Geography Mark Edward Lewis Summary

Mark Edward Lewis presents a clear and obviously well researched
Lewis starts The Book off with a primer in Chinese geography, in this he explains how china’s geography impacted major elements in China's history and how it specifically shaped customs and specific events. Among the most fascinating and impactful points he makes in terms of magnitude is his explanation on how China's geography contributed to the Period of Warring States. He explains “The limited arable land was further compartmentalized into a series of core areas—alluvial plains, coastlands, and interior basins—separated by high mountain chains or elevated plateaus that divided the Chinese heartland into distinct regions”He continues on to explain that these major regional divisions provided the basis of the Warring States, because they divided china and one centralized government had difficulty uniting the people past the massive divide in distance and culture the geography created. I agree with Lewis in this because geography is one of the most important factors in a civilization, it determines where civilizations start and if they survive. …show more content…
The recognition allowed Yang to gaining access to valuable, military capital. Lewis states “This transformation of the structure of Qin agricultural lands and the relation of its people to that structure underlay the state’s rise to power.” We can perhaps best see exactly see what Lewis means when we trace the ramifications of recognition of land ownership of peasant households. When Yang recognized the peasants right to own land, he also legally acknowledged the peasants legal right to buy and sell land, this allowed for legal taxation of the peasants land. In exchange for the legal recognition of land ownership the peasants had to pay taxes and provide