Preliminary Study On The Agricultural Development Of ZuLi River Basin In Qing Dynasty

As an earlier development area in history, Zuli River Basin is located in the westof loess plateau and central of Gansu province. This article takes the developmentprocess of agriculture in Zuli River Basin in Qing Dynasty as study object. It analyzesand summarizes the lessons from agricultural development and systematically veiledhistorical conditions for agricultural development of this area in history in QingDynasty. It provides experience for today’s agricultural development and sustainabledevelopment in society and economy.Firstly,this article mainly states the reason and significance of the topic,academichistory review,research methods, research level and innovation and mainly introducedthe natural conditions and cultural background of agricultural development in ZuliRiver Basin in Qing Dynasty.Secondly,according to the existing literature, the author estimates population andlabour resources of Huining County, Jingyuan Wei (Jingyuan County),Anding County(Dingxi County) in Zuli River Basin in Qing Dynasty. The author found that the trendof population change in Zuli River Basin in Qing Dynasty is similar with the situationof Gansu Province population at that time. In addition, through the analysis of thepopulation distribution, then the author thought that Guanchuan River Basinagricultural development level was higher than that the main domain of Zuli River.This article also discusses agricultural technologies of Zuli River Basin in QingDynasty. The author found that a selection of agricultural technology had an importanteffect on the natural environment and the accumulation of the experience. The naturalenvironment determined the choice of what kind of agricultural technology.Experience accumulation of this kind of agricultural technology constantly wasimproved.Thirdly, the author analyzes agricultural development achievements and naturalrestrictive factors of Zuli River basin in Qing Dynasty.The author found thatcultivated area of Jingyuan Wei (Jingyuan County) was the largest area amongHuining,Jingyuan Wei (Jingyuan County) andAnding in Qing Dynasty. Yet to the period of the Republic of China, Huining and Dingxi County’s cultivated areasurpassed Jingyuan County’s. About output, the output of Anding County was morehigher than Huining County’s in Daoguang period. As for crop species, it was same inthese three counties. Cotton and Corns were introduced to Zuli River basin probablyin Daoguang period. Potatoes was introduced to Zuli River basin probably inGuangxu period. In addition, according to the statistics from literature list, the authorfound that drought was the largest natural restriction in Zuli River basin in QingDynasty. And starting from the Qianlong period,the number of drought hassignificantly increased.The last,Epilog mainly sums up the achievement and disadvantage of agriculturaldevelopment in Zuli River basin in Qing Dynasty which provides some referencesuggestions for the agriculture, society an economy at present.