You Wang

This research on water governance unravels the social and political entanglements of institutions, gender, and technology in early modern China. It explores community-based solutions for environmental sustainability. Specifically, the project investigates the role of village men and women as physical workers, knowledge producers, and architects of sustainable hydraulic institutions in eras of climate, hydrological, and sociopolitical change. It argues that despite a gradual state withdrawal in hydraulic governance, many communities in the Lower Yangzi Delta adeptly responded to waves of unprecedented and often sudden ecological crises. Much of the study relies on untapped sources such as river records, legal cases, genealogies, hydrological manuals, as well as digital humanities methods.