Research On Agricultural Development And Livelihood Of ShanDong Province In Qing Dynasty

Shandong Province is located in the lower reaches of the yellow river in eastern North China plain. The main physiognomy of shangdong Province is plain,in western of Shandong Province The Canal running from north to south. Yellow Sea is in it's southeast.Northeast Bohai Sea is in it's northeast.There were many rivers and abundant water that were good for irrigation and circulation of agricultural products.Most of the region was influnced by the North Temperate monsoon climate.It was warm when rainning.It provided good natural conditions for the agriculture.In the Qing Dynasty, the development of Shandong agricultural was shown in the type of farmland firstly. The development of reclamation was divided into three stages:about seven or eight years from Shunzhi to the late of Kangxi, the type of reclamation was main of restoration of cultivated. To protect the reclamation to proceed smoothly, the government admitted the ownership of reclamation land and provide farm cattle and tools.Because the landlord class occupied large amounts of materials,it got a satisfactory results and promoted the reclamation of wasteland. From Yongzheng period to Daoguang period,the fertile land has been largely exhausted. People started to pay attention to small and barren fields, as hills, beach and shoals.During Yongzheng period, the rulers paid their attention on the benefit part of reclamation and ignored the negative aspects.They were too anxious to succe-ed.During Qianlong period,the rulers learned the lessons.By dredging rivers,and building large-scale irrigation facilities, many wasted land were changed into farm land.During Jiaqing period and Daoguang period,many outside crops as ipomoea, peanuts, corn were planted in wasteland, mountains, hills and other poor land. That expansion the planting area and expanded the planting space. From Daoguang period to the end of Qing Dynasty, the government was faced with external aggression and natural disasters.The reclamation developed slowly. The reclamation was related to the number of the population (or the number of labor force).From the early years of Qing Dynasty to early years of Qianlong period, the increasing population of Shandong met the demand for labor in agriculture which played an active role in the reclamation.At the same time, the contradiction between man and land was becoming increasingly serious especially in the Qianlong period. The growth rate of land area couldn't meet the growth rate of population, labor force was gradually from shortage to saturation.With the growth of population,the per capita arable land became less and less. It was difficult to feed so many people. Farmers managed to achieve the optimal allocation of land. They developed the system of in planting wheat and beans.Three crops of two years system began in the late of Ming Dynasty and early of Qing Dynasty. But at that time it was not mature yet. With the population growth in Shandong, the system became maturity. In addition, the crops mixed planting played an important role. Wheat and bean was planted in the Three crops of two years system. The core of the system was to plant winter wheat.At the same time,the increasing ratial of soybean and sorghum made the planting structure more reasonable.The mature of three crops of two years system improved the multiple crop index and increasing the grain yield per mu in Shandong Province in the mid-Qing Dynasty.It not only feed more people but also expanded the area of economic crop planting. The most prominent case was the Cotton industry. To the mid-Qing Dynasty there were three major cotton producing areas in Shandong province. More than 90 counties to plant Cotton's.The tobacco industry, oil crops, fruit trees and even vegetables cultivation were also developed greatly which enhanced the degree of agricultural commercialization.In Possible conditions that the socio-economic provide,grain growers and farmers maximized their benefits in growing suitable crops according to local conditions of the land. In addition, cotton textile industry, weaving industry, fur processing industry in household had also been considerable development. Agricultural and sideline combined became the main mode of economic development in the family. During Qing Dynasty the structure of Agricultural production and the family production adjusted and optimized continuously.The mode of three crops of two years system and agricultural combination with sideline increased the income of farmers and made a good use of labor resources and land resouce.