Locust Control and State Activism in Ming China
Key information
- Date
- Time
-
5:00 pm to 7:00 pm
- Venue
- SOAS, Main Building
- Room
- C426
About this event
Abstract
This presentation will introduce the history of the climate and natural disasters in imperial China, focusing on the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and locust control. It will provide an overview of the traditional Chinese cosmological and religious interpretations of and responses to natural disaster, as well as evolving practical and ‘scientific’ methods for combatting or even preventing disaster. The second part of the talk will assess the actual responses of the Ming court to the threat of locusts by considering the 425 cases in the Ming Veritable Records (Ming shilu), and thereby determine shifts in state activism regarding locusts over the course of the dynasty.
Speaker
Desmond Cheung (SOAS)
Organiser
School of History, Religion and Philosophies, SOAS History Seminar Series
