Seeing the Forest from the Trees: Scientific Forestry and the Rise of Modern Chinese Environmentalism, 1864 - 1937 By Larissa Noelle Pitts A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Wen-hsin Yeh Professor Alexander Cook Professor Lynn Huntsinger Summer 2017 Seeing the Forest from the Trees: Scientific Forestry and the Rise of Modern Chinese Environmentalism, 1864 - 1937 ©2017 by Larissa Noelle Pitts Abstract Seeing the Forest from the Trees: Scientific Forestry and the Rise of Modern Chinese Environmentalism, 1864 - 1937 by Larissa Noelle Pitts Doctor of Philosophy in History University of California, Berkeley Professor Wen-hsin Yeh, Chair This dissertation narrates the rise of Chinese scientific forestry during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Focusing primarily on central officials in Beijing and local officials in Jilin Province, it argues that forestry served as the lens through which Chinese officials first engaged with the ecological, cultural, and economic dimensions of international environmentalism. This meant that they saw forest cover as indicative of the quality of a nation’s culture, as well as the health of its land and economy. For the first time, Chinese officials sought to manage timber as a national resource. In so doing, they revealed the importance of environmental perceptions and realities to shaping global modernity. China gained international notoriety for its deforested landscapes around the turn of the twentieth century. The Taiping Rebellion and other wars of the nineteenth century had resulted in a dramatic loss in China’s forest cover. Nevertheless, foreign observers and Chinese literati uniformly blamed China’s deforestation on its inferior culture. Under the leadership of Yuan Shikai and the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, Republican officials sought to solve the forest problem with the help of American-trained foresters such as Ling Daoyang and Han An. This meant that central officials became newly responsible for managing the entire nation’s timber resources. Forestry’s proponents argued this would salvage China’s international reputation. Just as importantly, they argued that efficient forest management would foster the nation’s ecological health and economic self-sufficiency. In other words, they developed a style of Chinese environmental nationalism tied to forestry. The Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce imported the American tradition of Arbor Day in order to transmit this new ideology to the Chinese public. Henceforth, all local and provincial governments throughout the Chinese nation would conduct reforestation projects as part of the Arbor Day celebration. This was to be done regardless of the suitability of local climates, soils, and social conditions to planting trees. For some officials, reforestation necessitated a struggle to tame the land to support trees. For 1 others, it meant guarding trees against banditry, warfare, animals, or even small children. For some, reforestation meant reinvigorating traditionally forested areas, such as sacred mountains, temples, and riverbeds. For others, it meant establishing economic tree farms and modern parks. Those who succeeded in growing and maintaining China’s forest cover displayed a commitment to creating a China that was as ecologically modern as they imagined the landscapes throughout the world to be. Forestry thus served as the lens through which Chinese officials from Beijing to rural Jilin engaged with the cultural and economic dimensions of global environmentalism. 2 Acknowledgements It feels impossible to adequately thank all the many people who have helped me along the long road to completing my dissertation. First and foremost, I would like to thank my advisor Wen-hsin Yeh. Few graduate students are blessed enough to have someone in their corner as insightful, diligent, and compassionate as Prof. Yeh. Any mistakes and shortcomings that remain in my dissertation fall unequivocally on my own shoulders. Thank you, Prof. Yeh, for all the guidance and encouragement over the years. I would also like to thank my other dissertation advisors: Alexander Cook and Lynn Huntsinger. Thank you, Prof. Cook, for always asking me to think globally and to interrogate modernity. Thank you, Prof. Huntsinger, for pushing me outside of my comfort zone in the humanities. Both of your perspectives and, just as importantly, words of encouragement have been invaluable. I am also deeply indebted to the many archivists and librarians in Taiwan and the PRC who helped me find the materials needed to complete my dissertation. On Taiwan, the archivists at the Institute of Modern History at Academia Sinica, the Guomindang Party Archives, and Academia Historica worked tirelessly to sift through the many, many documents I printed. The librarians at Academia Sinica and the National Central Library were always welcomed me with a smile. In the PRC, the archivists at the First Historical Archives ensured that my short stay went as smoothly as possible. Above all, I must thank the archivists at the Jilin Provincial Archives, who were extremely patient with my daily disruptions of their efforts to digitize their sizable collection. They further endeavored to make my time there as comfortable as possible, even as the dreaded Manchurian winter raged outside. I am eternally grateful for all of your help. Many of my colleagues have been gracious enough to comment on early and oftentimes incoherent drafts of my work. At Berkeley, James Lin, Peiting Li, Linh Vu, Jonathan Tang, Jeffrey Weng, Caleb Ford, Serena Wu, Matthew Berry, Patricia Yu, Eloise Wright, Lisa Hoffman-Kuroda, Trenton Wilson, Jon Soriano, and Jon Pitt have overwhelmed me with their generosity of time and spirit. Outside of Berkeley, Christopher Atwood, David Bello, Kalyanakrishnan Sivaramakrishnan, Ian Matthew Miller, Zhu Ye, Sakura Christmas, John Lee, David Fedman, Seonmin Kim, Mark Sokolsky, as well as the students and faculty at the Departments of History at Sichuan University and Northeast Normal University have all taken time out of their busy schedules to offer me excellent feedback and guidance. More still have offered me encouragement and excellent conversation over the years. Margaret Tillman, William Ma, Zhu Ye, and Sakura Christmas have time and time again astounded me with their sempaily devotion. Paulina Hartono was a voice of cheer when times were tough. Peter Zinoman, Rodolfo Alaniz, Eloise Wright, Jesse Watson, Eric Schluessel, David Porter, Amy Gordanier, Cyrus Chen, Yu Welch, Andrea Horbinski, Charlotte Cowden, Kevin Landdeck, Antonio Mendoza, Evelyn Shih, Du Heng, Ti Ngo, Jamie Yoo, Zhang Meng, Chi Xiang, Robert Cole, Cai Chang, Suzanne Penuel, Henry Antkiewicz, Kevin Li, Giuliana Perrone, Albert Fang, Sarah Gold McBride, Jess Purkis, Beatrice Schraa, and countless others have all brightened my days and inspired great i thoughts. My new colleagues at Austin College, including Jennifer Johnson-Cooper, Mindy Landeck, and Scott Langton, have given me the brightest light at the end of the tunnel I could ever imagine. The memory of Jeffery Hadler’s joy and passion burns strong within me. Kai Filipiak, Calvin Chen, Sigrid Schmalzer, Alice Kao, Wang Ying, Jerry Dennerline, and Jonathan Lipman all helped guide me toward graduate school and gain confidence in Chinese. My sisters at Mount Holyoke, including Lisa Bobroskie, Shinohara Emi, Megan Chen, Eva Pan, Lindsey Scannell, Nguyen Dieu, Yao Songqiao, Sarah Ng, Cui Zilin, Anna Wei, Vanessa Fong, Crystal DeCell, and Felipa Quiroz, gave me the support I needed to take the leap into my new career. Joo-Hyung Lee and Kathleen Buckingham helped me proofread my graduate school application and made my time at IUP Tsinghua even more delightful. Finally, countless people outside of the academic world have helped me sojourn on. Ryan Dell offered sage advice as only high school classmates can. Fang Lu brightened the cold, dark days in Changchun with her laughter. Hou Yanzhuo made Beijing feel like home. Nadine Scotland encouraged me to make time for the hot springs in Taipei. Anh, Dori, Ute, Kathi, and Marie all gave me a family during my time as an undergraduate student in Leipzig. My family has given me unconditional love and support, no matter how far I ventured or how emotionally distant my work made me. Last, but not least, I want to thank my husband TJ, who believes in me far more than anyone rightfully should. There are no words to express the kind of love and devotion that it takes to leave the comfort of San Francisco for a studio in freezing Changchun. There he discovered just why exile to Manchuria was one of the crueler Qing punishments. Deprived of a strong expat community, air conditioning in the summer, and a proper bathroom, he devoted himself to supporting my career. He learned basic Chinese, maintaining our blanket supply, keeping me up-to-date on the news and weather, ensuring we had our daily helping of baozi, bringing laughter into the home, and maintaining our pulmonary health. This dissertation is as much a product of his sweat, tears, shivers, and blood as it is my own. I promise that one day my work will be worthy of such love and sacrifice. ii Table of Contents: Introduction 1 Chapter 1: Knowing Forests Before the Age of Global Timber: The 23 Pre-Ideas of Modern Chinese Forestry Chapter 2: Timber! The Growth of a Modern Chinese Obsession in 62 Global Context, 1842 – 1915 Chapter 3: The Ubiquitous Borders: Understanding Forests and 98 Deforestation in Qing and Republican Jilin Chapter 4: The Panacea for the Land: Premodern Forestry in a 181 Modern Context, 1912 – 1937 Chapter 5: Pedagogy and Desire: Arbor Day and the Popularization of 212 the Chinese Forest, 1915 - 1937 Chapter 6: Implementing the Forest: Reforesting and Afforesting 250 Republican China Conclusion 283 Bibliography 288 iii Introduction: On May 21, 2017, a Chinese student named Yang Shuping gave a speech at the University of Maryland’s commencement ceremony.