Breeding a Better China
Pigs, Practices, and Place in a Chinese County, 1929-1937
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4487420 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sigrid Schmalzer (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2002 |
| Volume | 92 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 1-22 |
| Publication date | 2002-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Geographical Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0016-7428 • E-ISSN: 1931-0846 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1931-0846.2002.tb00131.x |
| OpenAlex | W2002340594 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 19 |
| References cited | 10 |
From 1929 to 1937, Chinese reformers in the Mass Education Movement attempted to transform pigs and pig breeding in Dingxian, Hebei, through the importation of an American breed of pig and its hybridization with local pigs. This episode provides a case study for the investigation of the roles played in scientific work by local Chinese materials and practices on one hand and Western scientific principles and methods on the other. Reformers were conscious that the wholesale importation and implementation of Western science had failed China in the past and suspected that it would fail again. Their chief concern was that the new pig should raise production levels but still “suit local conditions.” But “conditions” and “methods” do not play equal roles in science, and reformers did not require the scientific methods of pig breeding to negotiate with local methods. Despite their attention to local conditions, the reformers thus assumed that modern, Western science was universal in nature and that it could and should be applied universally, replacing local knowledge and practices.Keywordsagricultural reformbreedingChinapigsscience Additional informationNotes on contributorsSigrid SchmalzerMs. Schmalzer is a doctoral candidate in history at the University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093‐0104
Agricultural science · Archaeology · Biology · Breed · China · Geography · Negotiation · Pig breeding · Political science · Sociology · Chinese history and philosophy · Ecology · Japanese History and Culture · Law
Animals as Wonders
Where Did the Animals Go?
Animals as Text
Animals in Nineteenth-Century Eschatological Discourse
Knowing Animals in China’s History
The Public Health of Village Private Life
The significance and users’ perceptual evaluation of traditional market spaces in Nigeria
Animals through Chinese History
A History of Pigs in China
Global Environmental Encounters in Southwest China
From Colonial Hoof to Metropolitan Table
Food, health, and nutrition in Chinese history
Beyond Bias
Wasting the rural
Household income diversification and the production of local meat
| Unique citing works | 15 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,12 |
| Citation span | 2009 - 2023 (15) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 19 |