support by emphasizing a 'northern heritage' from the Loess Plateau

Weller and Bol state that "Neo-confucians were not concerned with the ecological state of the environment". Yet they also note that the integrating system of the natural world was important to Neo-confucians. What explains the apparent contradiction between these different neo-confucians views of nature?

neo-confucians saw humanity as an essential part of the natural world, not separate from it. -while this meant that the integrating system of the natural world was fundamentally important, it was fundamentally important for humans and not for the ecological environment per se.

what sorts of threats to social stability brought about by environmental degradation and pollution does Wang mention?

one the one hve, Wang discusses local protests, "mass incidents", disputes, letters and petitions - on the other, he also talks about the health consequences and how this can also have destabilizing social repercussions

what role has archeology played in the criticism of the single-origin story of chinese civilization?

shows evidence of outside influence, shells, coins from africa found - pip (instrument) from south Asia found - Chinese heads on Catholic figures in other places in the world -Xingjiam Mummies, show different clothing and cultural adornments and are not a part of the racial stock of Chinese

Describe the winter and summer patterns. What distinctive environmental regions result from China's monsoon climate?

the monsoon demonstrates variability in northward progression of the rain band - in some years when the rain band makes its way north later, this can cause profound droughts - in the years when the north is in times of drought there is often flooding due to the rain band getting 'stuck' in the Changjiang basin

What does Yan mean when he criticizes the Chinese government and most scholars in China for viewing food safety problems "from a modernization perspective"?

they dont see how food safety problems are an unintended consequences of modernization, science and technology

Why would it be a mistake , according to Wang, "to think that top-down government action is a panacea for China's environmental challenges"?

wang argues that real change will mainly have to come from "bottom-up" public demand and advocacy

What does it mean to say that 'minzu' does not adequately express China's actual 'on-the-ground' ethnic diversity?

with 400-500 applications, recognition has been has been granted to only 55 minority groups. So, because hundreds of minorities are not accounted for, and many minorities are grouped together as one official Minzu minority, the classification system does not accurately reflect China's on-th-ground ethnic diversity