Illustrations Preface List of Illustrations and Tables Measures1 Introduction 1 The Jianghan Dikes 2 Dikes and Dike Management on the Jianghan Plain 3 Water Control, Environment, and the State 4 A Historical and Environmental Perspective 5 Synopsis of Research and Sources2 Dikes: Systems and Administration 1 The Dikes of Jianghan: Categories and Terminology 2 Dike Management 3 The Role and Responsibility of Administrators 4 Technicians and Dike Administration 5 Rewards and Punishments3 High-Water Control 1 The Specifics of High-Water Control 2 Materials and Equipment 3 Methods and Importance of High-Water Control 4 Surveying and Reinforcing Dikes before the Coming of the Annual High Water 5 Laborers and Funding 6 Sentry Shacks 7 Breakwater Forests and Riverside Parks4 Annual Repairs 1 The Dike Headman and the Dike Maintainers/Keepers System 2 Termite Nests, Badger Burrows, and Embankment Streets 3 Recruitment and Assignment of Laborers 4 Women, Laborer Management, and Machinery 5 Funding 6 Annual Repairs and Mass Campaigns in the PRC5 People's Polders: Annual Repairs and High-Water Control Agencies 1 Establishment and Structure of the Agencies 2 Operations 3 Directors 4 Income and Expenditures 5 People's Polders and Local Governments 6 Conclusion6 Water Deity Worship and Dike Management 1 Water Deity Temples on the Jianghan Plain in the Late Qing 2 Iron Oxen, Imperial Edicts, and Water Deity Worship 3 The Case of Xu Guorui 4 "Human Beings Can Overcome Nature" 5 Water Watching, the Dragon Dance, and New-Style Tourism 6 Conclusion7 Polders and Lakes 1 Reclamation and Enclosure of Polders 2 Growth and Decline of Polders 3 The Vicissitudes of Lakes 4 Land Reclamation and State Farms 5 The Battle against Snail Fever8 Studies on the Reclamation of Private Polders 1 What Are Private Polders? 2 The Enclosure of Private Polders in the Qing and the Republic 3 Banning Private Polders: Bureaucrats of the Qing and the Republic 4 Banning Private Polders in the Qing and the Republic: Gentry and Villagers 5 Reclamation of River Beaches, Islets, and Lakeshores in the Era of Collectivization 6 Changes in the Reform Era 7 Conclusion9 Armed Forces, Military Affairs, and Dikes 1 The Military Function of the Dike Systems 2 Dike Affairs as Military Affairs 3 The Impact of War on Dike Affairs 4 Armed Forces and Dike Affairs 5 Troops and the 1998 High-Water Control of the Yangzi River10 The Three Gorges Project and High-Water Control on the Jianghan Plain 1 Impact of the Four Southward Outlets 2 The Construction and Usage of Flood Diversion Zones 3 The Three Gorges Dam 4 Water Conservancy Relocatees 5 Relocatees and Local Society11 The Evolution of Dike Systems and Socioeconomic Life 1 Disaster Relief Measures and Their Effect 2 Environmental Stability and Crop Choices 3 Improving Water Conservancy and Reducing Dike Disputes 4 Changes in Dike Systems and Daily Life on the Jianghan Plain12 Conclusion 1 Dikes and Society 2 State and Society 3 Changes and Continuities 4 National Significance of the Jianghan Experience Glossary Bibliography Index.