Environmental History Group Lecture

Topic:
Reeds, Snails, and Parasites: Bilharzia Disease and Riverine Ecology in China’s Lower Yangzi Delta during the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
疫情下的蘆葦：從濕地生態的變遷檢視現代江南血吸蟲病的爆發，1870-1949

Lecturer:
Yu-Cheng Shih (Doctoral Candidate in the Department of History, Brown University)

Host:
Ya-wen Ku (Associate Research Fellow in the Institute of Taiwan History, Academia Sinica)

Date:
April 7th, 2023 (Fri.)

Time:
10:30-12:30 (GMT+8)

Venue:
Meeting Room 802, Institute of Taiwan History, Academia Sinica 

Language:
Chinese

Conference Mode:
face-to-face and online

Registration:
Click Here to Register

Abstract:
My research articulates the necessity of historicizing the wetland ecosystem and its interaction with human societies for understanding the spread of epidemics. The Lower Yangzi Delta, known as Jiangnan 江南 in Chinese, was one of the most economically developed regions in the world for centuries, and has therefore been the topic of substantial historical research. Based on the previous scholarship on social and agricultural developments, my study foregrounds the parasitic disease, bilharzia—Schistosoma japonicum, also called “snail fever” or the “blood-sucking worm disease” (Xuexichongbing 血吸蟲病) in Chinese—by tracing the environmental changes of the low-lying ecosystems on which Jiangnan’s prosperity relied. By investigating areas adjacent to Lake Tai (Taihu 太湖) such as Kunshan 崑山, the bottom basin of the Lower Yangzi Delta with the most intensive systems of farms and ditches, I examine why and how the riverine systems and shoreline dynamics eventually turned swampy areas into zones of bilharzia infection. With an effort to bridge aspects of social, environmental, and medical history, my research sheds lights on how the changing wetland ecosystem, featuring species like reeds and snails, exposed human bodies to pest threats and reveals the extent to which riverside management reshaped the anthropogenic landscape of modern China.

Attention:

1. For physical attendance, participants should register before March 30th. Please feel free to contact Ms. Lin if there is any question. E-mail: asithteh@gmail.com
2. The lecture will be given in Chinese. You can attend physically or watch the live-steam with Webex. The meeting room holds 45 participants. You can only watch the live-steam after the quota is full.
3. Participants can apply for a two-hours "Certificate for Environmental Education." The certificate will be issued after the lecture in a form of hard copy or PDF file.
4. The Certificate for Environmental Education is not a certificate of attendance. Please leave a note or contact us through email if you need it to meet the requirements of your university.
5.  Add this event to your google calendar: https://reurl.cc/DmyZa5.