According to Elvin, generally speaking early civilizations begin along rivers, generally seeking to control the water resources in what he describes as an adversarial relationship. Man seeks to control the water to protect himself from floods, while simultaneously seeking to control the water in order to provide for his irrigation needs. This fuels population growth along the banks of the river and throughout the surrounding area.
Ultimately, says Elvin, as population increases, the civilization outstrips its resources and the center of civilization has to expand or shift. According to Elvin, European civilization began in the Egyptian and later Greek areas and after resources were depleted in this area, shifted following what he terms "resource frontiers" to the north and west and ultimately overseas. Chinese civilization, he says, followed the same pattern of beginning in river valleys and outstripping resources, save that the civilization expanded following resource frontiers to the south and west.
This following map, which does not come from Elvin, illustrates the beginnings fo the process. Although it illustrates the sites of four of the world's earliest river valley civilizations, a reader will note that none of the four sites are considered "centers of global civilization" today.
Although Chinese civilization originated along the Yangtze river, the centers of power and industry are now to the north, in the Beijing area, to the north of the Yangtze, and the Guangzhou area, to the south of the Yangtze. Although Shanghai is near the mouth of the Yangtze it is not on the mouth of the Yangtze and the city itself only dates from the nineteenth century. See this map,http://encarta.msn.com/map_701517763/yangtze.html for details.
Fascinating stuff,
Peter Huston
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