Economy,Society And Environment:Qian Lead Development In The Early Qing Dynasty And Local Social Change In Northwest Guizhou

The core areas of lead ore production in Qing Dynasty lies in the northwest of Guizhou,which undertakes the majority supply of lead ore.There are three reasons that explain why the Qian lead can be exploited:the diversion of policies for the whole mining industry from “prohibited” to “relaxed ”in the early Qing Dynasty;the requirement of raw materials for coins and firearms;the promotion of the bureaucratization of native officers,targeting the northwest of Guizhou,which is reinforced mainly by means of military.The exploitation of Qian lead is for the purpose of extracting lead ore continuously and stably,in which the government and the ordinary people participate together.During exploitation,a number of lead farms have emerged that have been mined by the request of officials and civilians,managed and taxed by the government.The lead farm is the basic unit for the government to manage and tax.The Qing Dynasty controlled the production,public security,bribery and tax collection of the lead farms by administrative regulations and the system of submitting expense accounts,while the miners were responsible for production and paying taxes.In order to meet the demand for lead ore in Qing Dynasty,the Qian lead was transported to Jing and Chu areas,and the Sichuan Guizhou purchasing system was born.The local government will direct transport lead ore from Guizhou production area to Beijing for casting and transfer to Sichuan Yongning,Hubei Hankou for provinces to buy,through this way,Qian lead meet most of the country’s lead demand.The exploitation of Qian lead is of great significance not only to the country but also to the local society of Guizhou and northwest Guizhou.The profits generated in the process of Qian lead development were mainly obtained by the Qing Dynasty,which became an important supplement to the local finance of Guizhou,while the mining people made less profit.In terms of the local society in northwest Guizhou,the development of Qian lead improved the traffic conditions of the core production areas in northwest Guizhou and promoted the gathering of han immigrants from other provinces and the development of commodity economy and market in northwest Guizhou.But correspondingly,the development of Qian lead has brought about the destruction of ecological environment and crowd disputes,which has also become an important problem.