introduction
Since ancient times, sand and dust weather and even sandstorms have been one of the natural disasters that people living in the north of our country must face. In 354 AD (that is, during the period of the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms), a large sandstorm occurred in the north, and the history books recorded:
The wind is pulling up the wood, the sky is obscure, and the black wind is dark
。 The strong and black winds mentioned in the history books that can pull out trees actually refer to sandstorms, which blow down the houses of the people, cover up the fertile fields, and even hurt the lives of the people.
dust storm
At the same time, according to the Book of Jin, from 311 AD to 402 AD, in less than a hundred years, dozens of sandstorms broke out, the largest of which were:
In December of the fifth year (311 AD) of the Western Jin Dynasty Emperor Yongjia, black qi was blocked.
In the second year of the Western Jin Dynasty (315 AD), the first month of the first month of the Western Jin Dynasty Emperor Jianxing had already been black and foggy, and the people were like ink, and the night was over for five days.
In August of the fourth year of the reign of Emperor Daxing of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (321 AD), the fog was obscured.
In October of the first year of the Eastern Jin Dynasty Emperor Yongchang (322 AD), the Beijing division was foggy, the black gas covered the sky, and the sun and moon were lightless.
In the first year of the Eastern Jin Dynasty Emperor Taining (323 AD), the first month of the month was already in place, and the yellow fog was four plugs. In February, the yellow fog was thick again.
In March of the seventh year of the eastern Jin Dynasty (351 AD), the wind in Liangzhou pulled up trees and the yellow fog fell.
In March of the third year of the eastern Jin Dynasty Emperor Ning Kang (376 AD), Shuo, a storm rose rapidly, flying sand and gravel.
At the same time, natural disasters during the Southern and Northern Dynasties of the Wei and Jin Dynasties also had the following three characteristics: the frequency of occurrence, the large number of people involved, and the depth of disasters. Below, on the formation and impact of sand and dust weather during the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms period, a brief understanding of the causes of natural disasters in ancient times and the response methods of ancient governments to natural disasters.
Formation of dust weather
Sandstorm weather mainly occurs in winter and spring, this is because the rainfall in arid areas in winter and spring is scarce, the surface is unusually dry and loose, and the wind erosion resistance is very weak. So, why did sand and dust occur so frequently during the Sixteen Kingdoms period? Mainly for the following two reasons:
First, natural factors
Let's briefly analyze the impact of natural conditions. First of all, geographical conditions are preconditions for the formation of sand and dust weather. Except for the Chenghan Dynasty, the geographical location of the other regimes in the Sixteen Kingdoms was mostly on the north side of the Huai River-Qinling line, that is, in the northern part of China. Most of the northern part of China belongs to the temperate continental climate, the main characteristics of this climate is cold winter and spring, drought and little rain, the annual evaporation of water is much greater than their annual precipitation, which creates a prerequisite for the formation of sand and dust weather.
Dry land
In addition, the deserts of the northwest region provide a rich source of dust material for sand and dust weather. As mentioned in the historical records, there were a total of six sandstorms in Qianliang at that time, accounting for 33% of the total number of sandstorms in the Sixteen Kingdoms period. Secondly, climatic conditions are the auxiliary power generated by sand and dust weather, such as drought and little rain, strong wind cooling and other auxiliary weather, which will make the wind generated by the pressure difference and the gravel on the ground set together to form a sandstorm.
Second, the human factor
Leaving aside the influence of the above natural conditions, the role of human factors is also very large.
First, most of the ancient rulers were not environmentally conscious.
Successive rulers have regarded the great construction of civil engineering as a sign of the achievement of the imperial industry. Former Liang Zhang Maoyong yuan year, shi zai
：
Lingjuntai, zhoulun more than eighty blocks, base height nine. Former Zhao Jiaping II: Le Yu Ge Pi, Qiu Mu Yu, Boat Builder. After the eighth year of Zhao Jianwu, Tiger sent envoys to the aether prison sacrifice, Shengxing Palace, Yu Qitaiguan more than forty, camp Chang'an Luoyang Second Palace, the author of more than 400,000 people.
It is this kind of uncontrolled large-scale civil engineering that causes forests to be cut down in large quantities, vegetation to be destroyed, and the ground is constantly exposed, losing the deterrent effect on high winds, and accelerating the emergence of sand and dust weather to a certain extent.
Ancient palaces
Secondly, vigorously developing agriculture and overexploiting land are also the main causes of environmental damage.
It should be noted that during the period of the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms, there were frequent wars between countries, and population was the guarantee of a country's prosperity. In order to attract more people to enter, countries have to step up the development of wasteland. In terms of former cool, former cool is actually a country that combines agriculture and animal husbandry, and agriculture occupies a very important position in the whole country.
In fact, not only the former Liang, ancient Chinese agriculture played a very important role in promoting the overall operation of the country. However, the early agricultural development lacked the corresponding water conservancy conditions, and the developed wasteland was too dry, so that large areas of dry wasteland became the cause of sand and dust weather. It is this kind of unplanned land development that has greatly damaged the natural environment and accelerated the desertification of the land.
It is the interaction of the above natural and human factors that makes the people of the Sixteen Kingdoms period suffer the tragic consequences of sand and dust weather.
Impact on national development and people's lives
Sand and dust weather will not only have a great impact on the people, but it will also greatly affect the development of the country at that time. You must know that farmland and livestock are the basic basis for the survival and development of agriculture on which the people rely. However, the sand and dust weather that occurs in winter and spring will make large areas of farmland covered up and the crops in the field naturally have no living conditions.
In this way, farmers who use the harvest of their fields as a source of livelihood lose the hope of a bumper harvest in the autumn harvest season. Moreover, the sand and dust weather not only affects the harvest in the field, but even the livestock in the pen are also much more likely to be taken of their lives. Moreover, if it is a more destructive sandstorm, it will even destroy houses, so that the lives and safety of the people are also threatened. That is to say, the sand and dust weather will affect the lives of ordinary people and cause famine for the people.
Sand and dust flood the land and vegetation
However, the impact of dusty weather on a country is much more than that. In ancient times, when the weather could not be accurately judged, sandstorms could even affect the war between the two countries. History:
Qian Gui led thousands of horses, Hou Xing's army was strong, and the Russian winds were foggy, so they lost to the Chinese army, forced by the Xing to chase and ride, into the foreign army, and fought in the dan, and were defeated by xing.
This record seems absurd: it was actually defeated because it could not find its own team, but in that era when weapons and equipment were not very developed, the weather could really determine the success or failure of the war. Moreover, these extremely destructive weather conditions were seen in ancient times as punishment from heaven for the incompetence or immorality of rulers. Didn't Former Qin usher in the rebellion of the rebels because of such a "omen", and then perish the country? History:
In the second year of the former Qin Shouguang, the wind in Chang'an was strong, the hair house was pulling up trees, the pedestrians were upside down, and the palace was rushing.
Therefore, Jian Jian used this as an excuse, lai monarch's virtue was wrong, killed the king, and seized the Former Qin power.
Remedies for rulers
During the Sixteen Kingdoms period, out of the need to maintain their own rule and stabilize the people's hearts, the rulers of the Sixteen Kingdoms period also introduced some remedial measures after the sandstorm, which roughly included the following aspects:
First, grain is distributed, the migrants are millet, and the tax is reduced or deferred
After the sand and dust weather, the people's property suffered a major damage, and most people were hungry, so opening warehouses and releasing grain became one of the urgent relief measures. You know, there are not a few wars in history caused by famine, or how to say: life is alive, eat and drink! If even the most basic problem of food and clothing cannot be solved, how can the ruler of a country gain the support of the people?
Schematic diagram of an ancient granary
In other words, if the local environment has not been restored because of the sand and dust disaster, then it is up to the government to solve the problem, the history books record:
In the second year of Shenrui (September 415 AD), there were more than 3,000 displaced people in Henan, who belonged to the Beijing division, and the people were hungry, and they heard that Shandong would eat.
At the same time, in the face of ordinary people who have suffered huge economic losses, reducing or deferring taxes is also one of the policies that must be made. If not, there will really be a phenomenon of officials forcing the people to rebel.
2. Sacrifice to dispel disasters, and to condemn oneself to appease the people.
Etiquette
·
The Law of Sacrifice is known
Burn firewood on the altar of Tai, sacrifice to the heavens; bury it in tai fold, sacrifice the ground also; use calves. Buried in Taizhao, the time of sacrifice is also; similar to the kan altar, the sacrifice of cold and summer is also. Whoever has the world, worship the hundred gods. The princes sacrifice in their land, but do not sacrifice in their land.
The records from here are enough to see that there has always been a habit of sacrifice in ancient times, especially in the face of great disasters or major events that cannot be explained by the current culture, and sacrificing sacrifices to eliminate disasters, asking for forgiveness from heaven or seeking the blessing of the ancestors was one of the usual means used by rulers at that time. Why do rulers think of themselves as the Son of Heaven? Because the rulers of ancient times wanted to bind the people ideologically: to tell the people that I had the ability to communicate with the heavens, and that the heavens sent me to rule the people.
Schematic diagram of ancient sacrifices
When sand and dust weather appears, in the face of such "unlucky" omens, the existing weather knowledge is far from perfectly explaining its cause and scope. In the seventh year of Former Yan Jianxi, there was no rain in the territory for a long time, and there was a strong windy weather, so the monarch issued an edict
There are many violations of the government, three hours of the sun, time and yin, and zero rain on the day of farming and planting.
At this time, it is necessary to solve this seemingly insoluble puzzle according to the power of the ghost god, and the monarch's practice can alleviate the anxiety of the people to a large extent, and can also get the understanding of the people, thereby increasing the cohesion of the people's hearts and pulling the monarch out of the embarrassment of virtue.
Third, practice water conservancy, attach importance to the orderly development of agriculture, and afforestation
Although at that time, disasters were attributed to the theory of ghosts and gods, but in terms of the emergence of sand and dust weather, the land dried up and lacked water, in the Period of the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms, there were still methods to build water conservancy and solve the problem of irrigation of farmland. For example, during his tenure in the Former Qin Dynasty, in order to solve the problem of little rain and drought in Guanzhong, he recruited 30,000 rich servants to open the Jing River, dig mountains and embankments, dredge ditches, and make terraces and saline-alkali land irrigated.
Subsequently, Wang Meng increased the agricultural labor force by summoning displaced people and relocating them to customs. Moreover, he also paid attention to saving expenses and reducing some taxes to reduce the burden on the people. The Former Qin government also often sent officials to inspect local areas to promote advanced production techniques and reward farmers who worked hard to cultivate their fields. As a result, the fields that had been barren for many years grew grain again, the warehouses that had been empty for many years were filled with grain, and the material capital of the former Qin Liguo was much stronger.
Ancient tree planting diagram
Moreover, during the Sixteen Kingdoms period, some rulers proposed afforestation plans in order to increase economic income. Although the emergence of this strategy is not based on the basic purpose of reducing the occurrence of sand and dust weather, it still plays a role. For example, during the Northern Yan Dynasty, the monarch ordered:
Now the territory is not in danger, the people are steadfast, and the fields and acres are deserted, sometimes they do not supervise at any time, and it is not difficult to give people enough in this home, and it is not difficult to benefit the mulberry and have the foundation of life. This soil is less mulberry, and people have not seen its benefits, but the people can plant a hundred mulberries and twenty garnets.
Unfortunately, at that time, there were very few policies to reduce sand and dust weather and benefit the country and the people, which did not play a decisive role in improving the overall environment.
epilogue
From the above analysis, it can be seen that the number of sand and dust weather in the Sixteen Kingdoms period has increased year by year, and the reason for this situation is that in addition to the influence of natural factors, the consequences of man-made destruction are more serious. From this, we can also draw a conclusion: in order to improve the natural environment, from the state to the individual, we must fully understand from the ideological point of view that protecting the environment is the responsibility and obligation of everyone, and only when the ideological consciousness is transformed, the natural environment will be truly improved, and the living environment of human beings will become better and better!
References: "Book of Rites", "Book of Jin", "Book of Wei", "Zizhi Tongjian", "History of China's Famine Relief", etc.