Study On Water Conservancy And Work Relief In The Period Of National Government (1927-1949)

Work-relief, i.e. working for the dole, is an ancient way of social relief. There are various ways of work-relief, the most common of which is water conservancy work relief. That is to build water conservancy through work-relief. It can not only help the victims, but also benefit for the post-disaster reconstruction. Water conservancy work relief has a long history with the characteristics of diversity, coordination, adaptability and so on. It combines water projects and victims relief effectively and is valued and used by successive dynasties.The period of National Government, i.e.1927-1949, is a special historical period in China. During these years, there are frequently natural disaster and wars and people live in poverty. To preserve its own rule, the National Government used the method of water conservancy work relief to rescue victims on many occasions. The National Government developed a set of relatively perfect process of water conservancy work relief on the basis of summarizing predecessors and their own actual situation. The process is divided into three parts, namely the preparation phase, the implementation phase and the completion inspection phase. The preparation phase is composed of establishing institutions, raising funds and recruiting victims. The implementation phase can be further divided into three programs, i.e. compiling a list of victims, implementing projects and managing workers. The completion inspection phase includes inspecting the project quality and the workers’wages in order to ensure the water conservancy work relief is accomplished successfully.Although the National Government has only existed for twenty-three years, these years can be split into three periods due to its special age. They are ten years’ golden-development period from 1927 to 1936, anti-Japanese period from 1937 to 1945 and the war of Liberation from 1946 to 1949. In different historical period, social status is not the same and the international and domestic situations they faced are disparate, which have influence on the National Government’s water conservancy work relief. From 1927 to 1936, because of frequent flood and drought disasters, flood protection is put in the first place. Also, the project is huge and the number is large. Yet they lack safe construction environment and funds and institution is large and multiple. Its results are not satisfied. During the anti-Japanese war period, half of China has been occupied. Due to the need of war, to ensure the food supply, water conservancy work relief in this period is mainly to construct farmland water conservancy. But the scale is small and the "water instead of soldiers" policy involves fewer. After the victory of Anti-Japanese War, Chinese started with vigorous post-war reconstruction and water conservancy became the top priority. The National Government established the CNRRA to plan as a whole. As well as the assistance of the international community, the implementation environment of water conservancy is in good condition. But the political conflicts make all achievement to come to naught.Although the rule of the Nation Government is short, the experience and lessons of water conservancy work relief is revealing.