ABSTRACT
Ecology suggests the interconnected study of nature, species and dynamic ecosystems from a scientific ecological perspective. But it also embraces the study of human interactions with nature that we might describe as humanistic ecology. This broad area includes social ecology, cultural ecology and religious ecology. It also can refer to emerging fields in the social sciences such as ecological economics and green politics. There are three possible approaches to studying the intersection of ecological concerns and classical texts such as examine texts by individual religious traditions to understand their views of nature and human-earth relations, make comparisons and contrasts across traditions as Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism and study texts by comparison across major civilizations. In this regard, present and future generations are relying on us to rediscover sustaining and sustainable human-earth relations. The Chinese classics are indispensable in this process. Indeed, they may expand the interpretive boundaries of what are considered to be both humanistic and ecological classics.
