Planting And Distribution Of Cash Crops In The Yuan Dynasty

In the Yuan Dynasty,the main economic plants were mulberry,hemp,cotton and tea,and also included some vegetable,oil and sugar crops.Because of different circumstances,their unique growth habits and diverse demands of society,their cultivation areas were different,and all these crops interacted themselves.Basing on historical records,this dissertation researches on the cultivation and location of the economic plants in the Yuan Dynasty,and then discusses the historical status of the economic plants cultivation in the Yuan Dynasty in the whole history of Chinese economic plants cultivation.There are five chapters in the main body of this dissertation.Chapter 1 mainly introduces the situations of the cultivation areas and the textile of mulberry and hemp in the Yuan Dynasty.By summarizing their planting and the development of textile in both northern and southern China,it is found that the cultivation of hemp was more extensive.The basic situation at that time was that hemp was planted in northern China,and ramie was planted in southern China.However,since the cultivation of cotton was becoming popular,the cultivation and textile of hemp came under threat of losing their leading position.There were two main areas of the cultivation and textile of mulberry:one was the domination core area whose center was Dadu,another was the economic core area whose center was the Tai Lake's basin.Not only silk output,but also silk quality,those of which in southern China had begun to exceed those in northern China.Chapter 2 mainly discusses a series issues of cotton:the introduction of cotton,the textile of it in the Yuan Dynasty and the cultivation areas of cotton.The period of Yuan was an important time to the planting promotion of cotton in the whole China.During the Yuan Dynasty,not only its cultivation area had been much enlarged,but also its textile had developed rapidly,which made cotton has become another important clothing material after hemp.In the Yuan Dynasty,Dadu area was the most northern cultivation area,Jiangxi area was the most popular cultivation area,and Jiangzhe area was the most developed textile area.Chapter 3 mainly introduces the main cultivation areas and kinds of tea,a special tea tax institution,Cha Ke ??,and the tea culture in the Yuan Dynasty.Tea was planted in south of the Qin Mountain and the Huai River in China,which was especially cultivated in the southeast coastal China,such as Fujian and Jiangzhe.Since it had been developing from the Tang to the Song,there were kinds of local famous tea in the Yuan Dynasty,like the Beiyuan Tea ??? and the Wuyi Tea ??? in Fujian,the Guzhu Tea ???and Rizhu Tea ??? in Jiangzhe,and the Shuangjing Tea??? in Jiangxi.Drinking tea had become as a civilian tradition in the Yuan Dynasty.There were increasingly civilians who drank tea,which makes the customers of tea were more diversity.And also strict Cha Ke was a special phenomenon which could be regarded as a sign of the development of tea cultivation at that time.Chapter 4 mainly introduce the cultivation situations and areas of some vegetable,oil and sugar crops.As a significant subsidiary food,vegetable played an important role in ancient's daily life.In the Yuan Dynasty,there were more kinds of vegetable to eat than the previous dynasties.People found the Song ? as their prime vegetable which can be eaten in all seasons and are more productive than the Kui?.Carrots had become to a national cultivating vegetable which was another new change in the Yuan Dynasty.Some kinds of national cultivating vegetable like eggplant and turnip and some kinds of flavor vegetable like green onion,ginger and garlic were still as common foods in people's daily life.Sesame was the prime oil crops,but at that time wintering rape was started to plant.Therefore,as a national cultivating oil,sesame gradually came under threat of losing its position.Beet and Sugarcane were the prime sugar corps in the Yuan Dynasty.The Key Notes on Agriculture and Textile???? records sugarcane could be planted in the area around Dadu in the Yuan Dynasty.The conclusion summarizes the planting distribution of these economic crops and evaluates the overall level of the cultivation of economic crops in the Yuan Dynasty.Generally,the cultivation of economic crops had smoothly improved from the Song Dynasty.Several significant changes during this time were the introduction of cotton which influenced the planting distribution of mulberry and hemp,the Song replaced the Kui as the prime vegetable,the introduction of wintering rape which made the "northern sesame-southern rape" geographical distribution had been established.