On The Influence Of Farmers' Leaving Farming For Trade Over The Changes In The Rural Society

Ming-Qing dynasty saw the development of Chinese feudal economy into a new stage with the flourishing of commerce and rising of trade associations. Due to the heavy taxes, the circulation of monetary silver, government policies and physical environment at that time, Chinese fanners, which accounted for the majority of people in the agricultural China, were rushing to leave farming for trade. The present research determines to study on the influence of farmers' such career shifting in Ming-Qing dynasty over the changes of rural society. So far, there have been numerous studies conducted thoroughly on the influences of trade in Ming-Qing dynasty over the changes of society; however, few have concentrated on the influence brought by leaving farming for trade to the changes in the rural society. So based on the findings in the previous studies, the present research analyzes this issue by resorting mainly to historical method and integrating the theories in relevant fields, such as sociology, history of economical ideology and comparative history.The whole dissertation is composed of four parts: introduction, body text, conclusion and references. Body text can be specified as followings:Part I introduces the general situation of farmers' leaving farming for trade in the Hui Zhou, including the background, the scale, the engaged sectors and the sources of capital.Part II discusses the influence of farmers' leaving farming for trade over the changes in the structure of rural society. Such influence can be manifested in three aspects: in the organization of rural society, clan rule became the most prominent; in the power structure of rural society, farmers' prosperity by trading promoted their positions from the unprivileged stratum to the upper one; in the social economic structure, the emigration of native people led to the immigration of people from the surrounding poor areas, which bought to Hui Zhou advantages as well as disadvantages such as slum dwellers.Part III discusses the influence of farmers' leaving farming for trade over the thought and lifestyle in the rural society. The emergence of fresh ideas altered the traditional social rank order -officials, farmers, handicraft workers and traders, and produced such sayings as "superiority of traders over farmers". The traditional peasant idea "hating to leave native land" is converted into "willing to go away from home". The changes in thought also led to changes in the lifestyle to a certain extent, featured by the occurrence of people's extravagant expanses, which was guarded against by a group of people.Part IV discusses the influence of farmers' leaving farming for trade over the peasants' families. Economic resources supporting the households shifted from the incomings in farming to those in trade, which uplifted the household living standard to a certain extent. The housekeeping adult women took the major household burden and their positions rose silently in their families. The affluent traders solidified the feudal ethics in their families further with their earned power materially.Part V discusses the comments from all walks of life on the social phenomenon of the farmers' leaving farm for trade and the influence of such comments over such phenomenon. The upsurge of such a fad of trade since the later half of Ming period, especially the widespread occurrence of farmers' engaging in trade by dropping farming, attracted great social attention and heard the different voices from the society. Among the approval voices, a great many were masked ones made by the ruling class to maintain their reign. Once the development of such a social phenomenon went beyond their permission, the ruling class would take measures to suppress its growth.