International Social Science Journal (Chinese Edition)

No.2, 2022

 

The meaning of terracing in loess region for the time: a narrative of 50 years-long terracing practice in Zhuanglang County, Gansu Province, and comments

(Abstract)

 

Yongjian Hou

　　

In Zhuanglang, a county in Gansu Province and located on the high and steep loess southwest slopes of the Liupan Mountains, thousands of locals had been organized to work hard to build terraced field for more than a half century, and nearly 91.74% of  their field terraced (in 1997). An environment expected by locals for their production and living better had been created and become an example of agricutural production and social development for the whole China. In the article, I describe their intention when the local government organized peasants to do the work, ways of organisation and successive steps, as well as the role of the terraced field to their living, and different aspects of the relations between human and nature on the loess land. The approach I take to analyze it is relating theory to practices, and my judgement is that the meaning of terracing for the time was to make their habitat better. They have been doing so according to local conditions and found a path to social development for the mountaineous loess area, and should be understood and appreciated.