During the Western Zhou Dynasty, people attached great importance to the protection of forests, birds and animals. The Yizhou Collection stipulates that it is forbidden to cut down trees in the mountains in spring and fish in the river in summer. The Book of Rites Today of this month also records that it is forbidden to kill young birds. During the Warring States period, the state had formal laws to restrict deforestation and protect natural resources. At that time, Qi Guoxing was buried in the wind, and Qi Huangong realized that trees had been cut down. An order was issued: "If there are too many coffins, their bodies should be slaughtered". During the Warring States period, there was a law that "those who abandon their ashes and return to the Tao are ashamed", that is, they carved marks on their faces with a knife and painted them with ink to let passers-by know that everyone would blame them.
Qin Law put forward stricter requirements for the protection of the natural environment. According to the law, from February in spring to July in summer, it is forbidden to cut down trees on the mountain, block the Linmen waterway and trap birds and animals. ...
After the Western Han Dynasty, the rulers also attached great importance to environmental protection. Emperor Wendi of the Western Han Dynasty once wrote a letter urging people to plant trees, and Emperor Jingdi also wrote a letter urging farmers to plant trees. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, people also invented the earliest sanitation machinery-garbage trucks and sprinklers, and set up sanitary "toilets" in cities. At that time, they also had a high understanding of the dangers of spitting. Legend has it
In the Northern Song Dynasty, Kaifeng, Kyoto, began to set up the management organization of urban environmental sanitation-Street Department, which was responsible for cleaning urban streets and discharging accumulated water. In the Southern Song Dynasty, there were "street sweepers" in the capital city of Hangzhou every day. In the Ming dynasty, the city was equipped with full-time cleaners. During the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, it was clearly stipulated that "there should be more rural soldiers and fewer small villages, and households should sweep the streets and canals during the day to avoid poisoning and injury"
From the most basic prohibition of deforestation to consciously persuading farmers to plant trees, it can be seen that the ancients had a deep understanding of the relationship between the natural environment and human survival and attached importance to environmental protection.