Research On Natural Disasters In Southwest Area Of Yuan Dynasty

The Southwest of the Yuan Dynasty included Yunnan Province,Guizhou Province,Southwest Sichuan Province and the north of present-day Myanmar,southwest of Vietnam,Laos and northeast of Thailand.Its social stages can be divided into two periods: more than 20 years of relatively stable development(1271-1295)and more than 70 years of social crisis(1296-1368).During this period,the Yuan Dynasty government made great efforts to develop the southwest region in politics,economy,culture and education.However,natural disasters caused by the complex geographical environment and climatic conditions in the region occurred frequently,which became one of the main restrictive factors for regional development.Natural disasters in the southwest of the Yuan Dynasty included floods,droughts,earthquakes,wind disasters,hail disasters,freezing disasters and biological disasters dominated by insect disasters.Disasters occur frequently in three peak periods: 1289-1308,1322-1337 and 1348-1363.They have distinct seasonality in occurrence time,regional imbalance and mutual influence,symmetry and identity in occurrence peak period,and flood and drought disasters are the high-incidence types.The frequent occurrence of natural disasters restricted the development of the natural economy in the southwest of the Yuan Dynasty.The destruction of agricultural production was mainly manifested in the erosion of farmland and the destruction of crops,resulting in poor or no agricultural harvest,resulting in food shortage,even famine,resulting in the reduction of regional population.At the same time,the acts of wives,wives,cannibals,posthumous children,cannibals and so on in the disaster are contrary to the traditional family ethical order and aggravate the social crisis.In response to natural disasters,the government of the Yuan Dynasty focused on building a disaster prevention and relief system with the government as the main body,legalizing and standardizing various disaster prevention and relief measures;at the same time,it actively guided folk relief,making it play a greater role in disaster prevention,mitigation and relief.However,due to the shortage of traditional social production capacity and uneven allocation of social resources,the disaster relief effect in Southwest China can not be fully realized.Nowadays,frequent natural disasters in Southwest China are still an important factor restricting its development.Therefore,the study on the law of natural disasters in the southwest of the Yuan Dynasty and the measures taken by the government and the people of the Yuan Dynasty to prevent,reduce and relieve disasters is also of certain reference significance for the construction of the disaster prevention and reduction system in the southwest and the realization of sustainable development of regional economy and society.