The Agricultural Cultivation And The Change Of Agricultural Ecological Environment In Xining Prefecture In The Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty is the last feudal dynasty in Chinese history,moreover,it is also the largest scale of agricultural cultivation.The Qing government attaches great importance to the agricultural development,and Xi'ning Prefecture is no exception because of its unique geographical location.Suppressed the local ethnic rebellion,the Qing government constantly consummate the administrative system to strengthen the domination of Xi'ning Prefecture.In Daoguang period,Xi'ning Prefecture included three counties and four cantons,consist of Xi'ning county,Datong county,Nianbo county,Bayanrongge canton,Guide canton,Xunhua canton,Danga'er canton,and it has been used in the late Qing Dynasty.Today,Xi'ning Prefecture locate in the east of Qinghai Province,and the northwest of Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture in Gansu Province.In Qing Dynasty,Xi'ning Prefecture is located in the transitional zone between the Loess Plateau and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,and it is the boundary between agriculture and animal husbandry.From the perspective of natural conditions,Xi'ning Prefecture is located in the the Yellow River and Huangshui River Valley,and the terrain is relatively flat,soil is fertile,light is abundant,water resources is plentiful.At the same time,the large growth of population in Xi'ning Prefecture provided a large amount of labor force;The rulers took various measures to adjust the agricultural policies to develop local agriculture.Those provided a good social conditions for Xi'ning Prefecture's agricultural reclamation.On this basis,Xi'ning Prefecture's agricultural reclamation reached a historical peak in Qing Dynasty.In Qing Dynasty,the agricultural technology of Xi'ning Prefecture was maturity.According to local conditions,farmers took appropriate farming season,had complete agricultural production tools,adopt section field method and sand field method,spread crop rotation system and so on.Those provided advanced technical conditions for the agricultural development of Xi'ning Prefecture.In water conservancy,Xi'ning Prefecture water conservancy facilities was complete.According to local conditions,every county built large-scale irrigation channels,used a variety of irrigation methods,and formed a complete irrigation system.Xi'ning Prefecture agricultural reclamation had three stages:recovery in Shunzhi to Yongzheng period,prosperity in Qianlong to Daoguang period and decline in Xianfeng to Guangxu period.In Qing Dynasty,Xi'ning Prefecture had a variety of grain,vegetable and fruit and had a wide distribution.The most prominent manifestation of Xi'ning Prefecture's agricultural reclamation were farmland expansion and the increase of grain yield.In the process of agricultural development in Xi'ning Prefecture in the Qing Dynasty,the local minorities,such as the Hui,Tu,made outstanding contributions.In Qing Dynasty,Xi'ning Prefecture agricultural reclamation had large-scale development and had great negative impact on the agricultural eco-environment.The first is the reduction of vegetation coverage area,the expansion of farmland was at the cost of forest,grassland and so on.Second,water loss and soil erosion increased.Soil and water loss of Xi'ning Prefecture in Qing Dynasty more than the sum of the past dynasties,which seriously restricted the development of local agriculture.Thirdly,the relationship between man and land was becoming more and more serious.The large scale growth of population has brought plenty of labor for agriculture,but lead to relative shortage of farmland.Last,natural disasters became more frequent,especially flood and drought disasters.Of course,the eco-environmental impact of the blind development of agriculture was far more than this,but it was enough to attract people's attention.In the study of agricultural eco-environment,the span of time and space were often relatively large,and the research on agricultural development and agricultural eco-environment in a certain period of time was not enough.The author focuses on Xi'ning Prefecture in Qing Dynasty,based on reading a lot of chorography,the social context,summarizes the status of agriculture in Xi'ning Prefecture,and draw the following conclusions:in Qing Dynasty,the government of Xi'ning Prefecture took advantage of the local natural conditions and favorable social conditions,continued to adopt new agricultural technology,developed the farmland irrigation and water conservancy,and promoted the development of agriculture in Xi'ning Prefecture.With the evolution of time,agricultural reclamation of Xi' ing Prefecture experienced the three stages,recovery,prosperity and decline in Qing Dynasty.The changing of Xi'ning Prefecture agricultural reclamation also caused serious impact on local agricultural eco-environment.The wheel of history warns us that we must pay attention to the protection of agricultural eco-environment in the process of developing agriculture.In today's society,it is urgent to develop sustainable agriculture.