Local Technology, Economy And Society

As a decisive department in ancient times, and a starting-point of human productive activities all, agriculture is directly related to human existence, social stability and political firmness. Fused with economy and society, agricultural technology is a powerful lever to support human civilization. Agriculture in Sichuan province developed quite early within the whole Yangtse valley, and the Qing dynasty made a considerable difference to Sichuan's local technology, economy and society.The "three-nong problems,"â‘ as an entirety, are inseparable. Being extremely complicated and uniquely fascinating, the "three-nong problems" are essential in the Chinese revolution and constrution. In order to have a good knowledge of, and to re-examine the uniqueness of, the Chinese culture, thereby, to see the Chinese situations clearly, the "three-nong" conditions ought to be understood first of all. Because the "three-nong problems" are extensive, it is necessary to break the disciplinary obstacles, to take advantage of inter-related studying methods (such as history of science and technology, history of economy, history of environments, history of society, economics, sociology, history, anthropology, hispology, etc.) abundantly and comprehensively by means of crossing and fusing.Boasting comparatively advantageous natural environments, vast territory, rich land resources, complicated and various climate, thriving resources of living beings, Sichuan gave farsants good preconditions to conduct technological, economical and social activities. From the pre-Qin times on, Sichuan agriculture had been going through a long and tortuous way, and on the whole, it was relatively stable. The endowments of natural resources, along with the inheritance of agricultural history, provided the necessary background for the local technology, economy and society, and for the study on all the "three-nong problems "in Sichuan during the Qing dynasty.Population was a very comprehensive and crucial factor. In the social upheavals from the end of Ming dynasty to the beginning of the Qing dynasty, Sichuan population decreased sharply, the remained people about 750 000. The Qing authorities formulated and implemented a series ofpolicies, such as rewarding the officials who had increased a certain number of population in the region, soliciting refugees, encouraging and giving preferential conditions to the migrates who entered Sichuan, and correspondingly, managing and controlling the population. The wave of migrates "Huguang people fill Sichuan" lasted for nearly 200 years. The migrates and refugees from about 20 provinces entering Sichuan mainly via the east, south and north roads, influenced the province's population unprecedentedly. Owing to the population increase, its density enlarged, and per capita land decreased. The intensification of populaion-land relations forced some people move to some neighboring provinces, even led to new upheavals in society.Land, as the most critical base of technology, economy and society, is a hub of the "three-nong problems." To suit to the population policies, the Qing government's policies of land dealt with such aspects as 1) rewarding the local officials who had made a certain quantity of land reclaimed, 2) having some troops and other subjects open up wasteland and grow food grain, 3) offering some materials for the production and living of wasteland reclamation, 4) extending the taxation time, 5) exempting taxes of odd land, 6) guaranteeing the land ownership, 7) limiting the quantity of land occupying and reclaiming, 8) restoring and increasing local organizational systems, and 9) changing the Tibetan regions in Chuanbian from the system of Tusi into that of having some troops and other subjects cultivate, etc. After the putting-down of wars at the beginning of the Qing dynasty, some remained people returned, many migrates entered to reclaim, trying to reconstruct the local society. Owing to serious concealment, and false report, of land, the official statistics of reclaimed land was simply warped. During Yongzheng r...