A Study On The Consumption Changes Of Agricultural Production And Living Materials In Peasents’ Family During The Periods Of Tang And Song Dynasties

The means of agricultural production and living consumption in peasants’ family,is an unavoidable issue in the field of Tang and Song dynasties’ social economy, and is also the symbol of social commodity economy development level. Peasant’s consumption reflects the advance of commodity economy.This article is based on the Dunhuang and Tulufan unearthed documents, archaeological materials and traditional literature, studies the consumption of Tang and Song dynasties’ rural families,tries to explore its source, analyses the law of peasant consumption transformation as well as the features in Tang dynasty and Song dynasty,outlines the general picture of the two historical stages of peasant consumption, to reflect the impact of the reform of Tang and Song dynasties on rural community. The thesis includes five chapters, belonging to two parts.On one hand, it introduces consumption of production and living material, The production material includes tools,fertilizer and irrigation,etc.Living material consists of clothing, shelter,and food.It is necessary to have them to be survive.If these needs are met, most peasants could have religion,education,health care and other developmental items. In life’s key season,it is important to spend a lot on funeral and wedding.On the other hand,we have a deeper discussion about the consumption of Tang and Song dynasties’ rural families. First it focuses on analysis of consumption level of peasants’ family in Tang and Song dynasties, concludes that the consumption level of most peasants’ in the Tang dynasty and Song dynasty was not high, food is major expenditure item,the consumption structure is unbalanced as well.Second, comparing the consumption level of different classes of peasants, different time and regions of Tang and Song dynasties,it displays the consumption differences,the upper classes of peasants preferred to enjoy the luxurious and excessive expenditure,with the proportion of spiritual and social consumption increasing steadily;while the shortage of peasants’ consumption was common, who were always struggling to survive. In the early Tang and Song dynasties, consumption level of peasants was low,advocating thrift. In the late Tang and Song dynasties,the consumption level of peasants was improved,with luxury fashion spreading to the rural area.The changes of consumption had important impacts on economy and culture.It promoted the shift of the management mode of peasant family from a single model of the planting industry to the combination of agriculture and small business; at the same time, it leads to the formation of rural consumption market and consumption culture. Peasants are the majority in the social structure, their production and living consumption could reflect the social presence during that time.