Theory
In An Inner Asian Approach to the Historical Geography of China (1947), Lattimore explored the system through which humanity affects the environment and is changed by it, and concluded that civilization is molded by its own impact on the environment. He lists the following pattern:
- A primitive society pursues some agricultural activities, but is aware that it has many limitations.
- Growing and evolving, the society begins to change the environment. For example, depleting its game supply and wild crops, it begins to domesticate animals and plants. It deforests land to create room for these activities.
- The environment changes, offering new opportunities. For example, it becomes grasslands.
- Society changes in response, and reacts to the new opportunities as a new society. For example, the once-nomads build permanent settlements and shift from a hunter-gatherer mentality to a farming society culture.
- The reciprocal process continues, offering new variations.
Read more about this topic: Owen Lattimore
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