A Study Of Tribute Grain And Disaster Relief In The Northern Song Dynasty

Tribute grain was an important tax material in the Northern Song Dynasty,which was of great significance to politics,economy,military affairs and culture.The Northern Song Dynasty was an important period for the development of grain transport industry in ancient China.Along with the economic center of gravity gradually southward,the south area,especially the Jiangnan area,has become an important grain producing area.The separation of the political center and the economic center makes the national consumption more dependent on the grain transport,and pays particular attention to the excavation and renovation of canals and the dredging of various natural waterways.The grain transport routes are getting longer and longer,and the radiation range is getting wider.At the same time,the Northern Song Dynasty was also a time of frequent natural disasters in ancient China,and the famine policy became one of the key works of the Northern Song government.Due to the spatial characteristics of long-distance transport and the physical characteristics of grain,the rulers of the Northern Song Dynasty,on the premise of ensuring the capital’s consumption,also involved grain in the management of the basic level of society,especially in the aspect of social relief.The main performance is that the government will be ready to start or transport grain to the affected areas,for local disaster relief.Firstly,this paper analyzes the reasons for its development from three aspects:historical origin,realistic background and ideological factors,and points out that the development of grain relief activities in the Northern Song Dynasty is the inevitable result of the joint action of historical factors,realistic factors and ideological factors.Secondly,by sorting out many cases of grain relief in the Northern Song Dynasty,this paper discusses the relief agencies,implementation forms and operation procedures involved in grain relief,and points out that the tribute grain relief work in the Northern Song Dynasty was the result of the coordination of governments at all levels from the central government to the grassroots.In the implementation process,there are three main realization forms,namely interception,allocation and immediate relief,and a set of relatively standard procedures including decision-making,specific implementation,compensation and supervision has been gradually formed.Thirdly,the paper summarizes the temporal and spatial characteristics and limitations of grain disaster relief in the Northern Song Dynasty,and believes that grain disaster relief activities in the Northern Song Dynasty have obvious imbalance in temporal and spatial distribution.In terms of time,the early reign of Emperor Zhao Heng and Emperor Zhao Zhen was the golden period of grain relief work in the Northern Song Dynasty,and the space was mainly concentrated in the southeast region and the region along the grain transport.Fourthly,the paper discusses the historical status of the tribute grain relief activities in the Northern Song Dynasty from three aspects: disaster relief effect,time limitation and later influence.It is pointed out that the tribute grain relief work of the Northern Song Dynasty provided the most basic living security for the victims,enhanced the local government’s resistance ability to cope with the disaster,stabilized the grain price in the disaster area,alleviated the pressure of supply in the disaster area,was conducive to the economic recovery in the disaster area,and had a profound influence on the later dynasties.In conclusion,the tribute grain relief activities of the Northern Song government played an important role in social relief,reflecting the improvement of the social regulation ability and disaster prevention and reduction level of the Northern Song Dynasty.However,in essence,grain relief in the Northern Song Dynasty was still a temporary relief measure with the premise of ensuring the interests of the court and the fundamental purpose of maintaining social order,which could not be transformed from the grain transport system into a complete famine relief system.