How Did Ancient China Protect the Environment? 古代中國是如何保護環境的?

Nowadays， environmental protection is definitely one of the biggest concerns. Actually， it was also an issue that ancient Chinese people paid great attention to.

現如今，環境保護無疑是最受關注的問題之一。其實，這也是中國古人非常重視的一個問題。

The worlds earliest concept of “managing state affairs through environmental protection”

世界上最早的“環保治國”理念

In early ancient China， environmental protection was promoted to the political level. Xunzi， a famous thinker in the Warring States Period， brought up the concept of “managing state affairs through environmental protection”. He stated in his book that vegetation should not be damaged at will.

Guan Zhong， an official about 400 years ahead of Xunzi， was also an environmental protection expert. During his term of office， he claimed that “a king who cannot protect his vegetation is not qualified to be a king”.

在中國古代早期，環境保護被提升到治理國家的層面。戰國時期著名思想家荀子提出了“環保治國”的思想。他在書中說不應該隨意破壞植被。

管仲是比荀子早約400年的一位官員，也是一位環保專家。他在任期間曾說過：“不能保護草木的王，不配做王。”

The worlds earliest “environmental protection ministry”

世界上最早的“環保部”

The environmental protection ministry in early ancient China was called “Yu”， standing both for the institution and the official title. The nine ministries established by Shun， an ancient Chinese emperor， already included “Yu”. The first “Yu” official was a man called Boyi.

Boyi was a capable assistant to Dayu， an ancient Chinese water control expert. He invented wells， protecting peoples drinking water from pollution. He knew a lot about animals and also called for animal protection.

中國古代早期的環保部被稱為“虞”，既代表機構，也代表官職。中國古代部落首領舜建立的九個部中，已經包括了“虞”。第一個“虞”官是一個叫伯益的人。

伯益是中國古代治水能手大禹的得力助手。伯益發明了水井，以保護人們的飲用水不受污染。他很了解動物，也呼吁保護動物。

The worlds earliest “environmental protection legislation”

世界上最早的“環境保護法”

Environmental protection legislation can be traced back to the ruling period of Dayu， which was more than 4，000 years ago. During his reign， he issued a ban， forbidding people to chop wood in March or catch fish in June， the time when they were supposed to flourish.

In the Warring States Period， “environmental protection legislation” appeared in its true sense in Qin state， which was recorded in Law of Fields. Many environmental protection rules can be found in Law of Fields， among which two interesting ones stood out： firstly， river courses should not be blocked; secondly， grass and trees should not be burned to be fertilizer except in summer. The second one is inspiring even for today. It can help avoid air pollution and reduce haze.

環境保護法可以追溯到4 000多年前的大禹統治時期。在他統治期間，他頒布了一項禁令，禁止人們在三月砍柴或在六月捕魚，因為那正是它們的生長期。

戰國時期，秦國出現了真正意義上的“環境保護法”，被記載在《田律》中。《田律》中有很多環保法規，其中有兩條比較有意思：第一條，禁止堵塞河道；第二條，除了在夏天，禁止焚燒草木作為肥料。第二條即使在今天也很受用，它可以幫助避免空氣污染，減少霧霾。

Word Bank

vegetation /'ved??'te??n/ n. 植物；植被；草木

issue /'??u?/ v. 宣布；公布；發出

The police have issued an appeal for witnesses.

chop /t??p/ v. 砍；劈；切碎

Chop the butter into small pieces.