Traditional Ecological Wisdom In Modern Society: Perspectives From Terraced Fields In Honghe And Chongqing, Southwest China

In reflecting the shortcomings of modern science, traditional ecological wisdom (TEW) is increasingly believed to have profound capacities in providing inspirations for ecological design to sustain our future. However, the evolution and applicability of TEW in modern society are often overlooked. To better understand this issue, this paper explores and compares two cases of terrace-based agricultural landscapes in southwest China with different ecological wisdom and cultural significance. The goal of this paper is to understand the roles of TEW embedded in traditional agricultural landscapes in the context of landscape changes during modernization. The TEW is explored from two aspects: landscape as the physical representation; and culture covering the ethereal realm and human aspects. Both cases demonstrate significant TEW: the Hani Terraces of Honghe as a practice-belief system and Chongqing pond-paddy fields as a practice-norm system. In modern society, norms shift rapidly and beliefs fade due to new techniques and new lifestyles introduced during modernization. Some physical landscapes embedded with TEW are also destroyed in the development process. There has been some limited modern utilization of TEW, including touristification of the Hani Terraces, commodification of pond-paddy fields and some ecological engineering experiments inspired by agro-terrace structure. In general, the easiest and prevailing way to utilize TEW in modern China is only about physical components. Cultural components of TEW are heavily influenced by modernization and often neglected in modernization. Since ecological wisdom is more about knowledge and procedure in doing permanent goods, this paper ends with a suggestion for further highlighting and applying the procedure, functional, and cultural components of TEW beyond forms and economic concerns to better complement modern science for future sustainability.