A Research Into The Irrigation Works Of Yunnan In Ming Dynasty(1382-1625)

In Ming Dynasty,massive ethnic Hanimmigrated into Yunnan and subsequent garrison had triggered a series of social transformations in Yunnan.Comparing with that of the previous dynasty Yunnan's irrigation works had made great development under the action of steady growth of arable lands and technological progress.The development of water conservancy construction directly support the development of agriculture of Ming Dynasty,thus promoting the economic and social development of Yunnan and promoting social stability and the consolidation of Ming dynasty in the southwest border.Therefore,depth research to water conservancy system in Ming Dynastywill help expand and deepen the research to Borderland History and Geography of Southwest China and Yunnan local history.At present,research to Chinese history of Water Conservancy has transformed from "hydraulic society" research to "water community" study.Research results of Water Conservancy history in Yunnan are rare andlittle social history of water conservancy research results came out.From an overview of the existing researches into Yunnan's irrigation works,we find:the researches that cover the whole area of Yunnan,mostly focus on the early period of Ming Dynasty and narrate too roughly;the researches that span the whole period of Ming Dynasty,are mostly confined to the Dian-Lake strip and far from complete;the researches that aim more at how agricultural advances had upgraded irrigation works,pay less attention to the role that irrigation works construction had played in bolstering agriculture;and the researches that,for the most part,examine the differences of Ming Dynasty's irrigation works construction from that of the previous dynasty,hardly touch upon the variations of irrigation works in stages of Ming Dynasty.The dissertation,based on previous researches and referring to four versions of Chronicle of Yunnan Province,clarifies and researches the irrigation works of Yunnan in four stages of Ming Dynasty,in a bid to reveal as much as possible the alterations and advances of Yunnan's irrigation works in Ming Dynasty and the reasons.The first part briefly reviews the history of irrigation works construction and the researches of irrigation works in Yunnan.From the second part to the fifth part,with an overall combing of Yunnan's irrigation works in four stages,the focus is on the characteristics of irrigation works construction in different stages.The analysis shows Yunnan's irrigation works construction in Ming Dynasty was different from all the rest of the dynasty,but it gradually synchronized with the whole country as the Ming's rule went deep in Yunnan.The sixth part discusses the cause and effect of the rise of Yunnan's irrigation works construction in Ming Dynasty on the one hand,and deals with the disputes over Yunnan's irrigation works on the other.With large numbers of ethic Hanimmigrants swarming into Yunnan in Ming Dynasty,vast arable lands had been freshly opened up and had thus boosted the construction of farming irrigation works.Reversely,a large scale of irrigation works construction had effectively supported the development of farm production.Meanwhile,some new changes and problems had arisen centering on irrigation of fields,primarily the repeated disputes over irrigation works that appeared all the more complex.Although Yunnan's irrigation works construction in Ming Dynasty had made big strides,there still appeared a lack of intensity of endeavor.