Environmental Change and the Rise of the Qin Empire

This thesis examines the long-term ecological transformation of the Guanzhong plain, capital region of China’s ancient empires, from the origins of agriculture to the fall of the Qin Empire in 208 BCE. It employs textual, archaeological and paleoecological evidence to reconstruct the natural environment of the region and examine how it was transformed by the centralization of political power. Following the introduction, the second chapter reconstructs the geology, climate and ecology of the region before it was converted to farming. After discussing potential reasons why the region was not forested, it describes the many wild animals that once lived there in order to help the reader imagine an ecosystem that has long since disappeared. Chapter Three explores the environmental impacts of Neolithic and early Bronze Age societies, examining the formation of the North Chinese agricultural system through indigenous domestication and the arrival of already domesticated plants and animals from Central Asia. It also discusses the environmental impacts of these small-scale farming communities. Chapter Four employs the Book of Odes and other evidence to analyze the human ecology of the Weste