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lain like that Mesopotamia, the basin landscape is heterogeneous and complex. Natural calamities caused by excessive use of resources and destruction of the ecosystem within a basin are mostly local and limited to the basin. They occur as a warning rather than unexpectedly, which gives the society as a whole an opportunity to adjust its behavior towards the environment. The characteristics of basins, such as a great contrast in relief, seasonal changes in the water flow, etc, determine the frequent occurrence of natural calamities as external stimuli acting upon the society and guaranteeing constant adjustment of cultural behavior. 6) Basin experience influences other social and cultural factors that are favorable to the development of prudence. For the stable social environment in the basins, population may be close to saturation for long periods and isolation can delay the development of technology so that people have to rely upon traditional resources and technology to earn a living. This means that prudence will generally be necessary. The above discussion makes one convinced that the basin experience of Chinese agriculture obviously contributes to the development of ecologically prudent behavior in Chinese culture. However, ecological prudence is not unique to Chinese culture. Gadgil (1985) has shown that certain species are especially protected in India in the form of nature-worship and religious belief, which are considered to be ecological prudence originating in the hunting and gathering age, and even the so-called "aggressive culture" of Christianity (Gadgil 1985) has its tradition of "love for nature" (Vroom 1985). What should be emphasized here is that prudent behavior in Chinese culture is not merely for the purpose of sustainable use of certain resources but mainly the health of the general agricultural and living environment, and it has not originated mainly from hunting and gathering experience but from agricultural experience. This will be illustrated with some typical ecologically prudent landscapes in the following paragraphs. TYPICAL ECOLOGICAL PRUDENT LANDSCAPE Engineering Settlements located at the edge of basins In moderately-sized basins, slopes at the basin edges will be given priority when selecting sites for settlements (Fig.2, 3). South-facing slopes especially are comparatively poor in soil and water conditions for crops, and during the establishment of the settlements, when the theory and practice of Feng-shui usually play a very important role, the natural landform will be changed as little as possible so that the "dragon vein" and "earth's breath" can be preserved intact. The law of "design with nature"(McHarg 1996) has been exercised by the Chinese for thousands of years in the landscape in rural China. Fig. 2. Settlements on the edge of basin in northern Guangdong Province Fig. 3. The typical landscape of an occupied basin Feng-shui Forest and Its Function Certain species of tree are protected for their special function as food, medicine resources, etc. in many cultures (FAO 1985; Fortman 1984; Gadgil 1985). While the main function of Feng-shui forests commonly seen in rural China is accumulating "Qi", which can be recognized as the multiple ecological function flow of energy, material, species and information (Yu 1991a) it also maintains the health of the general environment of agriculture and living, but not merely preserving species as special resources. For this reason, Feng-shui forests are usu