Research On The Agricultural Development Of Chaohu Lake Basin During Ming And Qing Dynasties

area in this area. The land development and utilizationmainly embodies in reclamation of a wasteland by an army unit, producing many new land-cultivated methods such as sandy land, sandy pond, shoaly land and levee-surrounded field. Local people there, in the practice of exploitation and utilization of hilly area, gradually found out a set of forms of building small dyke water conservacy suitable with this area. Another factor from productive labourers, agricultural population of Chuhao lake basin in Ming and Qing dynasties increased quickly. Until the early 19th century, both population growth rate and the absolute increase of population was unprecedented in history. Several counties with population exceeding one million appeared. The population of immigrants into that area, has held larger proportion in the popoulation formation structure.During the Ming and Qing dynasties, agricultural labor productivity of Chaohu Lake Basin had improved. Agricultural production chains and farming activities centerd by rice planting gradually formed in the inheritance and long-term accumulation. Rice production progress lies in the numerous varieties and the promotion of fine varieties. The yield per mu was about two shi, about three hundred shijin or shimu, while a fertile poder land could produce three or four shi,about five or six shijin or shimu. During the Ming and Qing dynasties the way of farming land and land utilization in Chaohu Lake Basin was better than the average level of other domestic parts, basically formed a complete set of rice cultivation techniques, and each production step had its matching production tools. Rice farming system has an obvious progress, besides two-crop-paddy, a major breakthrough, replanting became a common phenomenon, and intercropping system and interplanting of other crop was in the unceasing development, more than a year of farming system has become widespread. Two tillage system, drought soil and water soil began to form, combining two or crop rotation. The rational utilization of land and technology had developed, which is mainly embodied in the use of the hills, lakes, dry land, building field between the waste land to grow crops as idle and cash crops. Economic crop variety in Chaohu Lake Basin had a great variety of goods, planting area continuously expanded, but the planting area was fragmented with low yield, yield was not in proportion in agricultural economy. The working people of that region during the Ming and Qing dynasties created a variety of water conservancy facilities that were suitable for local conditions. Polder land is able to embody characteristics in water conservancy, reflecting its problems, becoming an important form of irrigation and water conservancy in agricultural production in that area. Construction, maintenance, operation and management of polder land, plays an active role in flood control, drainage, irrigation and reducing immersing.During Ming and Qing dynasties, Chaohu Lake Basin is one of the important grain-producing areas in Anhui. Grains became major part of income, rice the main goods for external trade, food commodity rates significantly increased. Chaohu Lake Basin played an irreplaceable role in ensuring food security in regions south of the River. In the process of growth and development, large numbers of market towns in Chaohu Lake Basin at different market levels played different roles in a variety of commercial activities. Through the circulation of commodities from top to bottom, these market towns integrated with each other, basically formed a diverse network of rural markets with a combination of temple fairs. The development of rural towns and the commercialization of food crops were the two most indispensable complements of the rural market network of Chaohu Lake Basin in Ming and Qing dynasties. During these two dynasties, there's a phenomenon worthy of special attention in commercial activities in rural areas of Chaohu Lake Basin, that's especial activeness of Huizhou merchants rather than the indigenous businessmen, and they almost monopolized the market. Huizhou merchants had a significant impact upon the agricultural development of Chaohu Lake Basin.There were slight changes in agricultural production relations, such as:rural land system, land tenancy and credit relations of Chaohu Lake Basin during Ming and Qing dynasties. The main characteristics of feudal land tenure of the period were the co-existence of appropriation of land on a large-scale by few landlords and small holding of land by some rich peasants. Compared to other regions within the province, the plowland of the region was heavily assembled and confined in the hands of regional landlords. The rising of Huai warlord- a landlord gained land for military merits-in the annexation of land in the late Qing dynasty, had far-reaching impact on the land system of Chaohulake basin,which became another significant characteristic of land relation changes in Late Qing dynasty. There was relatively great development in owner-peasant economy in Ming and Qing dynasties, tenant farmers were aslo one of the main forces of traditional agricultural development. Tenant farming system was the main form of exploitation of tenant farmers. There were four major changes in the exploitational system during the time:firstly, from the aspect of the period of tenancy relationship, forever tenancy appeared; secondly, from the aspect of exploitational rates, there was a tendency of constant rise; thirdly, from the aspect of rental forms, there were labor rent, material rent and money rent, among these three, the rate of money rent increased slightly; lastly, new changes in agricultural mode of operation appeared. By the end of the 19th century and early 20th century, a capitalist mode of production and operation signed by emergence of reclamation company appeared in Chaohu Lake Basin. In the old feudal relations of production, a new capitalistic relations of production was born and slowly developed, showing a significant variability from feudalistic agricultural economy to capitalistic agricultural economy. In Qing dynasty, costoms and rites not only existed in the process of land trade, but aslo in house trade, probing into conventional house and land trade can help to understand the phenomenon and essence of various house and land trade customs in the region.In Ming and Qing dynasties, the trajectory of agricultural development in Chaohu Lake Basin had distinctive regional characteristics, meaning:the form of development was mainly in gradual accumulation and slow in numerical growth, and its direction mainly reserved. From the level of economic development all over the country in Ming and Qing dynasties, Chaohu Lake Basin should belong to the areas where feudal economy was fully developed,or to be a traditional developed agricultural area, where agriculture was of the greatest importance, and rice production obtained the most important share in the agriculture. The commercialization of agricultural products had increased significantly in Chaohu Lake Basin during the Ming and Qing dynasties, there was a change in the rural market, regional market network basically set up, and had a relatively close relationship with provincial and domestic and foreign markets. However, the farmers market behaviors were passive,and was considered to be a kind of "hungery commodity production,". The expansion of the capacity of the market mainly confined to farmers's food and clothing needs "owned by a living", the "frugal" type life of the farmers in Chaohu Lake Basin was of subsistence consumption, and there was certain falsity exisited in the degree of commercialization of food in Chaohu Lake Basin.Based on the accumulated experience of technological progress, it often takes a long time for technology of production to achieve some of the technological change. The emergence of this characteristic, not only reflected the weakness of agricultural productivity in Chaohu Lake Basin, it was also a reflection of the restriction upon changes of the nature, and social, political and economical environment at different stages. With the custom of stability not moving around and the belief that agriculture was basically important, it was easy for people to form the idea of small scale-farming,which emphsised agriculture but limited the development of trade, and encouraged people to be content with poverty but not try to make progress and extension. That's not conducive to the adoption and extension of advanced agricultural technology. In the past hundreds of years, Chaohu Lake Basin suffered from many times of political instability caused by the wars, rivers flooded, poor maintenance of irrigation and large numbers of people migrated or in exile, which heavily influenced the socio-economic recovery and development.Frequent and serious disaster of floods and drought in Chaohu Lake Basin also had tremendous impacts on the agricultural productivity system, accelerating the disorder of the relationship between man and nature. As a result of the singleness and predatory of agricultural development mode, the pursuit of the expansion of arable land and the increasing food production resulted in people's over-reclaimation of the land, the lake area shrinked and the blocked water without vent frequently overwhelming the embankment, all led to the destruction of the natural ecological environment and increased the frequency of natural disasters and damage. The intensification of land annexation and the expansion of tenancy relationship.High rents and heavy taxes increased poverty and bankrupt of farmers and the deterioration of their living standards. All above clearly indicates characteristics of agricultural production technology of the rural economy of Chaohu Lake Basin -the farm tools, water and fertilizer and the other, apparently was in stagnation in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.In short, the Chaohu Lake Basin gradually formed its own regional characteristics in the speed, size and methods of development. Agricultural economy is the historic starting point where the vast majority of the regions of China begin its modernization, therefore, the study and reveal of economic and historic characteristics of agriculture in specific regions can contribute to the understanding of the variousness in the development modernization, and can also help to study the difference between Chaohu Lake Basin and other regions in this process of the economy transition. Trajectory of agricultural development of Chaohu Lake Basin during the Ming and Qing dynasties provides very valuable historical enlightenments to its economic development now and in the future.