针对黄河、西北内陆河等河流实际遭受的严重破坏,人类开始反思,提出了“河流生命”的概念,确定了河流伦理的一般原则:作为赋予了人类物质和文化双重生命的自然本体,河流具有超越其工具性用途的独立价值;作为一个为众多生命和物种提供条件的完整的生态系统,河流本身也是一个具有内在尊严的生命共同体;河流不仅是流域经济社会发展的生命线,它本身的存在还应有一个人类不可以、也不应该逾越的界限,即“维持河流生命的基本水量”。 In response to the serious destruction actually caused by the rivers such as the Yellow River and the Northwest Inland River, human beings began to reflect on the concept of “river life” and set forth the general principle of river ethics. As a natural ontology that conferred double material and cultural life on human beings, As an intact ecosystem that provides conditions for many lives and species, the river itself is also a living community with inherent dignity. The river is not only the lifeline of the economic and social development of the river basin, but also has its own existence There should also be a threshold that humankind can and should not surpass, namely, “the basic amount of water that sustains the life of a river.”