Hong Jiang | University of Hawaii (original) (raw)

Papers by Hong Jiang

Asian Culture and History, 2023

This paper explores the cultural meaning of tea drinking for the literati in the later part of th... more This paper explores the cultural meaning of tea drinking for the literati in the later part of the Ming dynasty (around 1500-1644), using the pair ideas of tea as representing a lifestyle close to nature, and tea as a powerful representation of tasteful life in the society. The dual meanings of tea reinforce each other for the Ming literati, giving them the means and outlets to bolster their self-expression and to distinguish their identity in the social-cultural context of limited career opportunities. I examine the role of tea in tea books, tea-themed paintings, and Ming literati's engagement in tea clubs and other related activities. This paper contributes to dialogues at the intersections of nature, culture, and history by treating tea as a nature-culture object, highlighting that the pursuit of nature is itself a form of cultural power.

The Philosophy of Geography, 2021

To argue for a natural approach for space and place is to evade the widelypracticed social-politi... more To argue for a natural approach for space and place is to evade the widelypracticed social-political approaches in the study of space and place in human geography. And yet, that is what this article attempts to do: To integrate space and place as well as humans and things in a unified approach of nature (derived from ziran ⾃然) from a Daoist perspective. I connect space with concepts of Dao (道) and emptiness, and place with concepts of de (德) and wuwei (無為), and present space as potential and generative, and place as productive and creative, highlighting the importance of non-striving attitudes and actions and the cultivation of the self's mind and body. This paper concludes with a call to find space in place for a nurturing and natural living.

World Development , 2006

This paper explores why post-reform decentralization in China has failed to bring about environme... more This paper explores why post-reform decentralization in China has failed to bring about environmental sustainability, using a case study from Uxin banner in Inner Mongolia. The local government has promoted intensive grassland improvement in its political, economic, and environmental policies under the umbrella of ‘‘ecological construction,’’ a term used to describe the enhancement of vegetation cover on this arid terrain. The government’s aggressive approach to ecological construction, however, is incongruent with the ecology of the Inner Mongolian drylands. Consequently, although beneficial to short-term economic growth, ‘‘ecological construction’’ has led to unintended grassland degradation, thus undermining environmental sustainability.

The End of Desertification? Disputing Environmental Change in the Drylands, 2016

Desertification is a serious problem in China and various research studies and surveys have been ... more Desertification is a serious problem in China and various research studies and surveys have been conducted to address the issue. The Chinese government has launched the ambitious "Great Green Wall" tree-planting programme to control desertification. But problems abound. This chapter reviews the scientific studies of desertification in China, and highlights their many inconsistencies, connecting them with political control and policy discourses. I point out that the State Forestry Administration, the institution in charge of desertification study and control, has adopted an ineffective tree-focused approach through the "Great Green Wall" programme. Even though the programme has included the establishment of shrubs and other vegetation types in addition to tree planting, the underlying aggressive attitude toward the environment remains, rendering it difficult for the problem of desertification to be addressed fundamentally. This chapter calls for the Chinese government to abandon the dominating relationship with the environment embodied in the "Great Green Wall" programme.

Geographical Review, 2006

This study explores the local experience of a state-initiated campaign to improve the grassland i... more This study explores the local experience of a state-initiated campaign to improve the grassland in Uxin Ju, a Mongolian community in northern China, from 1958 to 1966. The contrast between the local experience and the official representation reveals great discrepancies and attests to the ability of local people to utilize state policies to meet local needs, transforming socialist ideologies into local rationales. Applying Michel de Certeau's theory of everyday practice that sees book reading as poaching and the use/consumption of political and cultural discourses as a process of creative empowerment, I examine how the Mongols in Uxin Ju "poached" state poli- tics to their own advantages and appropriated the grassland campaign in the making of the local landscape. This poaching further elucidates James Scott's concept of ideological resistance by focusing on the creative use of non-oppositional nature, which is an important way in which local people could express their agency in the oppressive regime of socialist China. This article calls attention to how non-subversive co-optation of state policies can function as an expression of agency in the making of local human-environmental history, even on the part of individuals who are actively accommodating to the ideology of the dominant regime. Keywords: China, grassland campaign, Inner Mongolia, Mongols, state policies, Uxin Ju.

Geoforum, 2005

This paper surveys grassland management in China during the socialist period that began in 1949, ... more This paper surveys grassland management in China during the socialist period that began in 1949, examining state policies and local practices as well as views of nature underlying both. The case study is set in Uxin Ju, a Mongol-dominated community in western Inner Mongolia that enjoyed a national reputation in the 1960s for its enthusiasm in the campaign to transform its sandy land. This paper adopts a historical–cultural perspective. The grassland is a historical category whose formulation by the state has changed with the political–economic ideologies of the regime. At the same time, local views of the grassland have also changed, which facilitated the adoption of aggressive grassland practices. By examining grassland management and local change as a cultural process, this paper seeks to understand a dimension of grassland change that has not attracted much study in China. In several ways this paper contributes to the study of environmental history in socialist China. First, it adds to a complex appraisal of regional environmental change during the Mao era by demonstrating both grassland improvement and degradation in Uxin Ju. Second, this paper locates the agency of the local people in both predictable and surprising ways, both in resistance to and appropriation of state policies. Third, by covering the entire socialist period from 1949, this paper lends insights into the understanding of continuities and breaks in grassland management between the Mao (1949–1976) and post-Mao (1976–present) eras.

Asian Culture and History, 2023

This paper explores the cultural meaning of tea drinking for the literati in the later part of th... more This paper explores the cultural meaning of tea drinking for the literati in the later part of the Ming dynasty (around 1500-1644), using the pair ideas of tea as representing a lifestyle close to nature, and tea as a powerful representation of tasteful life in the society. The dual meanings of tea reinforce each other for the Ming literati, giving them the means and outlets to bolster their self-expression and to distinguish their identity in the social-cultural context of limited career opportunities. I examine the role of tea in tea books, tea-themed paintings, and Ming literati's engagement in tea clubs and other related activities. This paper contributes to dialogues at the intersections of nature, culture, and history by treating tea as a nature-culture object, highlighting that the pursuit of nature is itself a form of cultural power.

The Philosophy of Geography, 2021

To argue for a natural approach for space and place is to evade the widelypracticed social-politi... more To argue for a natural approach for space and place is to evade the widelypracticed social-political approaches in the study of space and place in human geography. And yet, that is what this article attempts to do: To integrate space and place as well as humans and things in a unified approach of nature (derived from ziran ⾃然) from a Daoist perspective. I connect space with concepts of Dao (道) and emptiness, and place with concepts of de (德) and wuwei (無為), and present space as potential and generative, and place as productive and creative, highlighting the importance of non-striving attitudes and actions and the cultivation of the self's mind and body. This paper concludes with a call to find space in place for a nurturing and natural living.

World Development , 2006

This paper explores why post-reform decentralization in China has failed to bring about environme... more This paper explores why post-reform decentralization in China has failed to bring about environmental sustainability, using a case study from Uxin banner in Inner Mongolia. The local government has promoted intensive grassland improvement in its political, economic, and environmental policies under the umbrella of ‘‘ecological construction,’’ a term used to describe the enhancement of vegetation cover on this arid terrain. The government’s aggressive approach to ecological construction, however, is incongruent with the ecology of the Inner Mongolian drylands. Consequently, although beneficial to short-term economic growth, ‘‘ecological construction’’ has led to unintended grassland degradation, thus undermining environmental sustainability.

The End of Desertification? Disputing Environmental Change in the Drylands, 2016

Desertification is a serious problem in China and various research studies and surveys have been ... more Desertification is a serious problem in China and various research studies and surveys have been conducted to address the issue. The Chinese government has launched the ambitious "Great Green Wall" tree-planting programme to control desertification. But problems abound. This chapter reviews the scientific studies of desertification in China, and highlights their many inconsistencies, connecting them with political control and policy discourses. I point out that the State Forestry Administration, the institution in charge of desertification study and control, has adopted an ineffective tree-focused approach through the "Great Green Wall" programme. Even though the programme has included the establishment of shrubs and other vegetation types in addition to tree planting, the underlying aggressive attitude toward the environment remains, rendering it difficult for the problem of desertification to be addressed fundamentally. This chapter calls for the Chinese government to abandon the dominating relationship with the environment embodied in the "Great Green Wall" programme.

Geographical Review, 2006

This study explores the local experience of a state-initiated campaign to improve the grassland i... more This study explores the local experience of a state-initiated campaign to improve the grassland in Uxin Ju, a Mongolian community in northern China, from 1958 to 1966. The contrast between the local experience and the official representation reveals great discrepancies and attests to the ability of local people to utilize state policies to meet local needs, transforming socialist ideologies into local rationales. Applying Michel de Certeau's theory of everyday practice that sees book reading as poaching and the use/consumption of political and cultural discourses as a process of creative empowerment, I examine how the Mongols in Uxin Ju "poached" state poli- tics to their own advantages and appropriated the grassland campaign in the making of the local landscape. This poaching further elucidates James Scott's concept of ideological resistance by focusing on the creative use of non-oppositional nature, which is an important way in which local people could express their agency in the oppressive regime of socialist China. This article calls attention to how non-subversive co-optation of state policies can function as an expression of agency in the making of local human-environmental history, even on the part of individuals who are actively accommodating to the ideology of the dominant regime. Keywords: China, grassland campaign, Inner Mongolia, Mongols, state policies, Uxin Ju.

Geoforum, 2005

This paper surveys grassland management in China during the socialist period that began in 1949, ... more This paper surveys grassland management in China during the socialist period that began in 1949, examining state policies and local practices as well as views of nature underlying both. The case study is set in Uxin Ju, a Mongol-dominated community in western Inner Mongolia that enjoyed a national reputation in the 1960s for its enthusiasm in the campaign to transform its sandy land. This paper adopts a historical–cultural perspective. The grassland is a historical category whose formulation by the state has changed with the political–economic ideologies of the regime. At the same time, local views of the grassland have also changed, which facilitated the adoption of aggressive grassland practices. By examining grassland management and local change as a cultural process, this paper seeks to understand a dimension of grassland change that has not attracted much study in China. In several ways this paper contributes to the study of environmental history in socialist China. First, it adds to a complex appraisal of regional environmental change during the Mao era by demonstrating both grassland improvement and degradation in Uxin Ju. Second, this paper locates the agency of the local people in both predictable and surprising ways, both in resistance to and appropriation of state policies. Third, by covering the entire socialist period from 1949, this paper lends insights into the understanding of continuities and breaks in grassland management between the Mao (1949–1976) and post-Mao (1976–present) eras.