Hunan Peasants’ Living Circumstances In Daoguang Period

Hunan Province is located in the central of Southern China. It’s adjacent to the Hubei,Jiangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan, more connected with landscape of Guangdong and Guangxi, a multilateral transition zone. Hunan Province, since the ancient times, is dominated by agriculture. But in the late Daoguang Dynasty, under the influence of a double whammy that the problems we faced home and abroad and the national general economic recession, Hunan rural economy was a depression. Peasants’ living deteriorated sharply, growing into bankruptcy. Various contradictions sharpened, per capita occupancy of cultivated land has fallen sharply, land problem and food problem more outstanding, peasants’ burden growing and more unstable social order stabilized.In order to solve these problems, the local people and Hun Government took a series of coping measures. Because of Hunan’s special geographical position, all problems and solutions may be involved in surrounding provinces. The thesis of Paper studys the performance of Hunan peasants’ living circumstances in the Daoguang Dynasty, in order to gain historical experience and lessons to today’s peasant problem.