Famine Relief In Henan In Late Ming Dynasty (1573-1644)

In ancient China, famine and its social harm had always been a serious social problem. The governments and the populace had participated in the famine relief in various degrees, attempting to relieve the harm furthest.The state of Henan was a special district, important in its geographical location on accout of its nearness to the ruling centre of Ming Dynasty. Since the late period of Ming Dynasty, it had been among the districts where Famine was most severe. The frequent occurences of natural disasters were most influential in the bad sense to the society, robbery and wandering flooded, peasants revolted continually. All these had formed a great threat to the social order, and furthermore, to the reigning interests of Ming Dynasty and the life and production of the commons. The harm of famine rest with the intensity and frequency of natural disaster itself, and more with the relieving ability of the society.Being confronted with the severe famine in Henan in late Ming Dynasty, both the central and local governments and the populace acted in correspondence and drew up countermeasures. All of them were the basic forces in famine relief in Henan, imposing their own respective influences. Under the social conditions at that time, governments were predominant in the famine relief, and the populace had to act under the leadership of and in concert with the governments. Both influenced each other virtually, the relieving efforts of each of both would avail the other and the famine relief in general.Inevitably famine relif would involve the social problem in various aspects and levels. The synthesis of political, economic, and the other factors decided the relieving effect. In the famine relief in Henan, a series of measures and actions of the governments and populace had relieved the harm famine had imposed to some extent, and reduced the mortality resulted by wandering. Social production could go on wheels to some extent, and social order remained comparatively steady. The famine relief of the governments and populace in Henan had procured certain effects.Meanwhile, influenced by a series of factors, the famine relief of the governments and populace was quite limited. Inefficiency and missteps shrunk the effect of famine relief, and resulted in a series of serious social problems. The occurences of famine in Henan in late Ming Dynasty were due more to the inefficiency and missteps of governmental relieving, than to pure climatic factor. Human defects aggravated natural calamities.