Text | Little F
Edit | Spring and Autumn Jade History
«——【Preamble】】 ——»
In ancient times, floods and droughts were the most frequent natural disasters, and the ruthless disasters and the lack of food in the ancients made it necessary to fill their stomachs.
So why did the ancients choose to eat grass roots and tree bark instead of catching fish and shrimp when there was a famine in ancient times?
How terrible was the famine?
In ancient times, famine was an inevitable nightmare in people's lives, especially in times of poor natural conditions, when people often faced the threat of food shortages, hunger and death.
Disasters often arise from natural disasters such as droughts, floods, earthquakes, and are sometimes closely linked to war.
In the history of the Ming Dynasty for more than 200 years, there were as many as 1,000 natural disasters, and Henan accounted for more than 600 natural disasters, and natural disasters occurred every two years or so, and the people suffered greatly.
Countless peasants, unable to endure the famine, have had to leave their homes and embark on journeys of displacement, with long queues with no end in sight, and many can only feed on bitter grass roots and tree bark.
Historically, there was a great famine in the Ming Dynasty that lasted for four years, and although the first year was plagued by drought, people were able to rely on grass roots and tree bark to feed themselves.
After years of famine, the mortality rate soared, and the victims rose up in desperation, believing that the emperor was no longer able to solve their plight and needed a new ruler to bring them well.
It was this series of reasons that also became one of the factors in the demise of the Ming Dynasty, in contrast, people living in mountainous areas could rely on animals and wild grasses in the mountains and forests to support themselves.
Although many people may think that mountain living conditions are harsher, in the event of a drought, people in these areas are more calm than those in the north, as they have relatively more resources to survive.
As for the southern region, it is relatively less likely to be affected, and although it may sometimes be plagued by flooding, the lives of those affected in the south are much less affected than in the north.
Some people of the older generation have more or less heard about the famine, when people ate leaves and roots all day long, and some people ate their faces swollen, and some leaves had a particularly "noodle" taste after cooking, and they had a nausea headache after eating.
In the famine years, wild vegetables also became the main food of people, some people ate too much, their stomachs were stretched, and even their bellies became translucent.
There are also people who are so hungry that they eat some plants that are not suitable for consumption, which leads to scalding or poisoning and death, and even sweet potato leaves have become a luxury, some people will selfishly enjoy them alone, while others rely on sweet potatoes in exchange for their livelihood in exchange for food or marriage.
After the wild vegetables and leaves and bark were eaten, the flood victims had to beg for food elsewhere, some families were starved to death or even exterminated, and dozens of villages disappeared and became empty villages in just one county town.
The only belief of the people everywhere is to have a full stomach, and countless people have died of starvation, and too many people have died, and they are piled up in a deep pit, which is named "mass grave". The famine is like a terrifying blade, mercilessly stabbing in everyone's heart.
In the event of a famine, what was the ancient government doing?
Famine has always been one of the great disasters in human history, ruthlessly claiming countless lives. ”
However, due to the ancient social structure and social mechanism, the effect of relief operations was not ideal, and there were many shortcomings in the disaster relief policy at that time.
In ancient times, it was an agrarian society, most of the residents were engaged in farming in the countryside, and the seasonal and regional characteristics of agricultural production determined the instability of food supply.
In order to solve this problem completely, it is obviously not enough to rely on donations and send officers and soldiers, but there are many successful examples in ancient times on the mainland, which prove the importance of changing the geographical environment to reduce famine.
For example, after Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms, he ordered the construction of a large number of water conservancy projects to solve the problem of insufficient irrigation water; during the Tang Dynasty, many places also built water conservancy projects, developed new land, and increased grain production.
Ancient governments made some efforts to manage agricultural production and cope with famine, but there were still significant limitations under certain conditions, whether it was heavy rains or droughts, which would bring catastrophic damage to crops, and then cause famine.
In a mild drought, people can tighten their belts and save food to get through the difficulties, but once the drought is severe, people will eventually run out of food even if they save more.
In order to prevent the misuse of public funds, government departments often set up layers of approval links, which makes it impossible for disaster victims to receive timely help, and in the face of the catastrophe and famine, the government's relief is only a drop in the bucket.
At this time, the victims can only rely on themselves to find a way out, but due to information asymmetry and various constraints, they often cannot find effective solutions.
People live in dire straits, farmers lose their land and have to find work or become displaced people, and some go to remote areas to clear land for farming, as long as they pay taxes and fees according to the regulations.
But after the famine, the plague often ensues, and people have to take more drastic measures, such as fleeing to other places or to the mountains, to escape the plague.
In these mountains, people found wild herbs and bark in the woods to sustain their livelihoods, but the famine did not happen overnight, but gradually worsened.
Why don't the victims catch fish and shrimp to fill their stomachs?
In times of famine, people had to find other sources of food, such as grass roots and gnawing on tree bark, and the northern region was mainly composed of plains and mountains, and relied mainly on agriculture.
The first area to be developed was the Central Plains, and over time, the area of cultivated land in the north gradually increased, resulting in a large number of mountain forests being reclaimed for arable land, and fisheries became insignificant in traditional agricultural development.
Due to the underdeveloped transportation facilities, it is difficult to find natural rivers, and even if there are some small streams, it is difficult to find aquatic organisms such as fish and shrimp, because in the event of a drought, the water source will be severely depleted, making it difficult to catch edible fish and shrimp.
And if it is a flood, the fish and shrimp are washed away, and it is a fatal act to send a big water to fish in the lake, even the fishermen dare not try it easily, let alone the people who are farmers.
When people look at the vast fields of red land, the people who work in the fields end up as displaced people, unable to sustain themselves from the scarcity of natural resources, and even if they fish collectively, they still cannot escape the collective starvation.
It's not that the ancients didn't want to eat fish, but they couldn't find it if they wanted to eat it, and they couldn't catch it, and many people didn't have this kind of skill in catching fish.
epilogue
The famine in ancient times brought great suffering to people, but with the progress of science and technology and the improvement of the social system, the development of science and technology has made it more convenient and diverse for us to obtain food.
Although we may face challenges from natural disasters in the future, the continent has the ability to face and overcome them together, regardless of the disaster.