GIS-based Visualization Of The Spatial Datas Of The Main Crops In Taihu Area During The Ming And Qing Dynasties

The main crops in Taihu area during the Ming and Qing dynasties included rice,wheat,mulberry and cotton.There are 4079,876,284 and 127 records of rice,wheat,mulberry,cotton in the Local Chronicles·Products in Taihu area during the Ming and Qing dynasties.Abundant and detailed records of crops lay the foundation for the visualization of the variety crops resources,the distribution characteristics,kernel density of the records and the dynasty of the first records.According to the visualization of the recorded rice,during the Ming and Qing dynasties,there were 395 kinds of japonica(indica)rice and 242 kinds of glutinous rice in Taihu area.The frequencies of the rice records from high to low are in Suzhou,Huzhou,Jiaxing,Songjiang,Taicang,Changzhou and Hangzhou.The records are concentrated in the east and south of the Taihu Lake region.Suzhou was located in the Yangchengdianmao-Hudang plain with dense water network which was the main rice-growing area.Taicang,Changzhou and Hangzhou,which have relatively few rice records,are in a state of sandwicking the areas with more rice records.The core areas of rice records are relatively dispersed,without forming a large,contiguous area and are mainly located in Wuxian,Changzhou,Yuanhe,Zhaowen,Changshu,Kunshan,Xinyang,Wujiang,Zhenze,Wucheng,Guian,Jiaxing,Xiushui,Jiashan,Huating,Louxian,Shanghai,Jingjiang,Jiangyin.The recorded area of japonica(indica)rice contains almost all the recorded area of glutinous rice,but more than that of glutinous rice.Although the places which have rice records include almost all the places in Taihu area,and from Ming dynasty to Qing dynasty,rice records also show the space expansion,this doesn’t mean the expansion of rice planting area,because the phenomenon of "mulberries encroach on the rice fields","cottons encroach on the grain fields" were significant.According to the visualization of the recorded wheat,in Taihu area of Ming and qing dynasties,wheat,barley and yuan wheat were more common,and wheat was more abundant than other wheat varieties.There are abundant records of wheat and barley varieties in Suzhou,Songjiang,Changhzou and Taicang,but few in Hanghzou,Jiaxing And Huzhou.The records frequencies of wheat from high to low are in Suzhou,Songjiang,Huzhou,Hangzhou,Jiaxing,Changzhou and Taicang.Wheat records are concentrated in the east and south of Taihu lake area.The core areas include Wuxian,Changzhou,Yuanhe,Zhenze,Wujiang,Kunshan,Xinyang,Changshu,Zhaowen,Huating,Louxian,Shanghai,Wucheng,Guian,Jiaxing,Xiushui,Jingjiang,Jiangyin.From the Ming dynasty to the Qing dynasty,the expansion of wheat mainly shows more prefectures of records.By comparing the visualization of rice and wheat,it can be found that the spatial distribution of wheat and rice are relatively consistent,and the central coordinates are located in Suzhou.Suzhou and Huzhou are among the top three in the record frequencies of rice and wheat.This phenomenon is not only related to the rice-wheat rotation system practiced in Taihu region,but also related to the recording habit of Local Chronicles · Products.The distribution of rice and wheat recorded in the core areas are also relatively consistent,and the core areas are distributed in the Yangchengdianmao-Hudang plain,the eastern coastal plain,Jia-hu plain and Su-xi plain.According to the visualization of the recorded mulberry,as traditional silk area,Hangzhou,Jiaxing and Huzhou have relatively rich resources of mulberry species,and the common mulberry species in Taihu area include the mountain mulberry,white mulberry,ma mulberry,nv mulberry,lotus leaf mulberry and fire mulberry.The frequencies of mulberry records from high to low are in Jiaxing,Hangzhou,Huzhou,Songjiang,Changzhou,Taicang,Suzhou.The records are concentrated in Hang-Jia-Hu area.The core areas are mainly located in Wucheng,Guian,Jiaxing,Xiushui,Jingjiang,Jiangyin.From Ming dynasty to Qing dynasty,the sericulture in Hang-Jia-Hu area was more intensive,and the sericulture area expanded significantly beyond Hang-Jia-Hu area as well.According to the visualization of the recorded cotton,Songjiang and Taicang were the main cotton producing areas in Taihu area during the Ming and Qing dynasties,as well as the region with the most abundant records of cotton varieties.The records frequencies of cotton from high to low are in Songjiang,Taicang,Jiaxing,Suzhou,Hangzhou,Changzhou,and Huzhou.Cotton records are concentrated in the eastern coastal area of Taihu lake area,and formed a larger core area,including Huating,Louxian,Shanghai,Zhenyang,Jiading,Baoshan;A secondary core area,is located in Jiaxing,Xiushui,Jiashan,Pinghu;There are two other smaller core areas,including Zhaowen,Changshu,Jingjiang,Jiangyin.From the Ming dynasty to the early Qing dynasty,the cotton planting area extended to the west of the Taihu lake from the eastern coastal areas.The Hang-Jia-Hu area,which was dominated by sericulture and silk reeling,was also affected to some extent.However,after the opening of commercial port in the late Qing dynasty,the profit of silk industry increased greatly,and the cotton producing area gradually retreated back to the eastern coastal and riverside areas,and in the region’s inner,cotton-growing was more prosperous.Compared with the visualization of mulberry and cotton,the spatial distribution of recorded frequencies of mulberry and cotton are complementary to each other to some extent.In fact,no matter from the perspective of soil conditions or labor arrangement,it was difficult to give both attention to silkworm and cotton industries.Therefore,in the region where mulberry and silkworm breeding was more,cotton planting was bound to be less,and vice versa.