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The Evolution of Sustainability Ideas in China from 1946 to 2015, Quantified by Culturomics

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  • Danqing Zhang

    (School of Foreign Studies, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
    Quality Education Center, Zhongshan Polytechnic, Zhongshan 528400, China)

  • Guowen Huang

    (School of Foreign Studies, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
    Center for Ecolinguistics, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China)

  • Jiaen Zhang

    (Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, College of Natural Resources and Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China)

  • Xiaoyu Hou

    (College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China)

  • Tianyi Zhou

    (College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China)

  • Xianyuan Chang

    (College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China)

  • Ying Ge

    (College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China)

  • Jie Chang

    (College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China)

Abstract

Economy and ecology are two main aspects of human sustainable development. However, a comprehensive analysis of the status and trends of economic and ecological cognition is still lacking. Here, we defined economic and ecological concepts as cultural traits that constitute a complex system representing sustainability ideas. Adopting a linguistic ecology perspective, we analysed the frequency distribution, turnover and innovation rates of 3713 concepts appearing in China’s mainstream newspaper, People’s Daily , from 1946 to 2015. Results reveal that: (1) In the whole historical period, there were more economic concepts than ecological concepts both in amount and category. Economic concepts experienced stronger cultural drift than ecological concepts tested by the neutral model of cultural evolution; (2) popular economic concepts became more diversified, but popular ecological concepts became more uniform; (3) both economic concepts and ecological concepts attained more variation in their own disciplinary domains than in cross-disciplinary domains; and (4) as a platform of both giving information and opinion, a newspaper is subjected to cultural selection, especially reflected in the change in ecological concepts under the context of Chinese ecological civilization construction. We concluded with a discussion of promoting vibrant and resilient ecological knowledge in fostering sustainability activities and behaviours.

Suggested Citation

  • Danqing Zhang & Guowen Huang & Jiaen Zhang & Xiaoyu Hou & Tianyi Zhou & Xianyuan Chang & Ying Ge & Jie Chang, 2022. "The Evolution of Sustainability Ideas in China from 1946 to 2015, Quantified by Culturomics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-12, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:10:p:6038-:d:816716
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Juan Luo & Chong Xu & Boyu Yang & Xiaoyu Chen & Yinyin Wu, 2022. "Quantitative Analysis of China’s Carbon Emissions Trading Policies: Perspectives of Policy Content Validity and Carbon Emissions Reduction Effect," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-20, July.

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