On The Introduction And Influence Of American Native Crops On Chinese Society

Ever since the 16th century, about 30 kinds of edible American plants have been introduced to our country, among which the spread of corns, sweet potatoes, potatoes, pepper, tobacco and the like, especially, has a far-reaching influence. The author thus terms this historic period as "Flows of American Crops into China". From the perspective of diet and diet communication history home and abroad, this paper analyses the literatures on all manner of introductive renamed varieties, introducing time and channels, spread and distributions based on critical conclusions of the past studies and comprehensive reflections on the literatures of American native crops, laying an emphasis on the introduction of American native crops and their impacts on Chinese society, diet life, diet constitution, population growth, ecological environment, agricultural production and other relevant aspects. Meanwhile, profound studies on field work and its influences on introductive routes and distributions are also involved in this paper. It is believed in the paper the situation that crops are not always available for the masses is an ever-lasting fundamental reality of our country. The flows of American native crops and population growth in China have been considered as a relationship between cause and effect:the spread of the former leads to the latter and consequently leads to wasteland cultivation and environmental disruption, which is closely related to the temporal system of government and national conditions of the day. The people have to survive and the government has to stay stable, both of which have caused the society to sacrifice the benefit in the long run for that in the short run, regardless the sustainable development as a whole. As a durative historic event, "Flows of American Crops into China" brings Chinese society tremendous impacts in history, which can be reduced to positive and negative aspects. The positive side is that it enriches Chinese diet production and life with varieties of crops species, thus changing the traditional diet production and constitution, improving the masses'food and drink, enlarging people's horizons and nourishing their souls. The crop itself is not to be blamed for its negative side, which is actually the consequence of the governmental system, national conditions and cultural mechanism, so that we should suit our measures to differing conditions in terms of persons and locality involved. On one hand, growable and highly-yield crops bring a delightful increase in total production, and on the other hand, it consequently causes overpopulation—burdening pressure and reclaiming wastelands—widespread damage of ecology and frequent occurrences of disasters—server starvations, deepening mental crisis among Chinese survivals. The increase of total production of grains neither lessens the malady of starvation, nor the incompatible conflict between population and land, on the contrary, the flows of American crops cause more famine victims and more serious ecological damage in China, which has severely pervaded every aspect although Qing dynasty. After the mid 17th century, span of disastrous famines is shortened, extend deepened, and damage worsened, which is fundamentally rooted in the increasingly acute contradictions between population and land; involved in which, more and more Chinese are distressed by the dining problem, destroyed and distorted by the everlasting, heavy and widespread survival pressures on their mental health and even soul. The anguished people live generation by generation on the basic needs of being stuffed whereas they are also liable to fall in depression and lose confidence, and thus are deprived of dream and fantasy. Chinese traditional herbal and agricultural studies apparently differ from others in view of conception and perspective on new species; therefore, there exists an unbalance in the evaluation of national grain constitution made by Song Yingxig at the end of Ming dynasty. It is pointed at the same time that the root of the preference to hotness is due to the rough and poverty-stricken diet life, so it is partial to attribute it simply to geological circumstance and cultural maintenance. The influence of the introduction of pepper on Chinese dining, taste and psychology of ethnic groups differs from that of corns, sweet potatoes, potatoes and other starchy crops as satisfactions of hunger in its comprehensiveness and its role of a necessity in Chinese people's lives rather than a must as a seasoning in life. As the tobacco is concerned, the paper also points out that the addiction to tobacco and its quick widespread have not only occupied a large amount of fertile farmland but also functioned as a trigger of using opium. Smoking cigarettes and using opium are actually relevant in behavioral habit.