List of maps, figures, and tables; Dynasties, Qing dynasty Emperors' reign dates, and weights and measures; Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1. 'Firs and pines a hundred spans round': the natural environment of Lingnan; 2. 'All deeply forested and wild places are not malarious': human settlement and ecological change in Lingnan, 2-1400 CE; 3. 'Agriculture is the foundation': economic recovery and development of Lingnan during the Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644; 4. 'All the people have fled': war and the environment in the mid-seventeenth century crisis, 1644-83; 5. 'Rich households compete to build ships': overseas trade and economic recovery; 6. 'It never used to snow': climate change and agricultural productivity; 7. 'There is only a certain amount of grain produced': granaries and the role of the state in the food supply system; 8. 'Trade in rice is brisk:' market integration and the environment; 9. 'Population increases daily, but the land does not': land clearance in the eighteenth century; 10. 'People said that extinction was not possible': the ecological consequences of land clearance; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.