（重新）塑造景观：中国的人类干预景观遗产

作者：约翰尼斯·穆勒

翻译：张阁、陈航

校对：张晋石

Text: Johannes Müller

Translator: ZHANG　Ge and CHEN Hang

Proofreading: ZHANG Jin-shi

（重新）塑造景观：中国的人类干预景观遗产

作者：约翰尼斯·穆勒

翻译：张阁、陈航

校对：张晋石

Text: Johannes Müller

Translator: ZHANGGe and CHEN Hang

Proofreading: ZHANG Jin-shi

景观作为一个整体代表了地球表面的一部分，包括导致其典型形态的所有影响因子和相互关联性。换句话说，景观可以被视为一个生态系统。自然景观被人类干预（通常是农民和农业）到一定程度，即成为文化景观，生态系统演变为农业生态系统，人在这个生态系统中是主要的生态因子。

我们今天所看到的文化景观，尤其在中国，是9 000年甚至更长的历史长河中，在自然和人类相互的影响之下逐步地改变、影响或适应特定的生态因子后形成的。由此产生的文化景观反映出人与自然在悠久历史中的相互关系。由于农业必须有定居点的存在，因此典型的文化景观包括土地利用系统以及村庄和建筑。

更重要的是，一种长期稳定的文化景观是可持续土地利用的结果，代表了一种内在的审美价值。经由人类活动导致的自然景观向文化景观的转变不应被看作是对自然或自然景观的破坏，而应被理解为对景观的（重新）塑造。

取决于是否适合农业发展，文化景观在21世纪面临的发展趋势包括集约化或彻底遗弃。风景园林的任务即在这两种极端情形之间找到平衡点，提出发展理念，同时考虑文化景观的历史的和美学的价值。

文化景观；风景园林；景观历史；土地利用系统

The cultural landscape as we see it today, especially in the case of China, is the outcome of a history of 9000 or more years of interdependencies between nature and man, step by step changing, influencing or adapting to certain eco-factors. The resulting cultural landscape therefore reflects the long history of a mutual relationship between man and nature. As farming is not possible without settlements, characterizing the cultural landscape includes land use systems as well as villages and buildings.

On top of that, on a long term stable cultural landscapes, being the result of sustainable land use systems, represent an intrinsic aesthetical value. The transformation of a natural into a cultural landscape by human activity should not be seen as the destruction of nature or the natural landscape, but should be understood as (re-) shaping of the landscape.

Possible developments of the cultural landscape in the 21st century include either the intensification of land use or its complete abandonment depending on the suitability for agriculture. It’s the task of landscape architecture to develop concepts on a scale between those two extremes including the historical and the aesthetical values of the cultural landscape.

陈航/1993年生/女/北京林业大学硕士研究生（北京100083）

Translator:

ZHANG Ge, who was born in 1993, is the Master of Landscape Architecture student in Beijing Forestry

CHEN Hang, who was born in 1993, is the Master of Landscape Architecture student in Beijing Forestry University.

校对：

张晋石/1979年生/男/北京林业大学园林学院副教授（北京 100083）

Proofreading:

ZHANG Jin-shi, who was born in 1979, is an associate professor in School of Landscape Architecture, Beijing Forestry University (Beijing 100083)

1　引言：文化景观和农业生态系统

在地理学中，我们将景观看作是地球表面的一处特定部分，是一定范围内具有明确特征、由不同元素（地貌、植被、大气等）构成的综合系统。这并不意味着它是一张静态的风景照片。我们实际上感兴趣的是这张照片背后的生态系统，以及其组成部分、组成部分之间的相互影响、功能及相关性。在此意义上，每种景观都可以被定义为一个生态系统，是其组成部分之间相互作用的结果。其中主要的生态因子，如地质、水文、土壤和植被，由众多物理、生物和化学过程相互联系起来。从这个观点看，每个景观都是生态系统与其特定生态因子和生态过程的空间表达。

自然生态系统是一个动态的系统。这意味着在一定程度上它可以发生改变，并且能够动态地回应其生态因子的变化。调整期结束后，生态系统有可能达到一种不同的生态因子平衡状态。比如，冰河时代结束之后，由于气候变暖造成的森林扩张就是这种动态变化的一个案例。然而，在现在的自然条件下，森林是存在于一处特定的景观之中的，它会在被火灾摧毁之后再生，这是由于生态因子是保持不变的，生态系统一直是稳定的。

大约在公元前9000年的新石器革命时期，农业和定居点兴起，标志着由于人类的农业实践干预使景观发生了根本的改变。首先，农民必须清理掉自然植被改种经济作物，后来他们掌握更多的方法，如出于浇灌作物的目的必须要控制水文系统。土壤侵蚀和表层土中养分减少之类的影响在很长一段时间之后才能在景观中显现出来。由于人类对景观的影响如此重要，地理学对两种景观类型进行了区分：自然景观和文化景观（里特1852, S. 156），后者在很大程度上由人类活动主导（图1）。

经过几千年的农业发展，人类成为又一个生态因子，对景观产生了多方面的影响。这不仅包括人类造成的直接影响，如替换自然植被；也包括间接影响，如放牧或土壤中养分的减少。农民已经掌握需要进行何种频率和强度的干预才能以期望的方式改变这个系统，包括每月重复除草以阻止杂草蔓延和创造出奇异复杂的梯田以降低坡度。

人类改造自然的影响是如此强大，因此我们不能再仅仅谈论生态系统。文化景观应被理解为人作为主要生态因子控制的农业生态系统。由于在这样一个系统中人类试图超越主要生态过程取得的控制权，农业生态系统不再是自然的动态演变。

2　生态过程的控制

2 梯田的形状完全契合黄土高原旱田区景观的等高线位置。这种方法大大降低了倾斜角，将更容易耕种和控制水土流失。其结果是形成一种由人类正面改造成的专门定制出的文化景观。（甘肃大岭）Terraces following exactly the contour lines of the landscape in the dry field zone of the loess plateau. Aimed at making tilling easier and controlling soil erosion, this method greatly reduces the slope angle. The result is a tailor-made cultural landscape actively altered by man. (Daling/Gansu)

农民一般只从经济角度来考虑问题，他们的目的是丰收和高产。为此，他们对景观进行干预是非常必要的。文化景观仅仅是这个态度的结果。它不是一种纯粹的人工景观（如城市景观），而是保留了大量的自然元素。一个农业生态系统仍然反映了自然的以及人类的影响。

不谈区域差异，几乎整个中国的农业生态系统都有一个共同点，即劳动密集型，但正是由于这个原因，生态过程受到了严格的控制。为了理解文化景观，我们必须研究相关生态因子、控制机制以及对农业生态系统的影响。在生态系统中，农民最需要控制是土壤侵蚀、地貌、灌溉和养分。

3　土壤侵蚀的控制

3 在谷底精耕细作的水稻田和菜地以及山坡上的灌木丛，这些灌木只可作木柴。这种对立是中国南方大部分文化景观的特色。这是对给定的生态因素和地形的一种适应表现，可被看作是对生态系统的一种较被动的干预形式。（江西大坑）Intensively cultivated valley floor with wet rice and vegetable fields and hill slopes with bushes, used only for firewood. This Antagonism is characteristic for most cultural landscapes of southern China. An adaptation to the given eco-factor, the relief, it can be seen as a more passive form of interference with the ecosystem. (Dakong/ Jiangxi)

随着土地利用的兴起，土壤侵蚀问题随之而来。因为农作物不像自然植被，在它们开始种植之前和收获之后，土地是长期裸露的。黄土高原是中华文明的摇篮，黄土是黄土高原土壤的基础，特别容易受到侵蚀。最好的解决办法是修建梯田，这一技术随着时间的推移不断提升，使整个景观发生了积极的转变。中国向南扩张时，由于南方的气候适合种植水稻，梯田则与灌溉结合起来。南方是多丘陵的地形地貌，但即使是在非常陡峭的山坡，依然可以通过修建梯田的方式来进行耕作。人工劳作使得紧贴斜坡形态的极窄梯田成为可能，形成量身定制的景观（图2）。

4　地貌的控制

4 一处喀斯特地貌的盆地，起初认为此处不可能栽种水稻。这个地方的特点是其地下全是可渗透水，是一个没有地面排水和地下河流的空心壳子。需要极其复杂成熟的生态系统干预措施，才能建立出这样一种文化景观：除了用粘土（粘土层不能被耕作破坏）对土地进行防渗处理，改善陡峭山坡上的梯田之外，还需要从遥远的水源地重新输送灌溉用水，并利用底部的排水口来排掉多余的水。（湖南吉信）Apolje of a karst landscape, at first thought an impossible location for wet rice cultivation. It is characterized by a permeable underground, a hollow mould without surface drainage and subterrane rivers. Extremely sophisticated interventions into the ecosystem were necessary to build up such a cultural landscape:apart from the adjustment of terracing the steep slopes, this meant the sealing of the fields with clay (this layer must not be damaged by tilling), rechanneling irrigation water from distant sources and making use of the sinkhole at the bottom for the drainage of the surplus water. (Jixin/Hunan)

地貌的控制是一种更加被动的干预形式，是对特定生态因子的适应性改造而非主动改造。地貌对文化景观肌理的影响非常显著，中国南方的典型特征是精耕细作的盆地或河谷以及广泛利用的山坡和林下地带。在地方层面，对文化景观中的定居历史进行比较是非常有趣的。汉族农民专门在盆地和河谷种植水稻，而大多数少数民族居住在山区，种植多种不同的植物（图3）。

5　灌溉的控制

5 梯田景观通常用于栽种水稻。在文化景观中可以明确看到养分的控制：在冬季，旱地中的大多数田地都种植了第三种作物：芥菜和三叶草，这些都是菌根植物，明确是作为一种绿肥而种植的。种植它们不会有产量，但能够为土壤增加养分含量。（湖南回龙）Landscape with terraces normally used for wet rice cultivation. Nutrient control is actually visible in the cultural landscape:in wintertime, most fields are planted in dry cultivation for a third crop,Chinese mustard and clover, which are mycorrhiza plants, grown specifically as a green manure. They are not harvested, but ploughed into the soil to increase the nutrient content. (Huilong/Hunan)

水稻在所有农作物中单位产量最高，由于其生长过程中需要不同的水深，这显然需要精确的灌溉控制。农民研发出不同水位的控制技术，结合灌溉和排水，形成了不同的景观。沿等高线的水渠是灌溉控制中最引人注目的形式，至少在改变文化景观这一方面来说是这样的。这种技术非常复杂，需要控制几乎整个水文系统，所以在建造过程中需要大量的劳力且操作时需要成熟的知识。而相比较而言不是那么壮观的河水灌溉系统是中国南方大多数流域和盆地中最普遍的形式。另一方面，灌溉被广泛地应用在其它谷物和蔬菜种植的旱田中，如中国北方的低地平原地区，当然也应用在沙漠绿洲中（图4）。

6　养分控制

6 一个紧凑的村庄平面，只有很窄的街巷，这是因为没有大型动物（没有综合的畜牧业）和动物拉的车。由于很少有谷仓或马厩，造就了一种大体上统一的村庄外观，主要仅包括农舍。在这种情况下，建造和建筑材料主要是木承重系统与土坯砖墙的结合。（云南保山）Compact ground plan of a village with only very small lanes, due to the missing of large animals (no integration of animal husbandry) and animal-drawn carts. With few barns or stables a generally uniform appearance of thevillage, consisting largely only of farmhouses, is the result. Construction and building material in this case consists of a combination of a wooden load bearing system with adobe brick walls. (Baoshan/Yunnan)

由于收获是源自于生态系统，如果土壤养分得不到更替，土壤会快速恶化，这使得施肥成为土地连续利用的先决条件。尽管中国常见的土壤具有多样性（南方的强淋溶土、北方的栗钙土和冲积土），但它们通常都缺乏养分，因此有效控制养分是必需的。人类排泄物和粪肥总是供不应求，而直到上个世纪化肥才能够被使用。一种能够解决养分不足问题的措施是施用绿肥。三叶草、大豆和芥菜，相比其他植物它们具有菌根，能够从空气中提取氮，并将其存储在根系中。特别是在冬天这些植物生长只是为了固氮，而其花朵影响着很多文化景观。

绿肥是一个表明如何控制养分循环的重要例子。据史料记载，该方法早在4 000多年前就已经在中国出现。从中可看出文化景观的历史价值，这仅仅是其中一个例子（布雷，1986）（图5） 。

7　文化景观的历史价值

7 村庄坐落在农田的中央，为了尽可能靠近劳动密集型的稻田。另一方面，宝贵的农田要尽量减少浪费，因此使平面布局更加紧凑。有核心的村庄是中国文化景观的常态。（云南云峰山）Village location in the middle of the fields, in order to stay as close to the labour-intensivepaddies as possible. On the other hand as little of the precious land as possible should be wasted and therefore a compact ground planis the result. Nucleated villages arethe norm for the Chinese cultural landscape.(Yunfengshan/Yunnan)

几乎在世界任何地方，都不会有人质疑历史建筑的价值（如长城或故宫）。然而，随着历史演变的景观却是另一种情形。中国拥有最悠久的农业土地利用历史，由此产生了世界上最悠久的文化景观。大约在公元前9000年，新石器革命在地球上两个地区同时发生：美索不达米亚平原和中国北方，那里龙山文化和仰韶文化日益繁荣。这两个地区的根本不同在于，中国是在同一个地区拥有超过9 000年的连续不断的发展，而没有出现过像中东和欧洲那样的文化中断甚至彻底消亡。

在中国，有两个因素对文化景观的形成和演变至关重要：土地短缺和农业土地利用的稳定性。与中国相比，欧洲的情况则非常有趣，土地利用走了完全不同的方向。在欧洲，几个世纪以来，随着畜牧业和农业耕地的整合、机械化以及在20世纪农业单元规模的扩大，产量不断增加。中国恰恰相反，生产效率的提高不是靠资金投入或增加新的农地面积，而是靠增加劳动力提高农业产出。可持续和高效的土地利用系统是基于小块土地、精耕细作、良好的组织和农业创新发展起来的。对于文化景观的特征而言，劳动强度及其实质比社会结构更重要。例如，无论是否存在大尺度的土地产权或集体所有权，小块土地始终能够保持正常状态。一个非常杰出的早期案例是2 200多年前在四川都江堰修建的大型灌溉工程，它结合了劳力、组织和创新以提升生产效率。中国发展出来的各种各样的农业生态系统，其特点是十分巧妙的利用了一些往往是不利因素的自然条件。

单纯从农业角度来看待文化景观并不充分。由于农作物需要照料而不能不管，因此农业不能没有定居点。此外，文化景观的发展是一个长期的过程，需要人类的反复干预，不定居是难以想象的。出于此原因，任何对文化景观的描述中如果没有提到其与定居点结构之间的相关性，那么它就不完整。

8　村庄的外观

8 高度多样化的建筑材料，与外观以及建设原则相一致。在原有黄土的地方建造窑洞，土坯砖的单层房屋，由石灰石建造的一层半的房子（包括屋顶的石板也是石灰岩），半木结构的三层木房屋。乡村建筑与城市建筑形成了鲜明对比，乡村建筑存在明显的区域分化。（甘肃驿马，江西凤岗，贵州黄果树，贵州肇兴）Highly diverse building materials corresponding with appearance as well as construction principles. Insitu loess with cave dwellings, single storey house of adobe bricks, one-and-half storey house made of limestone(including the stone slabs on the roof), halftimbered wooden houses with three storeys. In sharp contrast to urban architecture, there is a clear regional differentiation of the rural architecture. (Yima/Gansu, Fenggang/Jiangxi, Huangguoshu/ Guizhou, Zhaoxing/ Guizhou)

首先，乡村建筑反映了土地利用和其工作流程的必要性。与世界其他地区相比，中国的村庄平面布局非常紧凑，只有一些小巷子。因为基本上没有牛和马（水牛大多呆在田地里），也没有牛或马拉的车，宽阔的道路并没有用处。出于同样的原因，马厩也没有必要。另外，由于主要是在田地里处理作物，因此也没有谷仓，这就形成了一种统一的村庄外观，基本上都是农舍（图6）。

9　村庄的选址

9 在陡峭的分级地形中的文化景观和干旱的自然植被，乍一看是不太适宜的土地利用方式。为了发展农业，农民不得不改变所有事物：起伏的地形已经成梯田，正好适应了地貌。沿着等高线的水渠提供的灌溉，从遥远的水源地带来了水。与原来的自然相比，植被更加茂盛，并且有更多的栖息地和物种。村庄和农田与自然条件相适应并位于滑坡可能性较小的地方。依据生态可能性，以干湿农田结合的方式进行土地利用。将改变某些生态因素与适应其他因素相结合，便形成了一个整体（重新）塑造的文化景观。(云南保山)Cultural landscape in a steeply graded terrain with scarce, dry natural vegetation, at first sight quite inappropriate for land use. In order to practice agriculture almost everything had to be changed by the farmers: Therelief has been altered by terraces, exactly adapted to the landforms, irrigation is provided by contour canals, bringing the water from distant sources, the vegetation is much more prosperous with more habitats and species than naturally, villages and fields are adapted to natural conditions and are located where landslides are less likely, land use is a combination of dry and wet fields according to the ecological possibilities. A combination of changing certain eco-factors and adaptating to others, leading to a completely (re-) shaped cultural landscape (Baoshan/Yunnan)

村庄的选址、方向和整合也显示了与景观之间的许多联系。高劳动强度使村庄必须尽可能靠近农田，所以村庄往往位于田地的中央。又因为要尽可能减少对宝贵农田资源的浪费，就进一步促成了非常紧凑的村庄平面布局。在中国北方，为了冬天能晒到太阳，大多数村庄的建筑是朝南的。村庄中大部分建筑物很少有谷仓和马厩，增强了外观的统一性。出于这些原因，结构紧凑、有核心的村庄成为了中国文化景观的范式（图7）。

10　建筑材料

10 人口稠密、精耕细作的景观，以及对人类和生态系统的关系的一种复杂安排。农田形式与地形以及必要的灌溉相关，这个村庄融入进了文化景观，使能够进行复杂的工作流程。尽管在人造特征和定居点的干预下，生态系统几乎已经发生了完全改变，但这并不是破坏，这意味着它是长期可持续的，一个稳定的农业生态系统已经取而代之。（安徽九华街）Densely populated, intensively used landscape with a complex arrangement of relationships between man and ecosystem. Field forms are related to the relief as well as the necessities of irrigation, the village is integrated into the cultural landscape to enable a complex workflow.Despite the almost complete change of the ecosystem with the integration of manmade features and settlements, it is not destructed, that means it is sustainable on the long term, and a stable agroecosystem has replaced it. (Jiuhuajie/Anhui)

至今，乡村建筑都与本地可利用的建造材料密切相关，且这些材料还可以决定建造方式。很明显，整个中国的乡村建筑风格是可以进行区域划分的。比如，黄土高原的黄土窑洞，东部用土坯砖建造的单层房屋，西南地区常见的半木结构的木建筑，一些石材产地用石头建造的房子。从黄土窑洞到单层土坯房，建造材料不仅决定了外观，也决定了建筑构造。在有木材或石头的地区，就能够建造出大型多层的住宅。如果屋顶用石板，由于石头的重量，就必须作出一些具体的调整，如降低屋面角。

所有这些因素共同导致了乡村建筑具有明显的区域差异。乡村建筑确实存在大量不同的风格，这些风格可以明确的归因于特定的景观及其生态条件和农业条件。这与城市、皇家和宗教建筑形成了鲜明的对比，后者在全国范围内表现出一种更加统一的风格（图8）。

11　文化景观的美学价值

11 这并不是艺术家的绘画，而是一处文化景观真实的结构和色彩，由人类（重新）塑造。它不能被误解为“艺术”，艺术是故意的创造，而应被视为正向干预、回应不利条件、无意的改变的结果，或者是人类干预的长期结果。只有将这些加以结合，才成为可见的我们所说的“文化景观”。（甘肃岷县）Not an artist’s painting, but the real structures and coloursof a cultural landscape, (re-) shaped by man. This is not to be misunderstood as “art”, as a deliberate creation, but as the result of active interventions, of responses or re-actions to adverse conditions, of often unintentional modifications, or of long-term consequences of human interferences. Only in combination, they all are visible as what we call the“cultural landscape”.(Minxian/Gansu)

在许多情况中，人类的干预使生态系统崩溃，导致了景观的破坏。农作物取代自然植被，过度开采引发表层土壤养分减少，侵蚀又使有价值的表层土流失，不恰当的灌溉管理导致了盐碱化。从这个角度来看，你可以将新石器革命称为人类破坏大自然的开端，不过这种看法非常片面。相反，关键问题是人类是否已经学会适应特定的生态因子，以及在不破坏整体生态系统的前提下改变其他因子。换句话说，长期来看，农民对景观的干预是否是可持续的（图9）。

中国在这个问题上是一个很好的榜样，因为其文化景观已经不间断的发展了9 000多年。这种持久性只能通过避免过度利用景观来实现。如果自然生态系统的改变没有达到毁灭的程度，也就是说，如果人类的干预在很长一段时期来说都是可持续的，这将能够发展成为稳定的农业生态系统。

这种文化成就是文化景观的内在审美价值。因此，由人类活动引起的自然景观向文化景观的转变应被理解为景观的（重新）塑造（图10）。

我们看到的文化景观的设计、整理和图像，取决于每个地区土地利用对相关生态因子的适应，至少迄今为止是如此。随后生态因子和从事农业生产的人之间的相互作用（重新）塑造了文化景观。这个过程不会被误认为是“艺术”，“艺术”意味着刻意创造新的事物，是一个诞生于人类头脑中的想法（比如花园或公园）。一般情况下，农民的行为和他们对生态系统的干预旨在实现农业产量的最大化。他们只是通过合理的努力来应对那些可以改变的不利条件，以达到优化土地利用的目的。景观的许多改变是在无意识中发生的，或是一种长期的结果，开始时并没有此目的。只有将所有这些干预结合起来，才成为我们可见的、所谓的“文化景观”（图11）。

12　文化景观保护的威胁和理念

我们必须考虑到文化景观是一直处于不断变化和发展的过程中的。毫无疑问，21世纪的巨大变化会冲击中国的文化景观，这对景观规划提出了巨大挑战。风景园林师必须站在两条线上作战。国内，有来自公众反对农业补贴的压力和来自农民的经济工作环境的压力。国际上，大多数条约（如世界贸易组织）认为农业属于正常的经济一部分。这两种态度都蔑视农业对文化景观的主导影响。

未来发展可能会出现两种趋势，且极有可能同时出现。一种是由于劳动力减少同时又要求产量增加而造成的机械化和对土地利用的进一步强化。这种趋势会在更适合土地利用的地区出现。另一种与此相反，低产量或农业耕作比较困难或过于偏远的地区将被忽视，这些地区会受到土地利用终止的威胁，直到被最终遗弃。这两种发展趋势在地方层面的某一微尺度区域和整个国家层面上都有可能会出现。

一般来说，农业和文化景观中的可见影响总是有些滞后于整体社会的发展。即使是欧洲，也仍处于文化景观变化的过程中，中国现在只是刚刚开始。双方未来可能的发展前景——集约化或者遗弃——都会导致发展了若干个世纪的文化景观的消失。这种消失的后果是显而易见的，从生态问题的增加到生物多样性的丧失。从本文的讨论来看，历史和美学价值也将会丢失。

在这两个极端情形之间找到平衡提出文化景观的发展理念，是景观规划和风景园林的任务。文化景观从来不是静态的或不变的结构，它们一直都处于适应不断变化条件的持续过程中。找到一种能将遗产保护、现代化使用和生态稳定结合起来的方法至关重要。在这种情况下，风景园林必须不仅仅考虑到经济、社会和生态方面，同样还要考虑到文化景观所呈现的历史的甚至是美学的价值。换句话说，我们必须让公众清楚了解到文化景观是我们文化遗产的一部分。

1　Introduction: Cultural landscape and agro-ecosystem

In Geography we are trying to look at the landscape as a specific part of the earth, defined by specific characteristics, an integrated system made up of different components (landforms, vegetation, atmosphere etc.), at a certain location. This doesn’t mean a static picture of the landscape. We are in fact interested in the system behind the picture, its components, their mutual influences, the functions and interdependencies. In this sense, every landscape can be defined as an ecosystem, as the result of the interactions between its components. Primary eco-factors like geology, hydrology, soils and vegetation are interrelated by a multitude of physical, biological and chemical processes. From this point of view, each landscape is the spatial representation of an ecosystem with its specific eco-factors and ecological processes.

Natural ecosystems are dynamic systems. This means ecosystems can, to a certain extent, be altered and are able to response dynamically to changes of their eco-factors. At the end of a time of adjustments it is possible that the ecosystem reaches a different equilibrium of its eco-factors. An example for such a dynamic change is the expansion of forests after the ice age due to general warming. However, if now, under natural conditions, the forest exists in a specific landscape, it would regenerate after being destroyed by a fire, because the eco-factors remained unchanged and the ecosystem is stable.

The beginning of agriculture and settlements, the so-called Neolithic Revolution about 9000 B.P., marks a fundamental change of the landscape due to the interference of man practicing agriculture. In the first place farmers had to clear the natural vegetation and replace it with economic plants. Later they learnt, for example, to irrigate their plants, for which purpose they had to control the hydrological system. Many effects only become relevant and visible in the landscape after a long period like the increase of soil erosion or the reduction of nutrients in the top soil. Because the influences of man on the landscape are so fundamental, geography distinguishes between two types of landscape: natural landscape and cultural landscape (RITTER 1852, S. 156), the latter dominated to a large extent by human activity(Fig. 1).

After many thousand years of doing agriculture, the influences of man on the landscape are manifold and man has become an additional eco-factor. This includes not only the effects induced directly by man like the replacement of the natural vegetation, but also indirect impacts like the grazing of livestock or the reduction of nutrients in the soil. The farmers have realized how often andhow intensive interventions have to be, in order to change the system in the desired way. This ranges from repeated weeding every month preventing other plants from overgrowing the crops to the singular but complex terracing of the hillsides in order to reduce the gradient.

The impact by man is so strong that consequently we can no longer speak of an ecosystem. The cultural landscape must be understood as an agro-ecosystem controlled by man as a major eco-factor. Agro-ecosystems are no longer naturally dynamic, because in such a system man tries to get control over major ecological processes.

2　Control of ecological processes

Farmers are basically thinking economically, aiming at good harvests and high yields. Their interferences into the landscape are just as strong as necessary to achieve this purpose. The cultural landscape is only the result of this attitude. It is not a purely artificial landscape (like an urban landscape would be), but retains a significant amount of natural components. An agro-ecosystem still reflects natural as well as human impacts.

Beyond all their regional differences the agro-ecosystems almost throughout China have in common a foundation on the exact, but for that very reason so labor-intensive, control of the ecological processes. In order to understand the cultural landscape, it is necessary to examine the relevant eco-factors, the mechanisms to control them, and the consequences for the agroecosystem. The most important sectors of the ecosystem which needed to be placed under control of the farmers are soil erosion, landforms, irrigation and nutrients.

3　Control of soil erosion

With the very beginning of land use, soil erosion starts because agricultural plants, unlike natural vegetation, leave the soil bare and exposed to the elements for long periods when they are beginning to grow and after they were harvested. Loess is the basis for the soils on the loess plateau, the cradle of Chinese civilization, and it is especially vulnerable to erosion. The appropriate answer is terracing, a technique that was continually enhanced over time and with which the whole landscape is actively altered. When China expanded southwards, terracing was combined with irrigation, where the climate is suitable for rice cultivation. The terrain, however, is hilly almost everywhere, but even extremely steep mountainsides could be cultivated by way of the construction of terraces. Manual labor permits the designing of extremely narrow terraces closely following the shape of the slopes, resulting in a tailor-made landscape (Fig.2).

4　Control of landforms

The controlling of landforms is a more passive form of intervention, an adaptation to the given eco-factor rather than actively changing it. The influence of landforms on the patterns of the cultural landscape is particularly striking in the marked antagonism of intensively cultivated basins or valley floors and the hill slopes, which are often only extensively used or under forest, a characteristic feature of southern China. On a provincial level it is interesting to compare the settlement history with the different cultural landscapes. Specialized in wet rice cultivation, Han-Chinese farmers stuck to basins and valleys, whereas most minorities live in mountainous areas where they grow a number of different plants (Fig.3) .

5　Control of irrigation

The cultivation of wet rice, which has the highest yield per hectare of all agricultural crops, obviously requires the precise control of irrigation as it needs different levels of water during its growth. Very different techniques for controlling the water level had to be developed for different landscapes, integrating irrigation and drainage. Contour canals are the most striking form of controlling irrigation, at least in respect of changing the cultural landscape. This technique has to be extremely elaborate, involving a lot of labor during construction as well as sophisticated knowledge during operation because practically the whole hydrological system has to be brought under control. Less spectacular river-fed irrigation systems are the prevalent form in most of the valleys and basins of South China. On the other hand, irrigation is used widely in dry field cultivation of other grains as well as vegetables namely in the low plains of North China and of course in the desert oases (Fig. 4).

6　Control of nutrients

Because the harvest is taken out of the ecosystem, soils deteriorate fast when the nutrients are not replaced, making manuring a prerequisite for continuous land use. Despite their diversity the most common soils of China (Acrisols in the south, Kastanozems and Fluvisols in the north) are generally poor in nutrients, thereforean effective control of nutrients is indispensable. Human excrements and dung were always in short supply and chemical fertilizer only became available during the last century. One possibility of balancing nutrient shortage is green manuring. Clover, soybean and Chinese mustard, among other plants, possess a mycorrhiza, which is able to extract nitrogen from the air and store it in the root system. These plants are grown just for that purpose especially in winter, when their flowers dominate many cultural landscapes.

Green manuring is an important example, how the cycle of nutrients is being controlled. This method has been known in China since more than 4000 years, which is known from historical sources. This is only one example, where the historical value of the cultural landscape can be seen (BRAY, 1986). (Fig. 5)

7　The historical value of the cultural landscape

Almost nowhere in the world the value of important historical buildings (like the Great Wall or the Forbidden City) is questioned. With historically evolved landscapes, however, it’s a different case. China has the longest history of agricultural land use and thus of the cultural landscape in the world. Around 9000 B.P. the Neolithic revolution took place simultaneously in two regions on earth: in Mesopotamia and in northern China where, among others, the cultures of Longshan and Yangshao flourished. The fundamental difference between the two regions lies in the fact that in China there has been a continuous development at this same place for over nine millennia without the cultural disruptions and even complete annihilation of cultures that affected the Middle East and Europe.

In China two conditions were crucial for the formation and evolution of the cultural landscape, the shortage of land and all the same the stability of agricultural land use. It is interesting to compare the course of land use development with that in Europe, which took a fundamentally different direction. There, over the centuries, harvests grew with the integration of animal husbandry and arable farming, with mechanization, and, in the 20th century, an increase in the size of the agricultural units. On the contrary in China, increases in productivity where not achieved by the input of capital or the colonization of new land suitable for agriculture. Instead it was the input of labor by which agricultural production was increased. Sustainable and effective land-use systems developed, based on patterns of small plots, accurate work, good organization, and many agricultural innovations. For the characteristic of the cultural landscape, labor intensity and its implications were more important than the social structure. Small plots, for example, remained always the norm, no matter whether large-scale land property or collective ownership existed. A prominent example for a very early project, combining effort, organization and innovation in order to increase productivity is the huge irrigation scheme of Dujiangyan in Sichuan, which was constructed more than 2200 years ago. The various agro-ecosystems developed in China are characterized by making sophisticated use of a whole range of often unfavorable natural conditions.

It would be inadequate to look at the cultural landscape just from the agricultural point of view. Farming is not possible without settlements, merely because agricultural crops need too much attention to leave them alone. Moreover, the development of the cultural landscape is a long-lasting process which requires repeated interventions by man and is unthinkable without settledness. For this reason, any description of the cultural landscape isn’t complete without including the interdependencies between it and the settlement structures.

8　Appearance of the villages

In the first place, rural architecture reflects the necessities of land use and its work flow. Compared to other world regions, Chinese villages exhibit a very compact ground plan with only small lanes, because cattle and horses are largely missing (water buffaloes mostly stay in the fields). With the absence of cattle- or horse-drawn cats wide roads were of no use. For the same reason, stables were not necessary. With most of the processing of the yield on the fields, barns are also missing, causing a uniform appearance of the villages which consist largely only of farmhouses(Fig. 6 ).

9　Location of villages

The location, orientation and integration of villages also shows many relationships with the landscape. The high labor intensity makes it necessary to stay as close to the fields as possible, so the villages are often located in the middle of the fields. Wasting as little of the precious farm land as possible contributed further to the very compact ground plan. Most consequently in the north of China, village homes are oriented towards the south in order to make use of the sun during winter time. As there are very few barns or stables,this is true for most buildings of a village, adding to the uniform appearance. For these reasons, compact, nucleated villages are the norm for the Chinese cultural landscape. (Fig.7 )

10　Building material

Rural architecture was, until very recently, closely related to the locally available building materials and the consequences these imply to the construction itself. Very clearly, regions of building styles in rural architecture can be defined all over China. This includes, for example, the loess cave dwellings on the Loess Plateau and single-storey houses made of adobe bricks in the east. Halftimbered wooden buildings are common in the southwest. Stone houses exist just in small areas, where that material was available. The building material not only determines the appearance, but also dictates the construction, leading from caves in loess to small, one-storey adobe houses. Large multi-storey houses are possible, where wood or stone were available. If stone-slabs are used for roofing, specific adaptations like a lower roof angle is necessary due to the weight of the stone.

All these facts together are leading to a clear regional differentiation of the rural architecture. There exists a multitude of different styles, which can be attributed clearly to certain landscapes and their ecological and agricultural conditions. This is a sharp contrast to urban, imperial and religious architecture, which all show a much more uniform style across the country(Fig. 8).

11　The aesthetical value of the cultural landscape

In many cases human interference has led to the destruction of landscapes due to the collapse of their ecosystems. Agriculture has replaced the natural vegetation, over-exploitation provokes the reduction of nutrients in the top soil, erosion leads to the loss of valuable top soil, saltationis caused by improper irrigation management. From this point of view you could call the Neolithic Revolution the beginning of nature's destruction by man, a perception that would be very one-sided, however. Instead, the decisive question is whether man has learnt to adapt to certain eco-factors and to change others without destroying the ecosystem as a whole. In other words, are the interferences by the farmers into the landscape sustainable on the long term? (Fig. 9)

China is a good example for this question, as there has been an uninterrupted development of its cultural landscape for over nine millennia. This permanence could only be achieved by avoiding over-exploitation of the landscape. If the alterations of the natural ecosystems do not lead to their destruction, that is, if the interferences by man are sustainable on the long term, enduring and stable agro-ecosystems will develop.

This cultural achievement is the intrinsic aesthetical value of the cultural landscape. Consequently, the transformation of the natural landscape into a cultural landscape by human activity should be understood as (re-) shaping of the landscape(Fig. 10).

The design, arrangement and picture of the cultural landscape as we see it was, at least until recently, dictated by the adaptation of land use to the relevant eco-factors of each region. The ensuing interactions between the eco-factors and the people engaged in agriculture are responsible for (re-) shaping the cultural landscape. This process is not to be misunderstood as "art", which would mean the deliberate creation of something new, an idea born out of man's mind (like a garden or park would be). Generally the actions of the farmers and their interventions into the ecosystem are aimed at the maximization of their yield. They only respond, or re-act, to adverse conditions, if they can be modified with reasonable effort in order to optimize land use. Many modifications of the landscape happen unintentionally, or are resulting as long-term consequences which were not at all intended. Only combined, all these interferences are visible as what we call the "cultural landscape". (Fig. 11)

12　Dangers and concepts for the preservation of the cultural landscape

We have to take into account that cultural landscapes are always in a process of changing and developing. No doubt, major changes will hit the cultural landscapes of China in the 21st century, posing huge challenges to landscape planning. Landscape architects have to fight on two frontiers. At home there is pressure from the public opinion against subsidies for agriculture and from farmers for economical working conditions. Internationally, most treaties (like the World Trade Organization) consider agriculture as a normal sector of the economy. Both attitudes disrespect the dominant influence agriculture has on the cultural landscape.

Two developments may occur, most probably simultaneously. Mechanization, further intensification and pressure on land use are the consequences of the reduction of work force and the simultaneous demand for increasedharvests. This development can be expected for areas more favorable to land use. On the contrary, areas with lower yields or being more difficult for agriculture or being too remote will be neglected and threatened with the discontinuation of land use and ultimately with abandonment. These two developments could occur both on the micro-scale within a given region, on a provincial and up to the national level.

Agriculture in general and the consequences visible in the cultural landscape are always lacking somewhat behind the general social development. Even Europe is still in the process of cultural landscape change, China now is at the beginning. Both possible future perspectives, intensification as well as abandonment, would lead to the loss of cultural landscapes, developed over centuries. The consequences are obvious, ranging from an increase in ecological problems to the loss of biodiversity. Seen from the perspective of this paper, the historical and aesthetical values would be lost as well.

It is the task of landscape planning and landscape architecture to produce concepts for developing the cultural landscape on a scale between those two extremes. Cultural landscapes never have been static or fixed structures, they are in a constant process of adaptation to changing conditions. It will be crucial to find ways to combine the preservation of our heritage, the modernization of its use and the ecological stability. In this context it is mandatory for landscape architecture to take into account not only the economic, social or ecologic aspects, but equally the historical and even the aesthetical values the cultural landscape represents. In other words, we have to make it clear to the public that the cultural landscape is part of our cultural heritage.

（References）：

[1]BRAY, F. (1986):The rice economies: technology & development in Asian societies.- Berkeley (Univ. of California Press), 254 p.

[2]BRAY, F. (1986):Agriculture.-NEEDHAM, J. [Ed.]: Biology and biological technology, Part II = Science and civilization in China, vol. 6,2, Cambridge (University Press), 718 p.

[3]GOLANY, G. (1992):Chinese earth-sheltered dwellings: indigenous lessons for modern urban design.- Honolulu (Univ. of Hawaii Press), 200 p.

[4]HSEUNG Y., Li J. et al. (1984):The soil atlas of China.-bilingual ed., Institute of soil science, Academia Sinica [Ed.], Beijing (Cartographic Publishing House), 86+42 p.

[5]KNAPP, R., (1986):China's traditional rural architecture: a cultural geography of the common house.- Honolulu (Univ. of Hawaii Press), 177 p.

[6]KNAPP, R., [Ed.](1992):Chinese landscapes: the village as a place.- Honolulu (Univ. of Hawaii Press), 313 p.

[7]MANTANLE, P. and A. S. RAUSCH (2011):Japan’s Shrinking Regions in the 21st Century.- Amherst (NY)

[8]MÜLLER, J. (1997):Kulturlandschaft China: Anthropogene Gestaltung der Landschaft durch Landnutzung und Siedlung.- Perthes Geographie im Bild, Gotha (Perthes), 343 p.

[9]MÜLLER, J. (1999):Die Arbeitsintensität in der Landnutzung Chinas und ihre agrarökologischen Ursachen.- Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen, vol. 143 (3/99), p 163-187.

[10]MÜLLER, J. (1999):Die traditionelle ländliche Architektur Chinas in ihrem landschaftlichen Kontext.- Die Erde, vol. 130 (3/4), p. 3-20.

[11]MÜLLER, J. (2006): The Cultural Landscape of China: Specific Features and their Causes.- 7 Abb., Clusius Lectures Leiden/NL, www.clusiusstichting.nl/Cultural_ Landscape_China.pdf, 17 p.

[12]南京地理与湖泊研究所，中国科学院地理研究所(1989).中华人民共和国国家农业地图集[M]. 北京: 中国地图出版社, 187.

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Zhonghuarenmingongheguoguojianongyedituji.-[Geographical und Limnological Institute Nanjing and Commission for Geography of the Chinese Academy of Science: Agricultural Atlas of the People's Republic of China], Beijing (Zhonggoudituzhubanshe), 187 p.

[13]NEEDHAM, J.: (1959):Mathematics and the sciences of the heaven and the earth.- Science and civilization in China, vol. 3, Cambridge (University Press), 877 p.

[14]NEEDHAM, J.: (1959):Mechanical engineering.-Science and civilization in China, vol. 4,2, Cambridge (University Press), 759 p.

[15]RITTER, C. (1852):Einleitungzurallgemeinenvergleichen denGeographie und AbhandlungenzurBegründungeinerme hrwissenschaftlichenBehandlung der Erdkunde.- Berlin.

(Re-) Shaping the Landscape the Legacy of Human Interference with the Landscape in China

The landscape as a whole represents a section of the earth, including all influences and interdependencies leading to its characteristic shape. In other words, the landscape can be regarded as an ecosystem. The natural landscape is altered to such an extent by the interference of man (in this case farmers and agriculture) that it is defined as cultural landscape. Its ecosystem includes man as a major eco-factor thus becoming an agro-ecosystem.

Cultural Landscape; Landscape Architecture; Landscape History; Land Use System

TU986

A

1673-1530（2016）08-0016-11

10.14085/j.fjyl.2016.08.0016.11

2016-07-06

2016-08-03

约翰尼斯·穆勒1959年出生于德国。研究地理学、地质学和植物学。专长于景观生态学以及欧洲和亚洲文化景观的发展。现为景观规划方面的咨询顾问、地理照片摄影师，拥有自己的摄影机构。

Author:

Dr. Johannes Müller was born in 1959 in Germany. He studied geography, geology and botany. Topics landscape ecology, development of cultural landscapes in Europe and Asia. Working free lance as consultant for landscape planning, he is the author of geographical photographs, own photo agency.

张阁/1993年生/女/北京林业大学硕士研究生（北京100083）