Theory Commercialization Of Cotton Development In Henan Ming And Qing Dynasties

China has a long history of cultivation of cotton, which could be dated back as early as to the Han Dynasty two thousand years ago. Although there were many recordations about cotton in the history books about every Dynasty, the cotton planting industry was truly developed in our countryin until the Song Dynasty, especially after the Southern Song Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, especially in the late period of the this Dynasty, cotton cultivation has spread throughout China. It continued to develop in the Qing Dynasty. Allong with the development of the handicraft industry, the cotton industry began to be specialized. However, by the end of the Qing, the government’s corruption and weakness and the invasions of the foreign powers caused the rapid decline of the cotton industry. Throughout the entire history of the development of the cotton industry, the periods of Ming-Qing Dynasties were its peak time.During the Ming-Qing Dynasties, cotton indusrty developed rapidly into an important cash crop, which was planted throughtout our country, making a great comtribution to the agricultual econimy in this time. At the same time, the cotton industry also began to develope in Henan. From the time of being introduced into china at the turn of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties to the turn of the Ming-Qing Dynasties, cotton had been widely planted throughout the Henan region. At the same time the textile industry also began to develope. Throughout the history of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the cotton industy occupied an important place in China, making a great contribution to the economic development of the Ming-Qing Dynasties.This dissertation will study the development of the commercialization of cotton industry in Henan during the Ming-Qing Dynasties. During this period the cotton planting was lagging behind, but its development was very rapid. Motivated by various factors, more and more cotton-planting farmers had access into the cotton market network, commercializing the production of the cotton. Investigating the reasons of its development could help us gain a deeper understanding of the pattern of the Ming-Qing agricultural economy. Based on the research achievements and the historical datas related, This dissertation will make a study comprehensively about the development of the commercialization of the cotton industry in Henan during the Ming-Qing Dynasties from the perspective of the agricultural and economic history.The dissertation will expound in the first chapter the general development situations of the cotton industry in the He Nan province before and during the Ming-Qing periods. These situations include the cotton-planting, geographical distribution and the development of the major cotton producing areas.This chapter would come to the conclusion that the development of the cotton industry in He Nan during this period had experienced a situation of growing from less to more and from none to presence. The second chapter will illustrate the backgrounds of the commercialized production of the cotton from these aspects bellow: the implement of the policy of wasteland restoration, the implement of system of the taxes and corvee, irrigation works and the increase of the populations and the cultivated lands. And the current situations of the cotton production will also be examined from these aspects--the expansion of the acreage of the cotton-planting, the improvement of the quality of the cotton, the increase of the cotton species, the emergence of cotton traders, the improvement of the productivity and the increase in the price of cotton and the cotton cloth. This chapter will also explore the reasons and the affections of the commercialization of the cotton industry in He Nan during Ming-Qing periods and will come to the conclusion that the commercialization not only impacted the economic structure in the countryside of He Nan and the people’s daily life but also influenced the agricultural economy in Ming-Qing periods. Lastly, this dissertation will make a comparison of the commercialization of the cotton industry between He Nan and the Jiangnan Region during Ming-Qing periods and conclude that the development of the cotton industry in He Nan reached its peak during this periods. However, compared with Jiangnan Region, the cotton industry’s development in He Nan was still constrained by the natural economy. The majority of the cotton planters and producers just satisfied their needs of life and production in their own economic units, resulting the domestic markets very small. Because the transportation was not so developed and the foreign trades were restricted, the scales and the extent of the commercialization of the cotton industry was still small and low,though the cotton planting was fairly common during that time. So the cotton industry lacked its motivation to develop further.The last part of this dissertation will summarize the developments of the commercialization of the cotton industry during Ming-Qing periods and its historical status and roles, in the hope of giving a mirror to the commercialization of the cotton industry today.