A Comparative Study On Locust Plagues In Tang And Song Dynasties

As one of the three biggest natural disasters of the agricultural society of feudal times, locust plague is different from inundation and droughts. It’s a kind of biohazard characterized with high speed, great destructiveness and high mobility. Once occurred, it’s hard to resist. But if proper measures are taken beforehand, locust plague can be effectively controlled, and even the horrifying phenomenon of "flying over nibbling up thousands of miles, left no crops but deserted land" can be avoid, too.Based on the observation and perception on locusts of people in Tang and Song dynasties, this paper discusses the distribution change of locust plague in Tang and Song dynasties. On this basis, the paper further analyzes observations on the locusts’ life history of Tang and Song dynasties’people, changes of cognition on causes of the locust plague, and locust control measures in the present and changes of problems it caused.First of all, the distributions of locust plague in Tang and Song dynasties are explained. Besides the comparison of overall distribution, the paper respectively discusses the occurrences and distributions of locust plague in the north and south part of Tang and Song dynasties, thus to observe changes in locust occurring areas. Secondly, on the basis of explanation of Tang and Song dynasties people’s observation and cognition on the locusts’life history, the paper investigates their cognition and changes on causes of locust plague. Finally, in order to get a comprehensive observation of Tang and Song dynasties people’s changes in dealing with locusts, this paper compares Tang and Song dynasties people’s changes in dealing with locusts including both positive countermeasures and negative countermeasures.In general, through discussions of the above three parts, an intuitionistic introduction of distribution changes of Tang and Song dynasties" locust plague is made, particularly the changes in Tang and Song dynasties people’s cognition and countermeasures of causes of locust plague. People in Song dynasty made more profound and comprehensive observations on locusts’life history. Their cognition of locust plague was more and more scientific. Locust records are no longer taboos, personal collected works, epitaph and official biographies began to appear and increase. Although Yao Chong, who lived in kaiyuan period of Tang dynasty, received no strong continuity of his management of locusts, the cognition of removing disasters gradually got its popularity. Catching locusts was then a normal thing in Tang dynasty, and even a system of was formed. With the progress of catching locusts, Song central government’s ways of removing disasters were more complete and formed a system. Meanwhile, the civil belief, which extended out of civil ways of removing disasters, showed its humanization, historicization, secularization, localization and functionalization. Just like the interaction between ghosts and human beings, the God was no longer reachless. Both areas and people’s recognitions in Tang and Song dynasties’locust plague have undergone significant changes.