The Study On The Introduction Of Sweet Potato Into China During Ming And Qing Dynasties

There were many times of the introduction of crops in the history of china, But the introduction of economy crop and food crops from America in the Ming dynasty was the larger scale ,and the influence was more extensive and far-reaching, especially the introduction of sweet potato,and the influence to the agricultural production, population, environment, social economy, diet structure and many other aspects during Ming and Qing dynasties was far-reaching, it deserves a revolution in the history of China's grain production,this article will discuss the history of the introduction of sweet potato from the following four aspects .In the first chapter ,the article introduces the two views about the origin of sweet potato, this article adopts the view of the majority,believe that sweet potato is American crop,which has a different origin with the"sweet potato"of China.Then it introduces the background and approach about the introduction of sweet potato,The introduction of sweet potato has a profound historical background, the land annexation and refugees during Ming dynasty became more and more serious,coupled with the frequent natural disasters, people's life had became increasingly difficult, in desperate need of a crop which can grow in barren land , high-yield, and has strong ability to withstand disasters, to meet people's survival and development needs. In this historical background, sweet potato was introduced into China through many ways with the increasing development of foreign trade ,In addition, this chapter also introduces the ways of how sweet potato was introduced into china.The second part of the article is the wide spread and distribution of sweet potato in China,sweet potato spread quickly after coming into China, especially during the Qing dynasty, it spread faster and wider, and the spread had vivid time and regional characteristics. There were many reasons for the wide spread of sweet potato, but mainly because of the advantages of sweet potato,and it got positive supports from the government and personages of other circles.The third part analyzed the influence to Ming and Qing dynasty after the introduction of sweet potato from two aspects,the introduction of sweet potato promoted the development of wasteland, increased the quantity of cultivated land, eased food pressure. The population leaped in the early Qing dynasty, the grain crop structure and food structure of China were changed, the independence of small-scale peasant was also raised further, and to a certain extent, the introduction of sweet potato also promoted the development of the agricultural commercialization. But it also produced negative impacts on the mountain industrial structure,and the ecological environment of the mountain area was destroyed too.Finally the article introduces the extensive use of sweet potato in modern times .now sweet potato is more than a grain crops,but also an economic crops, it is made into various food, people's diet becomes even plentiful. Sweet potato can also be further processed, and becomes an important industry material. what is worth noting is that people continue discovering the new medical value of sweet potato,the use of sweet potato extend to the field of aviation and energy , it makes sweet potato has a more broad development prospects.Sweet potato has a far-reaching influence on many aspects of our country,It left us deep revelation,on the one hand, we should introduce new things actively to serve China's economic and social development, on the other hand, we should recognize that there are always two sides to everything, in the use of process,we must take an objective look at the negative influence of the new things, develop the strong points,avoid the weaknesses,we must rip the evil in the bud.