Essay On Hydraulic Civilization

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Recommended: History of imperialism in china

Sarah Rashid
Asia 20200 “Contemporary Asia: World Systems in Transformation”
Drew Hopkins
March 30, 2014
China as Hydraulic Civilization
Karl August Wittfogel was a philosopher during the early part of the 20th century Europe. He was known for his belief that the ancient civilization of Egypt and Mesopotamia was unable to reach their full potential because of their lack of knowledge about irrigation systems. The theory of “Hydraulic Civilizations” was developed by Karl Wittfogel and in his book “Oriental Despotism”. Hydraulic Civilizations were described as places of agricultural systems that were dependent on the crucial government, directed water systems for irrigation and flood management. Wittfogel described Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Northern China, India, and pre-Columbian Mexico and Peru as Hydraulic civilizations. The hydraulic theory of civilization was a foundation stone in the cultural ecology movement. Karl Wittfogel stated in his work, "Oriental Despotism in 1957," on the political implications of what he called "hydraulic civilization.” In hydraulic civilizations, the irregular and massive floods led to the major irrigation and flood control projects, which in turn led to a strong central government.
“Symbol of creation, harbor of all seeds, water becomes the supreme magic and medicinal substance; it heals, it restores youth” was said by Qiguang Zhoa. Water was an important mythology in the Chinese cultural. Wittfogel was noted for his studies on ancient china. Karl A. Wittfogel was born on September 06, 1896, in Woltersdorf, Germany. He moved to the united stated and from 1934, he worked at the Columbia University of New York. From time to time, he would travel to china to pursue his research. From 1939 to 1968, h...

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...e emperor had lost the support of the gods.
Karl Wittfogel’s thesis on “hydraulic state” were called into question, however his idea remained powerful and intuitive. Scholars such as Joseph Needham argued that Wittfogel was operating from ignorance of basic Chinese history. However the hydraulic engineering for seemed to be helped thrive the uprising civilizations. Flood control was very important for flourishing societies. Yu the Great’s legendary engineering skills for hydraulic structures were an important part of China’s history in civilizations. A “Hydraulic Civilization was characterized as a highly centralized bureaucracy and having control over a resource that is vital to the economy and life. Wittfogel did make a point to give to think whether or not the hydraulic empire is connected to the origins of political orders whether it is Oriental or Occidental.

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