This doctoral research focuses on the analysis of the first Taoist precepts relating to the destruction of the environment (fauna, flora and certain natural areas) under the Six Dynasties (3rd-6th centuries) in relation to the calendar prohibitions of earlier periods (from the 4th century BCE to the 2nd century of the common era). By analysing texts of very different natures (law codes, philosophical texts, recently excavated manuscripts, Taoist and Buddhist texts, various narratives), this work has made it possible to contextualise the normative discourses and to reconstruct a history of the prohibitions aimed at protecting natural cycles and prohibiting some actions intended to destroy flora or kill fauna (felling trees, forest fires, hunting, etc.). Alongside a history of normative discourses on environmental destruction, this thesis also deconstructs current political and scientific viewpoints to present some of these ancient Chinese normative discourses on the administrative management of nature and the basic needs of people for ecological ethics. The ideological discourses in vogue on a kind of ancient Chinese indigenous ecology are thus recontextualised to reveal the motivations and evolution of these prohibitions in their economic, political and religious contexts. Rather than using texts such as the Mengzi, the Xunzi and the Lüshi chunqiu dating from the 3rd century BCE as an apology for “sustainable development”, this thesis proposes an in-depth study of the different interpretations of nature destruction by shedding light on their uses of notions characteristic of their time, such as yishi以時 (“appropriate periods”) which emphasise the importance of matching human activities (economic, cultic…) with periods of growth (spring and summer) and retreat and dormancy (autumn and winter). In general, prohibitions on harming flora, which are mostly effective in spring and summer, follow the idea of a correspondence with the cosmic order. However, the prohibition and authorisation of environmental destruction in hemerological and normative texts vary from one source to another, and they evolve in different patterns: seasonal, monthly and daily. While relying on the same previous sources, discourses will gradually create new categories over time. This is notable in the sixth century CE Qimin yaoshu which it distinguishes several traditions of normative texts: on the one hand, the prohibitions coming from agricultural treatises such as the Simin yueling (second century CE) differ from the ritual prohibitions coming from the calendar ordinances and daily prohibitions. This thesis shows how the authors of these calendar regulations have managed to follow the evolution of knowledge and beliefs by bringing them into line with the exploitation of resources. The general idea conveyed in these texts is that of progress. The natural and “wild” spaces in which the prohibitions are effective do not correspond to a virgin nature. On the contrary, these texts emphasise that they are environments subject to human intervention, in a different way from the towns and cultivated land. The mention of these areas (mountains, forests, etc.) in the calendar regulations attests to their economic importance. The enactment of ordinances and prohibitions stems from the fact that they are perceived primarily in terms of resources, rights and uses. People act and modify these spaces by means of the ordinances and prohibitions of specific places (territorial monopolies, guarded lands...) and correlated with suitable periods (seasonal rhythms) as well as to agricultural practices. After this first part of the thesis presented above, which establishes a historically contextualised inventory of the prohibitions during the periods of the Warring Kingdoms and the Han Dynasty, the second part studies the influences and concordances between these prohibitions and the first precepts of the Buddhist and Taoist Canons, mainly through the text of the fifth century CE “One Hundred and Eighty Precepts of the Lao Lord”. This second part thus compares the calendar regulations of late antiquity with the Taoist and Buddhist precepts of the Six Dynasties on the question of safeguarding living beings (animals), flora and certain natural areas. This doctoral work demonstrates that a radical evolution concerning the respect of human and animal life begins with the Buddhist and Taoist precepts, and extends to the safeguarding of their environments. In the discourses of the fourth to sixth centuries, the general idea of compassion towards animals is intrinsic to the injunction to spare animal life and the practice of vegetarianism. Therefore, the Taoist precepts analysed do not refer to the preservation or conservation of wildlife in the face of an external and cataclysmic threat present in the earlier discourses, but rather identify among many faults the killing of animals and take into consideration their freedom, physical integrity and peace of mind. Similarly, with regard to certain natural areas (which could, among other things, be considered the habitat of the living): mountains, forests and plains, the core of the precepts and faults concerns the act of destruction, which also applies to goods and foodstuffs. This is also the case for the prohibition of polluting or poisoning water to avoid being the instigator of damage to the living. The effect of prohibiting the destruction of life or things can be interpreted as preservation of wildlife and its habitat, despite a more personal saving purpose. Therefore, following the precepts is a religious practice of self-cultivation aimed at achieving enlightenment (Buddhism) or immortality (Taoism), and differs from the observance of mainly calendrical prohibitions aimed at preserving harmony between humans, Heaven and Earth in order to avoid celestial wrath and various natural catastrophes. This thesis underlines an important nuance in the early Taoist precepts: the prohibitions concerning destruction are of two types: when the destruction is useless for man (or even harmful in the case of water pollution) and when it corresponds to real needs. The introduction in some precepts of the adverb “do not do something thoughtlessly” (bude wang), however, shows possible exceptions to the prohibited practices. « Bude wang” serves as a derogation for unexplained cases in which flora is present. The felling of trees, the gathering of flowers and fruits, the excavation of soils and mountains, and the destruction of dams and dykes are all conceivable, if they are consistent with a “purposeful” act. The conclusion of this thesis discusses this new problematic: what is a purposeful act of destroying flora in the Taoist texts of the Six Dynasties? It could be, for example, the same needs as for the calendar regulations (e.g. building wood or firewood). Finally, the “One Hundred and Eighty Precepts of the Lao Lord” have their own limitations in relation to the (somewhat fantasised) idea of a harmonious cohabitation between man and vegetable nature. The purpose of these precepts was essentially to establish moral standards of the most diverse subjects common in the fourth and fifth centuries. This thesis engages with and contributes to the wide scholarship on the evolution of the history of ideas, environment and science in China from Antiquity to the Middle Ages. Previous studies have often focused on the history of agriculture and the history of environmental transformations as well as a history of an "ecological Chinese civilisation". I show a history of prohibitions in relation to environmental destruction and draw up a historically contextualised inventory of sources. I also answer questions about how we can solve our ecological problems by showing the importance of religious culture in the way people respect their environment.