Research On Natural Disasters And Coping Strategies In The Taihu Lake Basin In The Republic Of China (1912-1937)

China has been prone to natural disaster since the ancient times.Natural disasters happened frequently during the period of the Republic of China,especially the Taihu Basin,which is abundant in natural resources and well-developed in its economy.Therefore,it is of paramount importance to research the natural disasters in such typical areas and find strategies to prevent and solve these problems.During the period of the Republic of China,various natural disasters such as flood,drought and plague of insects etc.took place frequently in Taihu Basin,resulting in damages to the economic development and social stability on different levels.The government of the Republic of China set up institutions,implemented legislations,made coping strategies on series of disasters,including emergency relief,work relief and agricultural relief etc.and took different measures according to the specific circumstances of disasters.Due to various factors such as politics and wars etc.,the coping strategies of the government of the Republic of China gradually lost its actual influence.In addition to the governmental response,the rise of the non-governmental relief revealed the irreplaceable role played by the social organizations and powers.Therefore,from the case of Taihu Basin during the period of the Republic of China,it is easy to figure out that the modern frame of controlling and preventing natural disasters through the cooperation among the government and social powers already took shape at that time.This paper comprehensively introduces the general situation of the disasters in Taihu Basin during the period of the Republic of China and combs the coping strategies and relief methods of the government and social powers and analyzes the interrelationship between disasters and other political,economic and social factors.The study of the Taihu Basin and its coping strategies on natural disasters during the period of the Republic of China,will provide historical enlightenment for the social powers(mainly the non-profit organizations)in our countries to approach the problems of natural disasters and social threats and gives some new ideas to construct the modern relief work.