The Qing dynasty was an important turning point in China's feudal society and an important stage in China's economic and social development. During this period, climatic disasters were frequent, with a wide variety of disasters and serious losses, which not only brought great disasters to agricultural production, but also made a large number of displaced people a factor of social instability. The climatic disasters of this period are closely related to the problem of displacement, and there is a certain causal link between the two.
introduction
The Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong dynasties of the Qing dynasty were one of the most frequent periods of natural disasters in Chinese history. During this period, the frequency of natural disasters in China was much higher than in other historical periods, and there were many types of disasters. According to historical records, in the 60 years from the 13th year of the Kangxi Dynasty to the 60th year of Qianlong (1723-1795), the number of natural disasters in the country reached 588, of which 70 occurred during the Kangxi period.
Climate disasters
Climate disasters refer to obvious periodic abnormal changes in climate change caused by various natural factors in the process of climate change. During the Kang Yongqian period, climate disasters were frequent, and in addition to natural factors, human factors also played an important role. During the Qing dynasty, due to the improvement of social productivity and the increase of population, agricultural production developed rapidly, but under abnormal climatic conditions, agricultural production was greatly damaged, and a large number of crops decreased or even lost harvests.
The total grain output during the Kang Yongqian period was at a high level in history, but due to severe famines and frequent natural disasters, serious food shortages and famines were caused. There are many types of climatic disasters during this period, including disasters caused by natural factors such as drought, floods, typhoons, earthquakes, hail, and frost, as well as disasters caused by human factors such as fires and plagues. In addition to natural disasters, there were also some concurrent natural disasters during the Kang Yong Dynasty, such as drought and flood disasters. Drought and floods are the most severe.
The rulers of the Qing Dynasty attached great importance to climate disasters and adopted a series of relief measures to cope with natural disasters. During the Kangxi Dynasty, due to social unrest caused by long-term wars and natural disasters, the economy withered. In July of the 48th year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1709), the Kangxi Emperor issued an edict pointing out: "Today, when we think of the life of the world, we will not forget the agriculture but benefit the people." At that time, agricultural production was severely damaged, and in the 49th year of the Kangxi Reign (1710), he also ordered that drought and flood be dealt with together. The frequent occurrence of disasters during this period had a certain impact on the social economy.
In the face of the disaster, the Kangxi Emperor did not take effective measures to help the victims solve the problem of food and clothing, but instead took a series of measures to stabilize social and political order. On the one hand, he reclaimed some of the destroyed farmland; On the other hand, it also ordered that private people be prohibited from buying and selling land without permission. These policy measures have played a role in mitigating the socio-economic impact of disasters. However, due to the Kangxi Emperor's lack of understanding of natural disasters and the fierce internal struggles of the imperial court, the impact of natural disasters continued to expand.
Type of disaster
According to the literature and the characteristics of the occurrence of disasters, the climatic disasters in this period are divided into the following categories:
1. Drought. In February of the twentieth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1681), "great drought, great hunger, and corpses were everywhere", "those who had no food for the people, and eight out of ten died of starvation"; March of the second year of the Yongzheng Dynasty (1724), "Great drought, great hunger"; April of the fifth year of the Yongzheng Dynasty (1727), "Great Drought"; In August of the fifth year of Qianlong (1740), the "Great Drought". Such droughts are often accompanied by floods.
2. Flood disasters. From April in the twentieth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1681) to July in the fifth year of the Yongzheng Dynasty (1727), the Yellow River Basin suffered major floods year after year; From July of the fifth year of the Yongzheng Dynasty (1727) to July of the fourth year of Qianlong (1738), the Huai River Basin experienced successive major floods; In August of the fourth year of Qianlong (1739), another major flood occurred in the Yellow River Basin.
3. Cold snaps and hailstorm disasters. From February in the 39th year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1700) to the 47th year (1720), there were windy weather in February, April, May and July; From February 48 (1701) to 48 (1705) in the 48th year of the Kangxi Dynasty, strong winds appeared in February and May respectively; In the fifth year of the Yongzheng Dynasty (1727), strong winds appeared from February to July.
4. Earthquake and volcanic disasters. Several earthquakes occurred from October 39 (1700) to November 20, 21 and December 18 in the third year of the Yongzheng Dynasty (1725); A volcanic eruption occurred on September 20, the fourth year of the Yongzheng Dynasty (1726); A volcanic eruption occurred on May 19, the fourth year of Qianlong.
Economic losses caused by disasters
The economic losses caused by disasters are mainly the destruction of agricultural production. Most of the climatic disasters that occurred during this period had the characteristics of coexistence of flood and drought disasters, frequent occurrence and frequent occurrence, fierceness and strong destructive power, which caused huge disasters to agricultural production.
Statistics show that in the 24 to 40 years of Kangxi's reign, the direct economic losses caused by floods were as high as 97.08 million taels; From 56 to 58 years of the Kangxi Dynasty, direct economic losses due to drought were as high as 110.8 million taels; From the 61st to the 63rd year of the Kangxi Dynasty, the direct economic losses caused by the drought were as high as 299.8 million taels; From the second to the twelfth year of Yongzheng, the direct economic losses caused by the drought were as high as 449.49 million taels.
In addition to floods, various other disasters have also caused serious losses in agricultural production. Natural disasters have caused serious damage to agricultural production, which in turn has led to the interaction of agricultural disasters and non-agricultural disasters. Since disasters tend to interact with each other, they can affect other agricultural and non-agricultural disasters and even affect entire socio-economic and political operations.
The drought and wind disasters that occurred between the 46th and 2nd years of the Kangxi Dynasty reduced grain production by 40% and 50% respectively. Drought, locust plagues and typhoons that occurred in Qianlong between three and seven years also reduced grain production by 60 percent. This shows that the direct economic losses caused by disasters at that time were enormous.
Impact of disasters on displaced people
China is a large agricultural country, and successive feudal dynasties have been dominated by agricultural economy, and the seasonal and periodic nature of agricultural production has caused frequent disasters. Before the Qing Dynasty, agricultural production occupied an important position in the national economy, and in an agricultural society dominated by the agricultural economy, natural disasters based on the small-scale peasant economy became the norm. But that doesn't mean disasters won't have a huge impact on traditional farming societies.
Before the Qing Dynasty, disasters in China's traditional agricultural society were not serious, but after the Qing Dynasty, traditional agricultural society was challenged like never before. Traditional agricultural society is based on small-scale peasant economy, natural disasters will lead to a reduction in agricultural production or even no harvest, and the increase in the frequency of disasters and the expansion of the scope of disaster years will cause farmers to fall into a situation of hunger and cold, thus forming the problem of "displaced people".
The Kang Yongqian period was one of the most socially and economically developed and culturally prosperous periods in Chinese history. Due to the rapid population and the need for socio-economic development, the government adopted policies to encourage reclamation while taking measures to reduce famine, resulting in large-scale displacement during this period.
During this period, not only did a large number of displaced people participate in the uprisings of displaced people triggered by natural disasters and other social conflicts, but also a large number of displaced people left their homes to escape war, famine and other social reasons to seek a living. Population mobility during the Kangyong period can be divided into two stages: first, there was frequent population movement during the Kangxi and Yongzheng periods; Second, there was less population movement during the Qianlong and Jiaqing years.
During the Kang Yonggan period, population movements were frequent, which had an important impact on the problem of displaced people. Since most of the uprisings of displaced people caused by natural disasters and social conflicts occurred during this period, the study of population movements during this period should be examined together with the population movements caused by natural disasters and social conflicts. There are two main types of population movements during the Kang Yongqian period: one is population movement caused by natural disasters or other social conflicts; The second is the movement of people due to war.
epilogue
During the Qing Dynasty, environmental problems became increasingly prominent due to social and economic development and population growth. The impact of climate disasters on agricultural production and population is significant.
The Qing dynasty was one of the most serious periods of natural disasters in Chinese history, coupled with the continuous population growth and frequent occurrence of natural disasters, which sharpened social contradictions and increased social instability during this period. In response to frequent climatic disasters and the problem of displaced people, the government has adopted a series of disaster prevention and mitigation measures, such as increasing drought prevention and control measures, reducing taxes, restoring production, and establishing storage.
However, due to the socio-economic structure based on the small-scale peasant economy and the contempt of feudal rulers for agriculture, coupled with the inconsistency of the central dynasty's means of rule, these disaster prevention and mitigation measures did not really play their due role. With the intensification of land annexation and frequent natural disasters, social contradictions in the Qing Dynasty were further intensified, and social unrest also occurred. Therefore, Qing society did not achieve stability in the true sense of the word.