Understanding the Human-Water Relationship in China during 722 BC-1911 AD from a Contradiction and Co-Evolutionary Perspective

There are increasing concerns on the impact of population growth on sustainable use of water resources utilization. In this context, this paper aims to develop a conceptual framework for understanding the human-water system from the contradiction and co-evolutionary perspective. In this paper, the three contradiction relationships including those of human-water system, climate change and war condition, productive forces and production relations are analyzed by choosing six proxy indicators, and a set of historical data during 722 B.C.-1911 A.D., in China is used as the case study. Human and water is a co-evolution system as the coefficient of determination (R-2) between population and water governance activities is 0.9. Advanced productive forces and production relations play an important role in promoting population growth and water governance activities evidenced by high R-2 between any two of them. Generally, the co-evolutionary process of these three contradictions can be divided into three stages: slow development, moderate development and fast development. The conceptual framework developed in this study can be used to analyze the evolution of similar human-water systems in the world. Moreover, further research should be done through the simulation of the form and cycles of the three contradiction relationships.