The Diachronic Relationship between Nature and Human Life—Taking China’s Hainan Island as an Example

Human lives will inevitably change the natural environment, and vice versa.Alternatively speaking, nature and human life are interrelated and independent of each other at the same time. Based on a field survey conducted in 2000 on the natural environment, crops, food and the Li ethnic group’s traditional residential culture in the Wuzhi Mountain area on Hainan island,this paper analyzes the relationships between nature and human life, and exhibits a diachronic discussion of norms for the utilization of wildlife resources in the region over time. China has implemented an environmental protection policy in general, while meantime the development of tourism makes full use of the economic value of natural resources. On top of that, the rich medicinal herbs in the Wuzhi Mountain area, which created a virtuous cycle in which those who pay fees for access to the herbs, those who make profits from herb sale, and those who have gained permission to hunt in the Wuzhi Mountain demonstrate a harmonious coordination between the environmental protection policy and the tapping of the economy value of natural resources by establishing an unwritten rule for the utilization of wildlife resources over time. It is recommended that researchers majoring in environmental history and ecological anthropology combine both ancient documents and contemporary field investigation as effective research method for their own projects.