中国古代人与自然环境关系思想透视

在人类正面临生存环境的严重挑战的今天,中国古代人地关系思想的科学价值与现实意义受到中西方学者的高度重视。中国古代人与自然环境关系思想的突出特色在于,承认自然环境限制作用,强调在此前提下主动地适应自然环境,从以人为本的基点出发去保护自然环境、追求人与自然环境的和谐。这种人与自然环境相协调的人地观是中华民族在长期与开发利用自然环境的生产和生活实践过程中形成的,是中华民族悠久的文化传统的重要组成部分,也是中华文明得以延续的一个重要因素,它对现今社会的发展仍具有现实意义。

THE ANCIENT CHINESE IDEAS ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MAN AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

More and more overseas and Chinese scholars have rediscovered the scie ntific and practical values of the ancient Chinese ideas on Man-Land relationshi p when the life-supporting environment of human beings is facing the enormous ch allenges now. From the view of modern Geography, the concepts of "heaven" and "e arth" in ancient China may be interpreted into "climate" and "land" which equals to the natural environment. The ancient Chinese ideas on Man-Land relationship aim at the harmonious between man and nature. Its main views may be summed up in to following three aspects: 1) To accept the restriction of environment to human beings. This was the base for the establishment of the ancient Chinese ideas on Man-Land relationship. The restriction was made from two aspects. One was the e ssential restriction of the climate (heaven) and land (earth) to the food produc tion, which acted as the base of the Chinese civilization. Another was the vulne rability of natural system to the impacts of human activities. 2) To claim on th e active adaptation on the premise of obeying the natural rules. The adaptation in ancient China included acclimation and resistance. As a simple and effective means of adaptation, active acclimation aimed to obtain the maximum benefit from the nature with minimum input based on the understanding to the nature. Instead of conquering the nature, resistance aimed to mitigate the damage from the natu re or even to reverse damage to benefit by actively struggling against the negat ive impacts of the nature, which even emphasized the positive activities of huma n beings. 3) To protect the natural environment for the sustainable development of human society. This may be regarded as the forerunner of the modern eco-econo mic ideas. Protection on the farmland and natural balance were in the highest pr iority in order to ensure sustainable utilization of the natural resources. Thes e ideas formed in the long history of China, compose an important part of the tr adition of Chinese cultures. The modern society may benefit from the ideas.