A Preliminary Study On The Distribution Of Sugarcane Industry In Qing Dynasty

Sugar industry in the Qing dynasty was disrtibuted in Guangdong,Guangxi,Yunnan,Fujian,Taiwan,Jiangxi and Sichuan where natural conditions are suitable.From the late Ming dynasty,sugar industry production was mainly distributed in southeast coastal area.Concretely,sugar production in this area was respectively located in Quanzhou,Zhangzhou,pearl river delta and Taiwan province,which had convenient transportation.Besides natural factors,another reason was the former has a favorable market condition and the support of national policy.In the middle period of the Qing dynasty,people tension and expanding consumer market,come out from the population explosion,were double power of sugar cane expending.And,the flow of the population had contributed to the kind of cane sugar technology spread across the region.So,sugar production expanded.Basic pattern of sugar industry production distribution had not changed.Guangdong and Taiwan respectively formed in changhua and chaoshan area.As the center of the new sugar area,the former position was higher than that of Fujian and became the first big producing area.Sichuan and Jiangxi had developed rapidly and respectively formed producing area of the Tuojiang river basin and the gannan mountains.Sugar production area expanded in Guangxi and Yunnan.Late Qing and early republic,with the large amounts of sugar input,sugar industry in China was declining.Basic pattern of sugar industry production distribution had changed.Fujian-Guangdong Taiwan sugar production lost advantage.As their main market,Shanghai and Tianjin were controlled by foreign countries.Located in the inland,Sugar industry in Sichuan was slightly affected.And it became the main province of sugar production with the historical opportunity.