Natural Disaster And Social Response In The Middle Of HuaiHe River In The Qing Dynasty

The disasters frequently occurred in the middle reaches of Huaihe,such as flood,drought,loc usts, plague,gale,hail and low temperature and frost, but flood, drought and plague of locusts we re the greatest danger to society.This paper deep analysed the fundamental causes of the disaster, investigated storage project and disaster relief measures of the official and folk.This paper disc ussed the impact of disaster on the middle reaches of Huaihe society.First chapter mainly discussed the ecological and the social environment in the middle rea ches of Huaihe. It researched topography and climate of the middle reaches of Huaihe and cha nges in the middle reaches of Huaihe River. We can see topography and climate of the middle reaches of Huaihe in the Qing Dynasty comparing with the historical period changed little. Ri ver of the middle reaches of Huaihe in the Qing Dynasty comparing with the historical perio d change greatly.First, lake groups emerged in the middle reaches of Huaihe in Qing Dynasty, for example HongZe lake.Second, north branch of Huaihe changed greatly,such as Ru Shui, Yingshang water and Guohe River. The social-economic structures in the middle reaches of H uaihe in the Qing Dynasty changed little. With the development of the business, a number o f city emerged in the middle reaches of Huaihe in the Qing Dynasty,such as Zhoujiakou, Zhe ngyangguan and Zhuxianzhen. At the same time, population increased in the middle reaches o f Huaihe and man land relationship were out-of-balance.So sweet potato and corn were introduc ed and popularized in large area in order to increase the food supply.People began to deforestati on reclamation and occupy ponds for the field. Water, drought, plague of locusts frequently being occurred is caused by many factors among them.The second chapter mainly discussed general situation and causes of flood,drought and loc usts.lt researched the basic situation, spatial and temporal distribution characteristics and major disasters of flood,drought and locusts in the middle reaches of Huaihe in the Qing Dynasty. I t thought flood, drought and locusts in the middle reaches of Huaihe in the Qing Dynasty br ought a major disaster.The causes of disaster was mainly the social factors, especially Yellow ri ver capturing Huaihe river made the large quantity of sediment deposition in the Huaibei plain. Many rivers was silted up into Pinglu, the original water system was destroyed, water flow was not smooth, water, drought and plague of locusts frequently occured.The third chapter mainly discussed building and effect of the ever normal granary,commu nity granary and public granary in the middle reaches of Huaihe in the Qing Dynasty. We ca n see storage project was effective,it played a major role in disaster relief especially in Kangx i and Qianlong period. Some storage facilities still were built and repaired even in the late Qin g Dynasty,some storage food was still playing a role in disaster relief even to the period of th e Republic of China. When the disaster came, Whatever the official or the folk,they actively pa rticipated in disaster relief. Disaster relief way of the folk was flexible, it sometimes played an important role in the official failing to timely rescue conditions.The fourth chapter mainly discussed construction of dikes of the middle reaches of Huaih e including dry tributary levees of the middle reaches of Huaihe, the South Bank of the emba nkment of the Yellow River, the larger tributaries of river dredging and digging of the middle reaches of Huaihe. We can see the dikes were built in key areas, protecting the City dikes w ere also built. In construction of farmland irrigation and water conservancy, the government p aid attention to manage dams, ponds and ditches. Many dams and ponds still played an important role in until today, Such as Quebei of Shouzhou.The fifth chapter mainly discussed effect of water, drought, plague of locusts on society in the middle reaches of Huaihe in the Qing Dynasty. Because of frequent disasters, the massive refugees appeared, they gradually formed a common customs of fleeing from famine.Some of them got desperate, robbed and became thieves. Because of frequent disasters, lack of populat ion and cattle seriously decreased production. In order to reduce the disaster,the government an d the people turned to the Dragon King God and the City God. So building Dragon King Tern ple and Town God’s Temple were very common. And Dragon King Temple and Town God’s Temple have been constantly repaired. It was a strategy of the government and the people ada pting to the environment, resisting disasters and responding to disasters.You can see from the above, because of the double effects of natural factors and social fact ors, water, drought, plague of locusts frequently occurred. In order to cope with the disaster, wa rehouse kept a large amount of food. In order to reduce the disaster, dry tributary of the middl e reaches of Huaihe built dikes, The influence of flow smoothly discharged Rivers were constant ly dredged.In order to improve the ability of flood control, the government strengthened governa nce and management of drought resistance, dams, ponds and ditches. Frequent water, drought, loc ust plague increased instability in the region society,the Nien rebellion broke out. Disasters incre ased social poverty region, hindered the agricultural development in this area and bred the Drag on King God, Chenghuangbelief.So influence of water, drought, locust plague of the middle rea ches of Huaihe in the Qing Dynasty to society is comprehensive and profound.