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There are many kinds of trees planted in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which can be roughly divided into economic forests, tomb trees, community trees, private garden trees, street trees and military shelter forests.
Economic forests refer to the forests that can obtain economic benefits in production and life.
In order to make up for the lack of field crops and obtain fruits, fuel and building materials, people began to plant some economic trees, and during this period, the variety of fruit trees in the south was relatively abundant.
So, what was tree planting like during the Eastern Jin Dynasty?
Overview of afforestation in the Eastern Jin Dynasty
The fruit varieties listed by Zuo Si in "Wu Du Fu" include orange, sweet, lychee, betel nut, longan, olive, etc., most of which are produced in tropical and subtropical regions in the south.
At that time, there were also star fruit, winter ripening, tuongzi, chicken orange, Gudu tree and so on.
The traditional fruit tree in the south is the orange tree, which has a long history of cultivation.
In the historical records, there is the saying of "Shu, Han, Jiangling Thousand Trees and Oranges", and at the end of the Han Dynasty, Li Heng said that "Thousand Heads of Wood Slaves".
During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there were special officials in Guangzhou to manage the production of oranges, and there was a chief orange officer recorded in the "Southern Grass and Trees...... The main offering is the orange.
Mulberry is also an important economic forest tree, and mulberry leaves can be used to raise silkworms and mulberry sets, which can be used for consumption.
Mulberry trees are even used as a kind of official welfare in the "Jin Order" and recorded: the captain has mulberry fruits in the official house, and they all give it, and there are no mulberry and less than 300 trees, so that the officials and pawns will be transferred to the official house to plant 300 mulberry trees.
During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, mulberry trees continued to be planted, but their importance declined compared to the Han Dynasty, and the meaning of mulberry as "mulberry" was mentioned as many as 27 times in the entire Book of Han, while the Eastern Jin Dynasty was recorded seven times.
It is true that the Eastern Jin Dynasty era was shorter, but the more important reason is that the original silk weaving industry was mostly concentrated in the land of Qilu in the north, and the silk weaving industry in the south was not developed.
And another reason is because the pronunciation of the word "mulberry" is the same as "mourning", and the people of the Eastern Jin Dynasty sometimes think that it is a bad omen.
In the Book of Jin, it is recorded: "The mourning of the mulberry is also ominous for the cry", in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, when Taoism and Huiwei were still more popular, there was still a certain inhibitory effect on the planting of mulberry trees.
With the southward migration of northerners, the tree species that were originally mostly distributed in the north also began to move south.
Jujubes, chestnuts, persimmons, etc., which were originally widely cultivated in the north, also began to appear in the south.
In the Book of Jin and the Five Elements Chronicles, it is recorded that "there is a stiff chestnut tree in Xiuming's family in Xichang County, Luling, which is born again and again", "Jianzheng has a ghost eye vegetable in the Gonghuang Dog family, and the jujube tree is born according to the fate".
These all show that in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, fruit trees native to Hebei and Guanzhong have begun to be planted in the Jianghuai region in the south, and people do not only plant trees for economic benefits.
Here's the question: what does this do?
Particular attention to tree species
Sometimes for religious purposes such as tomb trees and community trees, sometimes for aesthetic purposes, such as street trees and private trees, and sometimes for military purposes.
During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, pines and cypresses were important tree species and were often called together.
The economic significance of pines and cypresses is small, and people plant pines and cypresses mainly because of the cultural meaning they represent, because "the pine does not change the Keyi leaves" is often a symbol of nobility.
"When you see the pine and bamboo, you think of the sage of chastity", so Gu Yuezhi has: "The posture of the pine and cypress is still lush through the frost", and the words praising the emperor appeared.
And planting pines and cypresses as tomb trees is often seen in history books, and even "planting pines and cypresses for five or six miles, sometimes there are deer who commit their pine planting", even deer can hide in them, which shows the large scale of pine and cypress planting.
However, unlike the previous generation, the people of the Jin Dynasty believed that it was an unlucky thing to plant pines and cypresses in the courtyard, and the "Book of Jin: The Biography of Yuan Shansong" contained: "Zhang Zhan is good at planting pines and cypresses before Zhai, and the mountain pines are good at making the left and right as elegiacs every time they travel, and the people say that they are funerals on the pine road of the Chen Corpse Mountain under the Zhan House."
And the "Historical Records" said: "The pine and cypress are guarded and read for the length of a hundred trees", which obviously regards the pine and cypress as the trees that must be planted on both sides of the palace gate, which shows the difference in customs and culture of the Han and Jin dynasties.
In addition, the pine and cypress also have another role, which is to save the famine.
"Taiping Yulan" quoted the "Naturalist" as saying: "If you can't eat in the wilderness, you can finely cut the pine and cypress leaves, and send the water to the order, whether you can take no hunger as the degree, and it is better to send the porridge clearly."
When using cypress leaves, five-fold pine leaves, three-fold should not be excessive.
In such a turbulent period as the Wei and Jin dynasties, even the leaves of pine and cypress trees that were bitter and difficult to swallow were used to save the hardships of the people's lives, which can be seen.
The planting of community trees was also very common in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
The people are generally spontaneous associations, and five or ten companies plant a community tree for one society.
The shrine is a place where the god of the land is worshipped, and the shrine tree is the symbol of the god of the land, and it has a very high position in the belief of the people.
The tree is generally a big tree, and the breaking of the tree is considered to be an ominous thing, and it is recorded several times in the Book of Jin and the Five Elements Chronicles that the tree was broken by a strong wind and then something ominous happened.
The most important tree species in private gardens is bamboo, which is abundant in the south because of the climate.
Bamboo ranks among the three friends of the year, in the Eastern Jin Dynasty that attaches importance to morale, it is a symbol of integrity, and the pine tree together is the generation of "the sage of chastity", and even Wang Huizhi issued a sigh of "how can there be no such monarch evil for a day".
In addition, bamboo is rich in ornamentality, and it is generally planted in the courtyard of the doctor's family, and even forms a situation where "as long as there is a garden, there is bamboo in the garden".
In the garden, the high-ranking officials of the powerful clan also like to plant some rare and high-value tree species, Xie Xuan once made an analogy, "For example, the Zhilan jade tree wants to be born in the court steps."
Street trees mark the way, block wind and sand, and provide shade for pedestrians when it's hot.
Poplar is a common street tree in our country, and in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there were folk songs that sang: "Qingqing Royal Road, Poplar, White Horse, Purple Tour", which shows that the street tree is planted by the public on both sides of the "Royal Road", and also shows that the Eastern Jin Dynasty government attaches great importance to afforestation.
In addition, the army also often planted trees, and the famous military general Tao Kan once ordered the whole battalion to plant willow trees.
The subordinate officer took a willow tree and was found and punished when he returned home.
Because the woods have the effect of blocking the impact of cavalry, it can be seen that the willow trees planted by Tao Kan are likely to be used for military protection.
Characteristics and effects of afforestation in the Eastern Jin Dynasty
In order to gain a firm foothold in the south of the Yangtze River and consolidate the partial security regime, the Eastern Jin Dynasty did not dare to slack off on the cultivation of grains.
The Eastern Jin Dynasty government issued edicts many times, urging Emperor Yuan of the Jin Dynasty to be the king of the Jin Dynasty, and ordered: "The two thousand stone officials of the Inspector of Agricultural Gong are the most important in the palace."
As a result, a large number of surplus laborers are invested in the cultivation of cereals, while the cultivation of trees is neglected.
At this time, the people have not yet understood, and the role of afforestation is only a simple understanding, and the purpose is relatively clear, such as planting economic forests, planting street trees or tomb trees.
However, compared with the Qin and Han dynasties, afforestation in the Eastern Jin Dynasty still has its distinctive characteristics.
The planting of forest trees has extremely high economic value and profits, and an orange tree can even reach the value of "a silk horse a year old", but the forest planting in the south during the Eastern Jin Dynasty has not reached a relatively developed level.
And there was no such thing as Li Heng in the late Han Dynasty, who made a fortune by planting economic forests, and the emergence of such an economic phenomenon in the Eastern Jin Dynasty has a lot to do with the historical background it has experienced.
During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the society was turbulent, and the people were displaced and had no fixed residence.
Trees are a fixed asset that is difficult to move, and it is difficult to cash or move once a social change occurs.
And the growth cycle of trees is long, and it cannot bring economic benefits in a short period of time.
Fruit tree cultivation is a complex production technology, and not every farmer can master the working population from the north.
Although it has a high quality of labor, it is impossible to use all the technologies it has mastered before facing the completely different climate and soil conditions in the south.
Because of the frequent wars in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the state needed a large amount of tax revenue to maintain the operation of the state apparatus.
As a result, there are many types of taxes, and there is a "fruit tree tax" for fruit trees, and there are "city rent" and "city tax" when the tax transactions related to Tianjin are carried out during transportation.
Such a large number of taxes also reduced the enthusiasm of the people to plant trees.
In addition, the large estate system was widely popular in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
Only on the basis of the further development of the productive forces, can mountains, forests, rivers and rivers become the source of exploitation of surplus products, and when mountains, forests, rivers and rivers are powerful and profitable, the phenomenon of occupying mountains and protecting rivers can appear, and the Wei and Jin dynasties are undoubtedly a critical period for such a transformation.
The large manor system seals the mountains and solidifies, and ordinary people cannot enter the people to develop the mountains and forests, which objectively also makes it difficult to carry out the planting of economic forests.
There was also the household registration system in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which also had an impact on afforestation during this period.
After the "Yongjia Rebellion", ordinary people who moved south on a large scale generally had three situations:
The first is to become a longing servant vassal of the powerful clan and become the hidden population of the state; the second is to become a guest of the state; and the third is to become a white person in the overseas Chinese county after crossing the river.
The Eastern Jin Dynasty still followed the occupation system of the Western Jin Dynasty, and moved south to the original areas where the people from all over the north were concentrated.
The original official household registration of the Jin Dynasty was called "Yellow Nationality".
The white nationality is a temporary household registration, an empty household registration that does not pay taxes and does not serve, and the version is basically equivalent to a "temporary residence permit".
Because they do not have a formal household registration and do not pay taxes, the land they occupy after crossing the river is not controlled and recognized by the government.
After crossing the river, the people have no protection of the ownership of the land they cultivate, regardless of the form of household registration, and they are all unprotected countries and powerful clans, and they may take back and forcibly seize the land they have cultivated at any time.
The growth cycle of trees is relatively long, and it is not easy to move, transplant and replace, and the general equivalent needs to go through the market.
Under such circumstances, the willingness of the northern diaspora to plant trees, especially economic forests, is not high.
Finally, the development of afforestation, affecting all aspects of social life in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the original southern region, especially the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, did not produce silk, since the Eastern Jin Dynasty began the center of the silk weaving industry, but also gradually moved south to the current Yangtze River Delta region, becoming an important silk production area.
Bamboo also began to occupy an important position in the national economic life of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
Since the Qin and Han dynasties, the beginning of the mountains, forests, rivers and Zeguo, some of the situation has been broken by the powerful clans in various places, began to annex a large number of land, and the state-owned land began a process of privatization.
As a result, it also indirectly changed the economic structure of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
Compared with the previous generation, afforestation in the Eastern Jin Dynasty had a different development model from that of the Qin and Han dynasties, and developed in twists and turns like the overall level of society.
I have to admit that the overall level of afforestation in the Eastern Jin Dynasty was not high, and the trees and forests were still destroyed and protected less, but the afforestation in the Eastern Jin Dynasty was important for the Yangtze River Basin.
Even the production, life and economic structure of the whole south have had a far-reaching impact, and completely different development models have emerged, and forestry science and technology have emerged in forestry production technology, and now it seems that there is still scientific significance and practical value.