Famine, Ecological Environment And The Ming Dynasty Northern Socio-economic Development

In the more than a hundred years between the late 14th century and the end of 15th century, the Ming dynasty began vastly its social economic developmenThis thesis puts "disater" and "social economic development "in the Ming northern society which was a various and changing ecologic system and at the same time complex and specific. It tries to explain the relationship between the disaster phenomina and the practice of social economic development from a totally new aspect of the interfunction between nature and society;It tries to do some research in the specific mechanism and relevant issues of viciously interactive relationship between the famine and the social economic development in the Northern Ming dynasty.The thesis is going to cope with the following issues.Chapter one is the analysis of ecological environment and historical background.At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty,in the seemingly waste Northern region,its ecological system went on fading and worsening ,Though,from the late 14th centuey to the end of 15th century,the Norther climate had turned warm,At the beginning over 60 years of the Ming dynasty,unexpectedly alternating hot and cold became the main feature of the Northern climate.The fact that there were frequent wars causing economic failure before the Ming dynasty and the disaster threatening natural environment made a fragile social space for the economic development of the Ming dynasty.Chapter two mainly reveals the disasteral facts and their features during the social economical development period of the Ming dynarty.Chapter three,historically sees the connotation of "ideal kingdom"and its strategy to cultivate farming economy,to consolidate the self-savingability of the peasants and to build a steady Northern society so that they could made the "ideal kingdom"come true.Chapter four does some research into the relationship between disaster and the scale of economic development from both ecological th enviroment and social economical points of view. The notion of preparation for disaster was deserted; the poverty of the pineers, the loss of the local ability to redevelop economy, all these led to the fragility in the developing society, disaster is the external form and symptem for its social fragility.Chapter five economic development resulted in ecological worsening and frequent disasters in the North. The soil was unstandabie and peasants were poverty-striken, which led to the worn-out of the capacity to resist disasters. Migrating proble was its symptom in the North of the Ming dynasty.Chapter six tells us that people did not break the traditional models in how to control disasters. But, the Northern economic development was a new practice in disaster-control,though it was a failure, It deducted the whole connotation of the relationship between disaster-control and economic development.Chapter seven serves as the conclusive part. The social economic development of the North caused a "strange PPE phenminon" in the North part of the Ming dynasty, that is, there was a vicious circle among "poverty","population",and "environment". The mediation of the people in the Ming dynasty to the problems of the Northern disaster and social economic advancement is strong enough to touch us today. Strengthening the function of society security, putting emphasis on the protection of ecological environment, applying the strategy of the locally equal social economic development are the example left by the Ming dynasty in history.