Social And Economic Study On Huizhou Mountain Forestry In Ming And Qing Dynasties

During Ming and Qing Dynasties,due to the shortage of cultivable land and grain,mountainous Huizhou depended on hilly land to plant trees and tea to earn a living.Huizhou mountain forestry products such as wood and tea were important to the survival and the development of both Huizhou common people and Huizhou merchants.This article pays main attention to the following subjects:Huizhou mountain forestry products and their economic value, social and economic relations established in the sale,tenancy and disputes of Huizhou hilly land, regional social psychology,culture,folklore and the spiritual and cultural life influenced by Huizhou mountainous environment,etc.The introduction of the article is mainly about the origin of this subject,the academic history about Huizhou mountain forestry and the research methods and framework of this article.Several important concepts closely related to the subject of this article are also explained in this part.The text contains five chapters.Chapter1dicusses the economic value of Huizhou mountain forestry products and their role in Huizhou living and Huizhou commodity economy.This chapter also simply introduces the utilization of Huizhou mountain forestry products besides wood and tea.Chapter2is about the management and utilization of Huizhou hilly land,which was important properties of Huizhou people.In the management and utilization of Huizhou hilly land,a large number of Huizhou forestry documents were made out about the sale,tenancy and disputes related to Huizhou hilly land and its utilization,which were valuable archives to interpret the social and economic status in Huizhou mountain forestry.The second section of this chapter takes Cheng clan in Shanhe,Qimen as an example to analyze how Huizhou clans managed their hilly lands for forestry purposes.Chapter3is a study of Huizhou mountain forestry disputes and their mediation.The first section of the chapter describes four main kinds of disputes about Huizhou mountain forestry,including disputes in the management and sale of hilly land,disputes about grave Fengshui,disputes about hilly land boundaries and disputes between Huizhou natives and outcomers.The second section first analyzes two ways of dispute settlement,then discusses the influences of mountain life upon belief about legal actions of Huizhou people.Chapter4probes into Huizhou folk customs and beliefs formed in economic and social activities in mountain forestry.Folk customs and beliefs about Huizhou forestry and tea, Huizhou Fengshui,plants and animals in Huizhou mountain area are seperately described.Chapter5discusses the spiritual and cultural life of Huizhou people and its correlation with Huizhou mountainous environment mainly from the following aspects:Huizhou garden,architecture,literature and art.The last part of the article draws three conclusions based on the above chapters.First,mountain forestry,composed mainly of wood and tea products,played an important role in the production and daily life of Huizhou people during Ming and Qing Dynasties.Second,Huizhou mountain forestry in Ming and Qing Dynasties showed characteristics such as the relation between forestry and business was increasingly close,forestry returns occupied an important position in Huizhou clan properties,and the outflow of labour from Huizhou had done certain harm to the management of Huizhou mountain forestry.Third,the regional society and culture in Huizhou presented strong cultural features of mountain society.