The Relationship Between Water Conservancy And Social Change In Hongtong Since Ming And Qing Dynasty

During these years, it is a popular topic to study the relationship between water conservancy and social problems. In the past, many researches give the topic higher academic starting point —exploration on the relationship between water conservancy and politics in Wei Tefu's water control theory, research on the relationship between water conservancy and economic and political change mentioned in Ji Chaoding's basic economic region concepts, some agricultural history experts' study on the relationship between water conservancy and agricultural development in terms of agricultural technology, and study on the relationship between water conservancy and country and grassroots organizations of villages mentioned by some Japanese experts of Chinese water conservancy history in controversy about water conservancy community. On the basis of these studies, as regards exploring the mutual relationship between population, resources and environment, the writer wants to sum up and analyze the status and effects of water conservancy in regional society developing process, thus explores the historical change's intrinsic logic of regional society, from the whole history of regional society. Specificly, in the paper, regarding the history of water conservancy exploitation in Hongtong County in the south of Shanxi Province —origination of the legend of the Big Pagoda Tree Migration— as a breakthrough, according to the different classifications of water sources, the writer respectively explores three different irrigation forms— igniting spring, igniting river and igniting flood, and the corresponding village society. The research shows that three different kinds of irrigation respectively produce three types of communities. The differences are mainly the level of economic flourishment, the level of cultural development, the types of religional belief and the patterns of center and fringe, and centerpiece and dependency. The writer thinks three kinds of water forms — spring, river and flood — are manifested incisive and vivid, and can be called the typical model of water conservancy development on loess plateau. Water is the lifeblood of traditional agricultural society. In northern dry areas, in the process of historical change of village society, whether water conservancy exists and whether it is advanced are directly related with the general situation of development and change of regional society. Therefore, the writer proposes a developing and changing model of regional society which puts water at the center.