The Towns Network And Commodity Economy In The Yuanshui Basin In Ming And Qing Dynasties

In ancient times,Yuanshui was called Lushui,Yuanjiang,Xiujiang,Yushui,etc.It is a tributary of the lower Ganjiang and Located in the midwest of Jiangxi Province.It is originate from the north foot of Wugong Mountain in the southeast of Pingxiang City,It flows through Yichun,Fenyi,Xinyu,Xingan and so on.To the northeast and flows into Ganjiang in Zhangshu City,with a total length of about 279 kilometers and a drainage area of about 6262 square kilometers.During the Ming and Qing Dynasties,Yuanshui basin included most of the six counties of Yuanzhou,Linjiang and their subordinates,Pingxiang,Yichun,Fenyi,Xinyu,Qingjiang and Xingan.It is near the south of Ji'an and in the north of Nanchang,with Changsha in the west.It is a convenient water and land transportation route.It is an important channel connecting Hunan,Jiangxi and surrounding areas in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.There are many cities and towns in the basin,among which Zhangshu,a huge commercial town,plays an important role in the development of domestic commodity economy.In this paper,the natural environment,products,population,transportation,towns and commodity economy of Yuanshui Basin in Ming and Qing Dynasties(1368-1912)are studied.The first,the growth of population,the development of agriculture and handicraft industry promote the formation and development of transportation and formation of the towns.The scale of towns is closely related to the development of commodity economy.The second,from the perspective of spatial layout,the towns in Yuanshui Basin are often built along the river,and larger towns are developed in the cross sections with convenient land and water transportation,the land transportation is also mostly parallel to the river,which can be seen that the river has an impact on land and water transportation,and consequently on the site selection of towns.The third,the advantages and disadvantages of natural conditions,including water resources,also have a great impact on the development of agricultural water conservancy in the Yuanshui Basin,and then affect the agricultural basis ofcommercial production.The town is also the hotbed of the development of commodity economy,so the three are inseparable.With the continuous change of historical period,the situation of town and commodity economy in Yuanshui basin has changed,but it is closely related to the overall social situation.