Disasters caused by natural and social causes have always been disasters that mankind must face up to but is difficult to completely avoid, and the study of disasters and famines in history has attracted considerable attention from Chinese historians. As one of the contents of the plague, although it is no longer a "fish that slipped through the net" studied by historians, it has begun to attract the attention of some researchers, but the research is still very weak overall. In this situation, it is obviously necessary to deepen and clarify people's understanding and understanding of the historical plague and its related situations through the discussion of some representative plague cases.
The Kang Yongqian period is a famous prosperous era in China's history, and the Qianlong Dynasty is the peak of this "prosperous era", and at the same time, it is also a period in Chinese history when the social relief system is relatively complete and the organization and implementation are relatively effective. According to the "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty", there were 18 epidemics nationwide during the Qianlong period, of which the two most widely involved were the epidemics of Propylene (21 years) and 51 years. This record is certainly not comprehensive, according to the author's research, during this period, there were as many as 27 years with epidemics in the Jiangnan region alone. However, the two worst outbreaks are the same as those recorded in the Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, especially in the former. This shows that although the record of the "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty" is not comprehensive enough, it is basically credible in terms of the general situation. Both major epidemics occurred after the catastrophe, such as the year before the 21st year of the Qianlong epidemic, that is, the 20th year of Qianlong, where there were more extensive and serious floods and famines. The disaster-stricken areas were basically concentrated in the Jiangnan region, which was the most socially, economically and culturally developed in the country at that time. This shows that the epidemic in Jiangnan in the twenty-first year of Qianlong was a representative major epidemic during the Qianlong period. Choosing such a case as the object of study has at least the following two significances: (1) Since this is a disaster that occurred in the Jiangnan region of the "peak" of the prosperous world, it will help us to more fully understand the true meaning of the "prosperous world" and "development" at that time, and understand the people's livelihood situation in the extraordinary period from one side. (2) This plague occurred after the catastrophe, and whether the plague was secondary after the catastrophe must be closely related to the relief of the state and society for the famine. Therefore, this discussion should help us explore the relationship between famine and plague, and then help us understand and review the traditional Chinese state and society's actions in the cause of health care.
Qianlong twenty-one years (1756), the age of the C. Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty has been inheriting the unification for more than twenty years, and his administrative behavior has become more and more mature. After the Qianlong Emperor came to power, he summed up the experience and lessons of the previous dynasty's rule, believing that Kangxi had the disadvantages of leniency and indulgence, while Yongzheng had the mistake of being strict, so he formulated the administrative policy of blending leniency with severity, and everywhere marked it as "middle". Shi Zai: "The pure emperor took the throne, and after the Chengxian Emperor was serious, he ruled with leniency. The edicts of reclamation, suspension of donations, heavy peasants, and monks and nuns were exhausted. "Emperor Gaozong ascended to the pole, issued edicts, and good governance flowed." After more than 20 years of operation, the country has shown a prosperous scene, the fiscal revenue has increased year by year, and the government treasury has become more and more abundant. After the financial resources gradually became stronger, Qianlong, on the one hand, inherited the legacy of his father and ancestors and began to wage wars to consolidate the frontier; on the other hand, he intervened in relief and charity in a more active and comprehensive manner, including ordering the strengthening of warehouse construction in various localities, using more state resources to carry out famine relief activities, exempting the disaster victims from taxes and grain more than before, and allocating more public funds to help the hungry, and so on. The above understanding is undoubtedly based on a relatively solid historical foundation, and as far as the overall situation is concerned, it seems to be relatively accurate. However, if we only proceed from such a statement, I am afraid it is easy to think that under such a peaceful and prosperous world, the people's life should be very peaceful and comfortable. But what is the actual situation? Through the following discussion of catastrophes and pandemics, perhaps we can see another picture behind the prosperity.
After Qianlong succeeded to the throne, although as usual, there were always various disasters in the whole country every year, on the whole, it seems that there were no particularly serious disasters and famines for a relatively long period of time. Twenty years after Qianlong, there was a major flood, which involved at least the present-day provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, and Hubei. In the Gangnam region, the floods alone do not seem to be particularly severe, but the floods were followed by insect plagues, which led to a bad harvest, which in turn caused widespread famine and eventually contributed to the emergence of the second year's pandemic.
In this year, in the "Xiang Yizhi" of Fang Zhi in the prefectures and counties in Jiangnan, most of the disasters were recorded, but from their very brief records, it seems that the disaster situation is not consistent. For example, in Jiading County, Taicang Prefecture, "the great water in June, the drought in autumn, and the years are big." The county chronicle of Qingpu County, Songjiang Province, records: "In the summer and June, the rain is obscene, the weather is as cold as winter and autumn, and the grains of kapok are not real." In Wucheng County, the capital of Huzhou, "the rain damages wheat, the locusts grow, and the water hurts the grass." Cixi County, Ningbo Province, "Heavy wind and rain in July, pulling wood and injuring crops". Jingjiang in Changzhou, "Summer and Autumn Obscene Rain,...... The wheat is dead, and the beans are not climbed." In Jiangpu County, Jiangning Province, "heavy rain in summer, the river rises for more than 40 days and retreats." Suzhou Prefecture, "Rain from February to April, wheat seedling rot, heavy rain in June, locusts grow, wound crops". Of course, there are more records of "great famine" and "great apologies". From these brief but different or even slightly contradictory records, it is difficult to understand the details of the famine in that year, but only to know that the famine in this year was mainly flood and insect, and there were drought and cold in some places. However, there are individual, more detailed accounts in other literatures, and the concatenation of these fragmentary records helps us to clarify the details. Like what:
Qianlong twenty years of Yihai, autumn disaster. From April to June, the rain did not stop, and the middle and lower fields were flooded, but the high-looking ones could especially hope for autumn. In late July, insect plagues are everywhere, moths and moths, friends are entangled, and where they pass, the grass and rice become houses. And the wind and frost disaster, there are intermittent harvests, decay, although chickens and ducks do not eat. For a while, the price of rice was very expensive, and the bucket rice was three hundred and fifty dollars, and people were afraid.
It is the year (qianlong twenty years) the water comes and does not retreat, the grass seedlings are huge, and everyone celebrates autumn. After August, strange insects suddenly arise, insects as small as mosquitoes, four wings and mantis heads, dense fields, seedlings are dumped, early rice meets them, and rice is somewhat bad. ...... This insect is out of the borer thief, no one has seen it, and the townspeople is called the rice lice cloud.
From the above records, we can generally infer that in most areas, since the beginning of spring or the turn of spring and summer, the weather has been rainy and rainy for several months, and there have been floods in many areas, affecting the wheat harvest, but the flood is not particularly serious, so there is still hope for the autumn harvest. However, the sky is not blessed, after the flood, in July and August, may be because the fields are too wet, insufficient light, insect plague followed. Although many local chronicles record it as "locust", from the weather conditions at that time and the above records, it is more likely that it is the so-called "rice lice". After the autumn, there was a drought in some areas. After the floods, there was a secondary insect infestation, resulting in a poor harvest in both summer and autumn. The people were in great distress, and famine ensued.
Due to the poor harvest throughout the year, rice prices in various places have been high. By the time of the second year, the price of rice in various places generally rose to more than 3,000 yuan per stone. For example, in Wuqing Town, western Zhejiang, "in February, Wucheng Wuzhen stone rice 2,800 yuan, the people eat elm skin, there are even robbers, and the price of rice in April is 3,400." And Zhenfeng (now Zhouzhuang) in Suzhou, "in the spring of the twenty-first year, the price of rice per liter reached thirty-five yuan." The lack of food has forced a large number of people to feed on grass roots and bark, other things that are difficult to swallow on a daily basis, or to sell their children and wives in order to survive, or even starve to death on the streets. For example, in Suzhou, "the price of rice is expensive, and the poor people peel and eat the bark"; In Jingjiang, Changzhou, "the price of dou rice is more than three hundred yuan, the price of wheat beans is called yes, the poor people first eat chaff, followed by grass roots, bark, and stone powder, and there are many sick people"; Huangjing Town, at the junction of Yang County and Changshu County in Taicang Prefecture, "The great famine, dou rice money 360 yuan, dou mai money 2670 yuan, the people all eat cha cha, with bean cha as delicious"; in the town of Ganshan in Huating County, "ChengZichun, the displaced people compete for smoke and gather, then called hungry lice." Along the countryside to the people who dare not cook for lunch, the bark of the grass roots and trees in the mountains is eaten. There is a kind of Guanyin powder, which is made of mountains and stones, and food can harm people, and the hungry people are forced to fill their hunger, that is, the official prohibition cannot stop it." For the tragic situation of the starving people at that time, Lin Bingluan of Baoshan has a more vivid description in the poem "Haizi Sigh":
The utensils are hidden, and one dollar is waiting for a thousand. Closed merchants are rare, and the price of rice is three times rich. Logging is sold for salary, and ancient wood is left behind. Start by eating vegetables from the garden, still with vegetables and garlic. And tooth okara, chaff like white bran. Boiled grass roots in a confused way, no grains drive away the grain chagrin. The dove gradually takes shape, and the shape of the small heel is anti-fat. Drag the heel to grab the street qu, and perch the temple view. There is no wrapping of feet, and the rags are not to be torn. The abdomen is resistant to frost, and the twilight is difficult to protect. Dead and unaccompanied, grass rolls on the embankment. Hai Dong has been consumed, and the Zi Chun people are even more cramped. Three hundred dollars for the child, and the slave is called. Such a long separation, the discord is no longer seen. Selling his wife a piece of rice, his family is slow to serve Cui.
In the face of the disaster, the state and local governments did not sit idly by, and local villagers also actively participated in the rescue and treatment under the initiative of the government. In that year, some prefectures and counties in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and other places were not only exempted from the land tax, but also gave different degrees of ration relief. This is also recorded in many local chronicles at that time, such as in Huating, "Prince Zheng of Yihou went to the mountains to issue relief, restored the excuse grain seeds to cultivate and weave, and set up a porridge factory to help displaced people." ...... In Taicang Prefecture, "the imperial court issued millet relief, and the state shou wangfu raised funds to raise donations to set up a factory for dongyue ancestral hall and cooked porridge for the hungry"; Qingpu, "all towns and towns set up factories to give porridge"; and the zhenru town of Baoshan, under the auspices of Li Gong of Yiling, the villagers "donated funds to cook and set up a factory Zhenru Temple." Spiral because of the heavy cost of cooking porridge, the amount of easy rice, five days a give, the cost of the money", a total cost of more than three thousand silver. It may be precisely because of the assistance of the government and social forces, although the people at that time lived in misery, and even died of hunger, but from the records at that time, there was no large-scale starvation to death.
With the help of the government and local social forces, by the turn of the spring and summer of the following year, with the harvest of spring grain, the famine of the people gradually eased, but unfortunately, just when the people were "young at this point", "the epidemic was stumbling again". Before the people of Jiangnan could breathe a sigh of relief, an even greater disaster struck.
Regarding the plague of this year, the Draft History of the Qing Dynasty records: "In the spring of the twenty-first year, the Great Plague of Huzhou, the Great Plague of Suzhou, the Great Plague of Lou County, the Great Plague of Chongming, the Great Plague of Wujin, and the Great Plague of Taizhou. Summer, Tongzhou epidemic. In November, the wind and sun were plagued. "It is clear that this plague is mainly concentrated in Gangnam and its surrounding areas. However, as far as the information is concerned, in this year and before and after, the surrounding areas of Jiangnan, at least Feng County, Andong, Yancheng, Funing, Yizheng, Xinghua, Rugao, Anhui Su County, Si County, Wuhe, Huaiyuan, Lai'an, Shucheng, Wuwei, Lujiang, Wangjiang and other counties in Jiangsu have had epidemics. Due to the lack of comprehensive data records and collections, there is no obvious pattern in regional distribution, but it still shows that the distribution of epidemic counties near Jiangnan is relatively dense. This also reflects from one side that although the epidemic involves a wide range, the core area is in Jiangnan. Of course, even in the Jiangnan region, the distribution of various places is uneven.
From the above information, it can be seen that this plague began in the winter of The Twentieth Year of Qianlong, but at the beginning it only appeared in individual areas, and in the second year, with the surge of rice prices, the degree of famine in the whole society deepened, and at the turn of spring or summer, with the warming of the climate, the epidemic occurred in the Jiangnan region, especially in Suzhou, Songjiang, Taicang, Changzhou and Jiaxing in Zhejiang, almost every county had a plague, and there were also many areas in Zhenjiang, Jiangning and Huzhou. Ningbo and Shaoxing, which are on the edge of jiangnan, were less affected. Surprisingly, Hangzhou Province, which is adjacent to Jiaxing and Huzhou Erfu and has a large city of Hangzhou, has not seen any record of the epidemic, however, the floods in Qianlong in the past twenty years have affected all the counties of Hangzhou Prefecture, and some counties, such as Lin'an, Yuqian, Xindeng, etc., have also appeared in the county records of Great Apology and Great Qi. Therefore, we suspect that this lack of information is most likely due to information. According to the author's extensive collection, there are still no reliable records of the epidemic in Hangzhou during the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods, but there are relevant records in some literary works at that time. Based on this, I think it can be speculated that although the epidemic situation in Hangzhou Province is not necessarily very serious, there are still plagues, especially in Haining, Renhe and the counties of Jiaxing Province, which are close to Jiaxing Province. The duration of this plague is not very clear, but from the spring and summer epidemics, the beginning of autumn and other statements, it can be seen that it mainly occurred in spring and summer. Combined with some other accounts, it can be said that April, May and February were the peak of the plague, "the summer solstice disease is gradually decreasing" and "until August begins to be safe". The following year, there was an epidemic in Gaochun County, and due to the lack of relevant information, we are not sure whether it is the remnants of the plague, but in general, by the autumn and winter of the twenty-first year, the plague will be over.
Regarding the nature of this plague, most of the historical data are only referred to as "epidemic", "epidemic", "epidemic", etc., which makes it difficult to understand what kind of disease it is today. Regarding its symptoms, only a few medical books have recorded this, such as: Mr. Yinsi was in qianlong's age, Wuzhong epidemic line, the chief official Yan main medical bureau; after the incident, He ji ji Yu Zai Zhou Jun's "Warm Fever Epidemic" Fang Book, which has been published for a long time. At the turn of spring and summer, I feel both. It is the truth of the truth and the warm square book as the surface, and it should not be abandoned.
Qianlong Yihai Winter, Wuzhong Great Desolation, tuduo hungry, corpse gas. By the time of the commander of the Emperor Chengzi, a great plague had arisen.
If the epidemic of the year of the propylene, at the beginning of the year, there is no slight self-sweating, sweating is incomprehensible, followed by all spots, spots are incomprehensible, and there is no underside, and the next is not immediately solved, and finally there is sweat, sweat, sweat, self-sweat, but a little solution. However, the remaining evil has reached the table, and the white sha is still like a spring, and what is the disease and full of all diseases? To give a closer look, it is the plague of the year that is a great plague with deep poison gas, and it cannot be used for regular reasoning. Those who have never sweated, with their hands less yang three scorches, are moving from sweating, and the qi is sick.
In addition, Yuan Ming's "Zi Bu Shu" borrowed the mouth of the plague ghost to record the prescription of Suzhou Zhao Taishou to treat the plague: "Thunder pills four two, flying gold thirty zhang, cinnabar three coins, alum one or two, rhubarb four two, water method for pills, three dollars per serving." Suzhou Taishou Zhao Wenshan, with its Franciscans, is not alive. ”
According to the above statement, it can be seen that this plague is mainly caused by the two evils of humidity and heat, which generally belongs to the category of summer temperature and humid temperature in chinese medicine. According to the definition of modern Traditional Chinese medicine, summer temperature is an acute fever caused by feeling the evil of summer fever, and the onset is sudden, and the initial heat of strong fever, polydipsia, sweating, pulse flood and other gas heat symptoms are seen. The transmission of the disease mechanism is also relatively rapid, the most vulnerable to injury and gas consumption, and the change of wind and wind. It is more common in summer and summer. It is roughly similar to acute infectious diseases such as Japanese encephalitis and leptospirosis in modern medicine. Humid temperature is an acute fever caused by damp fever. At the beginning, it has the main symptoms such as hot body, heavy limb tiredness, chest tightness, white and greasy moss, and slow pulse. The onset of the disease is slow, the transmission is slow, and the clinical manifestations have both wet and hot symptoms. Typhoid fever, leptospirosis, Salmonella infection and other diseases basically fall within the scope of this disease.
According to this, the plague may include typhoid fever, Japanese encephalitis epidemic, leptospirosis and other acute infectious diseases common in summer. These epidemics may also be sporadic in normal years, but this year, because of the "deep poison gas" after the catastrophe, coupled with the weakness of the population, led to a large-scale outbreak and pandemic.
The harm caused by this wide-ranging plague to the society at that time was also very obvious. First and foremost is population loss. In the historical books of that time, there were a large number of records such as "death is not counted" and "the pillow of the deceased". Like what:
Qianlong Twenty-one Years ,...... Pandemic, the dead are on the road. Mr. Shen Guiyu's poem: "The old ghost is even a new ghost, and the soul is summoned and does not return to the soul." "Documentary also.
Twenty-one years after Qianlong, from spring to summer, The Heavenly Movement was a masterpiece, and the people and the dead slept with each other. The coffins were not done, and the corpses were wrapped in salt and reed mats.
(Qianlong) In the middle of April and May of the twenty-first year, the plague was everywhere, and there was no disease in the family, and there was no danger of illness.
Twenty years after Qianlong, Wuxia Qihuang, Chengzichun, the recurrence of the great epidemic, the big households are still ok, and the small households have closed doors to be killed,...... The dead are incalculable.
From these records, we can know that the pandemic caused a large number of population deaths and left a very deep impression on the people of the time. But how many died? Limited to the data, it may be difficult to give a clear answer, the author has made a rough estimate of the relatively large number of records in Suzhou and Dantu areas, that the epidemic case rate is roughly between 2% and 3%, in some areas where the epidemic is more serious, the population loss rate will not exceed 5% at most.
Despite this, the psychological impact of the plague on the people of that time was still very large. Perhaps because the famine of that year was relatively heavy, as early as the autumn and July of the twentieth year, there were rumors that "the plague will rise, and the residents will write clusters, hoops, and hoops to stick to the door wall, and the clouds are disgusting, stupid and passed on, almost everywhere." After the plague spread, people were panicked for a while, and they all tried to reduce their activities as much as possible to avoid being infected. For example, in the city of Suzhou, "the summer night is closed, and there are few chillers and brawlers." Relatives and friends have not been seen for several days, then ask Ann? When we meet each other, we can only talk about ghosts and gods. At the same time, in the winter of twenty years, perhaps because of the relatively dry weather, the so-called yin lantern phenomenon appeared in some rural areas:
On the third day of November in the twentieth year of Qianlong, in the South Lake and other places, there were pirate boats at night, high hanging trumpet lights, flashing water surfaces, and rippling. All the houses of the faithful, gathered the brave, struck the gold, muskets and crossbows, each guarded, frightened for months, to the point of those who moved to the city. But during the day, there was no trace. Twenty-one years, from spring to summer, Tianxing has made great works.
In the winter month of the twentieth year of Qianlong, at night, the fields and lakes on the Tongli side were like torches, there were people in the shape of horses and boats, the villagers sounded gongs and competed, and they were suspected of stealing, but they were scattered and impermanent, they knew that the yin soldiers were also, the moon was resting, and at the turn of the spring and summer next year, the epidemic was great, and the dead were not counted.
Since this uncommon phenomenon occurred after the plague happened, people naturally linked the two and found out the historical basis, thinking that "the main plague of the yin lamp is not unique to the present." The emergence of rumors, which "haphazardly" links some natural or social phenomena that they cannot understand, is a very common phenomenon in the era of plague. In this regard, if we look at it from a modern point of view, it is easy to regard it as "superstition" and "ignorance", but in fact, this reflects the helplessness of the ordinary people's psychology, and at the same time, it is also a means for them to find comfort. At any time, in the face of nature, human beings will always have all kinds of helplessness and confusion, such behavior, at least for the time, may be beneficial to alleviate the psychological pressure of the people and stabilize the social order.
Compared with the relief of natural disasters such as floods and droughts, the state basically lacks institutional regulations on the rescue and treatment of epidemic diseases. Therefore, from the official books of the state, it is difficult for us to find out what action the state has taken against this plague. However, the lack of regulations on the system of curing diseases in the state does not mean that the state will completely sit idly by, in fact, raising the people and loving the people like children is a dogma that the state has repeatedly publicly propagated, especially for the local government, the chief is the "parent of the people", so the people are infected, although they do not have a clear responsibility in this regard, as long as there are appropriate resources to allocate, the local officials with Confucian moral beliefs will probably take some rescue measures. In this plague, some local literature mentioned that there was a bureau set up by Siyan Medical To diagnose and treat infected people. Like what:
(After the outbreak in Suzhou), Gong Zhang, the county guard, prayed to the dome of the mountain and died of heat. Zhao Taishou took over, set up a bureau Yuan Miaoguan, extended medical diagnosis and treatment, and applied medicine every day, and the doctor Qi Zhengming also died of illness.
(Suzhou) prefect Zhao Gongyou, set up a bureau yuan (Xuan) temple view, recruited twenty-five famous doctors to see the disease.
(Zhen Ze) Therefore, according to the Constitution, set up a bureau, extended the appointment of famous doctors to administer medicines, and the number of seekers gathered, from the dynasty to the second and third changes, there was no rest, such as two months, relying on the whole number of people counting more than a thousand.
In addition to the establishment of the Medical Bureau, some officials also set up prayers:
Yi Hai Xia five (month), Wu Zhong drought. In the spring of The emperor, the plague flourished, and the people were trapped by it. Shi Daxian led the subordinate officials to pray to the people, and si was prepared for the people to ask for their lives. Yu please come to the stage and pray to Uncle Yan's uncle and nephew.
In addition to the rescue and treatment behavior organized by the government, some local people and local people also carry out rescue and treatment activities in their own way:
Zheng Siyi, Zi Zhizhan, Tai Student, Shi Xi Doctor, Si Yi also mastered his skills. ...... The Qianlong Bingziyi epidemic, thinking like a city, the poor and powerless give medicine, the money transferred, and the income is exhausted.
Qian Puyi,...... In the twentieth year of Qianlong, he was hungry for many years, and he pioneered the creation of porridge and helped more than 1,000 stones to ,...... The following year's pandemic caused thousands of deaths.
Chen Zhixue,...... Qianlong Bingzi, years of hunger, followed by the great epidemic, when the poor could not bury the dead and returned, in many, Zhixue imitated the meaning of the ancients to cover up the hips and bury the hips, took the lead in advocating the establishment of the bureau, independently appointed, did not spare any effort, did not hesitate to spend, and buried no less than two thousand mouths of dry bones for a while.
Quan Jin, Zi Gang Zhang, Wu Jiang Ren ,...... Learned from his wife Xue Xue, he was passed on, Qianlong was hungry for twenty-one years, the people were plagued, Jin devoted himself to diagnosis, the poor gave money, rice and medicine, and many all lived.
It is difficult to assess the effectiveness of these rescue actions, but at least it is certain that these acts have played a certain role in saving people's lives, and including acts such as prayers, they should be effective in stabilizing people's psychology. As for the common modern behaviors such as organized isolation, they are not found in the historical materials we have seen.
"After a great plague there will be a great plague" is a well-known saying about the causes of plague, although this statement is not always true. For example, in the Jiangnan region at the time of Jiadao, there was a general drought in Jiaqing in the nineteenth year, and in the three years of Daoguang, there was a major flood that had not been encountered in a hundred years, but after these two disasters, only a few counties had epidemics; on the contrary, around the first year of Daoguang, there was no disaster, and there were many places that even had years of abundance, but there was the most serious epidemic in the Qing Dynasty. Nevertheless, the close kinship between the two is obvious, especially in the absence of particular external factors. The author has calculated through sampling that there will be a plague in about every 7 disasters in Jiangnan in the Qing Dynasty, and the plague caused by the famine accounts for more than 60% of the total number of plagues, but the specific relationship between the famine and the plague is still lacking.
Nearly half a century later, when Li Bing of Yangzhou wrote "Trivia on Distinguishing the Epidemic" to discuss the relationship between the catastrophe and the great epidemic, he cited the example of this and Qianlong fifty-one years and said: "Yuyun: After the great famine, there will be a great epidemic. "There is no doubt that this pandemic was caused by the great catastrophe, so what is the relationship between the two? The following is mainly to take this famine as an example, and appropriately combine this with other examples to discuss this.
First of all, the famine caused by the catastrophe will inevitably lead to a large increase in susceptible people, which will greatly increase the likelihood of plague. As mentioned above, during the great famine before this plague, due to the timely relief of the government and social forces, there was no phenomenon of starvation to death at that time, but most of the lives of ordinary people were extremely miserable, and poor nutrition inevitably led to a serious decline in physique, and insufficient righteousness, disease and evil were easy to invade. In this regard, when people talk about the causes of the plague, most people will point this out. For example, Quan Jin, a famous doctor in Zhenze, believes in the process of practicing medicine that "there are people infected by the Min family, half of which are caused by freezing", so "I give money to buy rice to cook porridge, that is, I put medicine and bait to cook, and I sip it together, and many are fully alive". In response to the phenomenon of Yin Bing Divine Lanterns appearing in various places in the winter of twenty years, the people of the world "may think that the (epidemic is) the cause of the lights", and the compilers of Daoguang's "Small Knowledge of Dividing Lakes" pointed out: "Even the hunger and cold are also caused." ”
Secondly, in terms of external causes, in the year of famine, "not only is the qi among the people weak first, but the filthy qi accumulated by the good is particularly eared." That is to say, in the year of military famine, the epidemic gas is worse than usual. There are two main reasons for this, one is that in the year of famine, the cold, summer, and rain are abnormal, and unhealthy tendencies prevail, "where there are storms and rainstorms, severe heat and cold, and unhealthy qi at four o'clock, that is, strong qi, if people feel it, they can do harm." Therefore, it is believed that "the plague is different from the regular epidemic" and that "the epidemic of the year is a great epidemic with deep poisonous gas, and it cannot be used as a regular law." Those who have never sweated, with their hands less yang and three scorches, are moving and sweating, and the qi is sick also." Second, disasters, wars, and chaos will lead to environmental damage. In this regard, a chronicle poem of the time describes:
At this point, the people are less Su, and the plague is stumbling again. ...... The lentiles are full of corners of the city, and the zombies accumulate on the banks of the river. The flow of fat wants to become a river, and the filthy qi rushes to the xiaohan.
This situation is very common in Jiangnan in the year of famine, such as: Daoguang eleven years (1831) flood, (Shimon Kanto sluice) once blocked for half a year, caught in the spring and summer of the twelfth year, the water of the river turned green, smelled filthy, the epidemic was great, and the death was incalculable. In other words, the famine has led to environmental damage, and the destruction of the environment has caused the accumulation of dirty gas, and the accumulation of dirty gas has made the epidemic gas more serious. When Shao Dengying talked about the causes of this plague, he believed that "Tuduo is hungry and the corpse is full of breath... And then came the great plague."
Third, although people at that time did not have the concept of isolation and epidemic prevention, due to moral and government functions, the government and society did not take any measures in this regard. Not only that, but some of the measures taken by the government and society at that time to alleviate the famine of the people were objectively conducive to the spread of the epidemic. The most typical is the porridge factory that is commonly set up everywhere. Obviously, most of the people who go to the porridge factory to receive porridge are poor people, and they are relatively likely to be infected with the epidemic or will be infected. In this case, the porridge factory is nothing more than a "spreader" of the epidemic. For example, in Kunshan, "after the spring and summer epidemics and the great disaster, Liangyi Ling persuaded to set up porridge to help the hungry." The people died of illness in the Word, and they slept with each other, and they could not give it, but buried it with a reed mat. In this regard, people at that time were not completely unaware, and some documents pointed out, "The day is closed, the night is perched in the lonely temple, the wind is shaking the eaves, the wetland is sleeping, the filthy gas is fumiged, it is infected with disease, and the seven harms are also; Lice are full of clothes, dirt is full of body, walkers are covered with noses, gathering places are dirty, infected with plague, nine pests also." "Gather tens of thousands of people in one place, and fumigate the filthy gas, so that there is a plague." It is only because the state does not regard this as a military matter and deliberately solves it, and there is no better remedy to replace it for a while, so most of them still use the ancient method. In addition, in some major floods, it is also possible that people often gather to live in a harsh environment to avoid floods, which will naturally promote epidemics. For example, Fan Guangyang pointed out:
The water of Yi Ugly (Kangxi Twenty-four Years) was restored, the rainstorm and winds were three days and nights, the flat land swelled up several inches, and the village drifted,...... It has to eat Yangzhou, give up the river dry, sit in the house of earthen doors, steam up and down wet, furuncle intercourse...
It can be seen from this that due to hunger, cold and frost, the people's physical fitness has declined, and they are far more susceptible to infection with diseases than they have been in perennial years, and there are many patients, many dead people, and a bad environment in the year of famine, and the blazing of unhealthy qi plus all kinds of filthy gas, sick gas and corpse gas are steaming each other, so it is not surprising that plagues are more likely to occur in the year of military famine.
From the perspective of historical statistics, the relationship between the catastrophe and the plague is not inevitable, in addition to being affected by some external factors, such as the transmission of new plagues, wars, etc., in general, the catastrophes that cause the pandemic will inevitably have some special opportunities. As far as this plague is concerned, although there was a general flood in Jiangnan in the twentieth year of Qianlong, the flood was not very large, but the weather anomaly in this year was obvious, first of all, it was rainy in spring and summer, then the summer was relatively cool, then there were strange insects in the rice fields everywhere, and finally in the autumn and winter, there was drought. It may be that this serious anomaly led to the strange phenomenon of yin and fire god lamps in many places in the winter of that year. Not only that, when a variety of disasters eventually led to the emergence of large-scale famine in various places, it was the period when the country's disaster relief system tended to be perfect, the state, local governments and social forces did not resign themselves, and took some positive measures to save the hunger and li, providing a large number of poor people with the minimum guarantee that could sustain their lives, so that there was no tragic situation of "cannibalism" and large-scale starvation at that time, but the existence of a large number of severely malnourished poor people inadvertently provided a large number of susceptible people for the epidemic of the epidemic. At the same time, the state and society have not taken the necessary isolation measures in a timely and effective manner to prevent the spread of epidemic diseases, and still use the traditional relief means of porridge to artificially promote the gathering of a large number of poor people, which objectively also played a certain adverse consequence of spreading the epidemic. From this, we can not only understand the specific situation of the pandemic in the year of the catastrophe, but also see the people's livelihood situation in the developed areas in the prosperous world from one side.
Based on this, we believe that the relationship between catastrophes and pandemics at that time was at least reflected in the following aspects: First, catastrophes often led to a significant reduction in the quality of life and physical fitness of people, which led to a significant increase in their likelihood of contracting epidemics. Secondly, climate anomalies and environmental damage can easily lead to changes in the living environment of pathogenic microorganisms, which may lead to the overbreeding of these microorganisms or the enhancement of toxicity caused by mutation, resulting in epidemics. Third, due to the lack of correct understanding of the epidemic, or because of political or social reasons, the traditional Chinese countries have not been able to establish an appropriate epidemic response mechanism. In this context, some of the measures taken by the State and society may not only be detrimental to the eventual prevention and treatment of the disease, but sometimes even play a role in spreading the disease.
Of course, although the state lacks institutional regulations on epidemic relief, the local government and social forces have taken some rescue and treatment measures as much as possible, such as setting up a medical bureau to diagnose and treat drugs, sending coffins to bury sick bodies, setting up altars and praying, etc. These acts have played a positive role in saving people's lives, stabilizing people's hearts, cleaning the environment, etc. We have no reason to despise or even deny the actual effect of these measures on slowing down the epidemic, but it seems that it is difficult to make a definitive assessment of how effective it is to control the epidemic. According to preliminary speculation, I am afraid that the role is limited. The epidemic subsided after several months of epidemic, probably because of the natural epidemic law of the plague.