The Water Kingdom
A Secret History of China
- Contents
- Review Quotes

1. The Great Rivers
Yangtze and Yellow: The Axes of China’s Geography
2. Out of the Water
The Myths and Origins of Ancient China
3. Finding the Way
Water as Source and Metaphor in Daoism and Confucianism
4. Channels of Power
How China’s Waterways Shaped its Political Landscape
5. Voyages of the Eunuch Admiral
How China Explored the World
6. Rise and Fall of the Hydraulic State
Taming the Waters by Bureaucracy
7. War on the Waters
Rivers and Lakes as Sites and Instruments of Conflict
8. Mao’s Dams
The Technocratic Vision of a New China
9. The Fluid Art of Expression
How Water Infuses Chinese Painting and Literature
10. Water and China’s Future
Threats, Promises and a New Dialogue
Acknowledgements
Picture Credits
Notes
Bibliography
Index
History: Asian History | Environmental History | General History | History of Ideas
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