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Environmental protection is one of the hottest topics nowadays. It was also something that ancient Chinese paid great attention to. In fact, the world’s earliest environmental protection idea, ministry（部门）and law were all born in China. How did the ancient Chinese protect the environment?

The world’s earliest idea of “managing state affairs（政事）through environmental protection”

Xunzi, a famous thinker in the Warring States Period, came up with the idea of “managing state affairs through environmental protection”. He wrote in his book that vegetation（植被）should be protected well by humans.

Guan Zhong, a government officer 400 years ahead of Xunzi, was also an environmental protection expert. He said “a king who cannot protect his vegetation is not doing a good job”.

The world’s earliest “environmental protection ministry”

Nine ministries set up by Shun, an ancient Chinese emperor, included “Yu”（虞）, an environmental protection ministry. The first “Yu” leader was Boyi, an environmental protection expert. He invented wells so people could drink clean water. He knew a lot about animals and also called for animal protection.

The world’s earliest “environmental protection law”

Over 4,000 years ago, Dayu, an ancient Chinese water-control expert and also an emperor, made a rule, not allowing people to cut down trees in March or catch fish in June, because it was the time when they grew quickly.

Almost 3,000 years ago, Tianlü, the first environmental protection law, appeared in Qin. It recorded many ancient environmental protection rules. Two of them were interesting: firstly, rivers should not be blocked （堵塞）; secondly, grass and trees should not be burned to be fertilizer（肥料） except for summer. The second one is inspiring even for today. It can help to keep air clean and fresh.