Relationship Between Economic Development And Environmental Changes Of The East Erdos Plateau In Qing Dynasty

In recent years, Erdos plateau has become the focus of academic studies on the ancient global changes, the environmental changes and the changes of farming and animal husbandry because of its special geographical position. However, by reviewing the achievements of each period, it is found that some researchers focused on the course of environmental development on the Erdos plateau and some others proceed with cultivation, but there is little research that study on the regional economic development and environmental changes of Erdos as a whole. Meanwhile, for the definitions of yardstick on the space-time of the research object, many definitions regard Erdos plateau in a whole historical period as subjects, and even more concentrate on the dark sand plain. So the author of the present study think it is essential to conduct study on the district of each period of time. This study focuses on the whole course of development in the east Erdos plateau in Qing Dynasty and the environmental problems that might bring in this course with the aims in investigating the relations between the human economic activities and environmental changes and to what extent they are related.With the major policies on the Mongolia area from the very beginning of Qing Dynasty, this study has probed into the development state of the economy society in the east Erdos plateau under these policies, analyzed the adjustment course of the economic structure and overall arrangement in this area, and the environmental issues caused by economic restructuring and their urging factors, the major findings are as follows:First, it is not the original idea of Qing Dynasty to adjust the economic structure of the east Erdos plateau and even the whole area of Mongolia of Qing Dynasty, but the inherent law of economic development of the human society and the urgent need of economic and cultural exchanges between Han and Mongolia nationalities' that promoted the adjustment. This was the basic reason that Qing Dynasty' prohibition cannot work to the end.Second, in the 36th year of Kangxi (1679), the leader of Ih Ju League alliance proposed to Kangxi that Han and Mongolia nationalities should cultivate land togetherwithin "the black circle ground", which was the first sign of the great agricultural development and economic restructuring in the east Erdos plateau. As for the opening to the Mongolia area, Qing Dynasty was forced to make the decisions to open this area under pressures in many occasions. In the early stage of Qing Dynasty and quite a long period following, it was mainly under the pressure of such reasons as the famine due to crop failures, chaos caused by war and population pressure of the hinterland that forced Qing Dynasty to make short-term plans to open the Mongolia area, so the emigration of the inland Han people usually took the form of "leaving in spring and returning in autumn". With the decline of Qing Dynasty's power, especially the difficulties at home and abroad confronting Qing Dynasty since modern times forced Qing Dynasty to cultivate Mongolia area in an all-round way in order to solve financial difficulty and huge war reparation. In fact, it was a blind act that a kind of acute disease seeks medical advice arbitrarily. The adjustment of the economic structure under this background also demonstrated a kind of abnormal state in which agriculture expanded rapidly, the living space of the animal husbandry was pushed and rapidly declined to desolation.Third, due to the implementation of the comparatively strict policy of closing in the early stage of Qing Dynasty, animal husbandry economy had recovered and developed in a certain degree, and the ecological environment in the east Erdos plateau demonstrated the trend of benign cycle for a time. But the relatively unitary economic structure was equally unreasonable and extremely fragile, and pastoral economy needed agriculture and other economic departments to supplement properly. This was the inherent reason that agriculture and trade and business in Mongolia area and in east Erdos plateau developed a lot under prohibition. Thereafter the fast expansion of agriculture and other human economic development activities have upset the natural order of this natural environment in this area. In the following, a series of such environmental questions as desertification of land, soil erosion and salinization of soil, etc. were shown out. Human's unreasonable economic activities, extensive management and exploitage like plunder were the main factors that resulted in the environmental issues in the east Erdos plateau. But the gradual decline of animal husbandry in Qing Dynasty had little impact on the local ecological environment.Fourth, mankind's development activities in Qing Dynasty led to the desertification of land in the east Erdos plateau and aggravated the destruction to the natural resources and ecological environment in this area to a certain extent, which made the originally...