Why was Jiangxi “selected” due to natural and man-made disasters in the early Ming Dynasty?

Chinese people have a strong sense of hometown in their hearts, especially in ancient China where the idea of ??settling down and relocating was even stronger. However, nine out of ten things in life will be unsatisfactory, and there will often be many natural disasters. Man-made disasters caused the people of Li to flee their hometown and go to other places.

During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, a large number of Han people from the north moved to the south. During the An-Shi Rebellion, the south once again welcomed "guests". Perhaps population migration has never stopped in ancient China. During the Ming Dynasty, a large number of Jiangxi people moved to the Huguang area to settle. Behind this phenomenon were complex historical reasons that drove Jiangxi people to leave their hometown.

One: Chaos in the early Ming Dynasty, frequent natural and man-made disasters

1. Frequent wars, devastation, and people’s livelihood

Understanding the large population of Jiangxi in the early Ming Dynasty Before migrating, let's take a look at the social chaos in the early years of the Ming Dynasty. The first is the frequent wars. Since the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the world has been in turmoil. Countless careerists gathered together to conquer each other. There were several political powers in the Jiangnan region alone. Among them, the representative regimes are undoubtedly Zhang Shicheng, Zhu Yuanzhang, Chen Youliang, Fang Guozhen and others. They conquered each other and lost hundreds of thousands of people in the Battle of Poyang Lake alone.

According to the record of this battle in "History of the Ming Dynasty": "Fighted at Longwan and was defeated." The tide ebbs and the boat is glued, the dead are not counted, hundreds of warships are lost, take a light boat?, one general is successful and thousands of bones are withered. Regardless of the victory or defeat of the war, it is the civilians who are ultimately injured. Frequent wars have caused the population in some places to reach? A point where one out of ten can be saved.

2. God is unfavorable and natural disasters continue

In addition to frequent wars, many large-scale natural disasters also occurred in the early years of the Ming Dynasty, including the southern floods that plagued ancient Chinese for thousands of years. The problem of drought in the north has not yet been resolved, and typhoons and floods in the south may cause large-scale migration if not careful. Especially in the Jiangnan area, the water system is developed, floods are more serious, and harvest failure is common.

Under this background environment of "depending on the sky for food", the vulnerability of the people is fully exposed. Not only that, large-scale earthquakes, hail and other disasters also occurred from time to time during the Ming Dynasty. In an era when science, technology and productivity were relatively backward, these natural disasters were undoubtedly fatal. Frequent natural and man-made disasters will inevitably lead to the emergence of large-scale immigration waves. During the Ming Dynasty, "Jiangxi Huguang" occurred under this environment.

2. What do you love most about Huguang? Ming Dynasty? Jiangxi fills Huguang?

1. Jiangxi fills Hubei

After learning about the frequent natural and man-made disasters during the Ming Dynasty , let’s talk about the large-scale immigration wave during the Ming Dynasty? Jiangxi’s filling of Huguang is different from the vertical immigration in history. Jiangxi’s filling of Huguang is a wave of immigrants within the southern region. First, Hubei occupied Sichuan, and a considerable number of Hubei people at that time moved to the Sichuan area.

According to "Sichuan General Chronicles": Since the Han and Tang Dynasties, Shu has a large population and is surrounded by fireworks. After the war in the late Ming Dynasty, Dingkou was as rare as a morning star. ?The migration of the Chu people into Shu during the Ming Dynasty was the origin of Hubei filling up Sichuan. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the people from Jiangxi to move to the Hubei area to replenish the population of Hubei. According to historical research, 80% of the population in Hubei at that time came from counties in Nanchang, Jiangxi.

2. Jiangxi fills in Hunan

The large-scale immigration wave in the early Ming Dynasty not only moved from Jiangxi to Hubei, but also moved to the neighboring Hunan area. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, peasant armies also emerged one after another in Hunan. Frequent wars caused the population of Hunan to shrink rapidly, and large-scale immigration had to be launched from neighboring Jiangxi.

According to the local population composition recorded in "Xiangtan Escape Chronicles": The revolutions in the past dynasties have poisoned all living beings, but the Yuan and Ming Dynasties were the worst. There were only a few households of Xiangtan natives, and most of the people who came after came from Henan. Zhang Lai? It can be seen that most of the later population in the Xiangtan area at that time came from the Poyang Lake area in Jiangxi. It is reported that the immigrant population from Jiangxi accounted for half of the population in Hunan. This is why people in Jiangxi and Huguang areas later called each other "Old Biao" ?The reason.

3. A journey away from home, to Huguang in Jiangxi

After understanding the migration destination of the people in Jiangxi during the Ming Dynasty, let’s take a look at the migration route of Huguang in Jiangxi at that time. First, Jiangxi fills in Hunan. Since the two are adjacent provinces, people from Jiangxi mostly move to the Huguang area by land, crossing mountains and mountains, and finally reach the Dongting Lake Plain, the destination they left their hometown. Most people in Hubei area go upstream along the Yangtze River, crossing countless rivers, and reach the Hanjiang Plain area.

Jiangxi T filling Huguang is a journey for Jiangxi people to leave their hometown. It also laid a solid foundation for the profound friendship between the people of Huguang and Jiangxi. But the Huguang area is not the only land of plenty. Why did the people of Jiangxi at that time choose the Huguang area?

3. Why did Jiangxi people in the Ming Dynasty prefer Huguang area for large-scale immigration?

1. After years of war, ten houses in Huguang area were empty, and the fields were deserted

In After understanding the general situation of Jiangxi's landfill in Huguang during the Ming Dynasty, let's talk about why Jiangxi people chose Huguang. The first is that there are large areas of deserted fields in the Huguang area.

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, peasant uprisings in the Huguang area also broke out in droves to attack each other. The Huguang area was not only a point of contention between Chen Youliang, Zhu Yuanzhang, and the Yuan government, but also many small warlords like Peng Yingyu. of melee.

According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty" about the chaos at the end of the Yuan Dynasty: At that time, the Yuan government was not in line and thieves were everywhere. He stole the territory with his troops and plundered many people. The world is in chaos. Years of melee have left the aborigines in Xiangtan Prefecture (Dongting Lake Plain) empty of their homes, and a large number of people either died or fled to other places.

After Zhu Yuanzhang founded the People's Republic of China in the Ming Dynasty, the originally prosperous and prosperous Huguang area suffered from frequent natural and man-made disasters, which led to the decline of people's livelihood. There were no roosters for thousands of miles, and a large amount of fertile farmland was abandoned, leaving large-scale immigrants to move in. Provide objective conditions.

According to the "History of the Yuan Dynasty", the tragedy after the floods in the Huguang area is recorded: "The fields and houses were destroyed, countless people died, and many villages and cities were reduced to ruins." ?Wars are raging, natural disasters continue, and the people who are struggling to rise are unable to survive. A large number of fields were deserted, and the vast and sparsely populated Huguang was still a potential land of plenty. Therefore, the people of Jiangxi in the Ming Dynasty would leave their hometowns to seek better living conditions.

2. Encouraged by the ruler’s policies, ordinary farmers are allowed to land land by inserting stickers

In ancient China’s feudal dynasties, no matter how wise the supreme ruler was, caring for the people could not change it. Due to the exploitative nature of the feudal landlord class, especially in the middle and late stages of a dynasty, the phenomenon of land annexation intensified and became a chronic disease of society. The country's land was highly concentrated in the hands of a few large landowners.

Take the land annexation in the Ming Dynasty as an example. According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty", Yan Song recorded the phenomenon of land annexation in the Ming Dynasty: "The city's fertile land is spread throughout several counties in Jiangxi, and the fertile land and beautiful houses are widely built in Nanjing and Yangzhou. There were dozens of houses, fertile land in eight prefectures in the Kinai, and half of them belonged to powerful families. Moreover, the government at that time stipulated that land could not be reclaimed at will. Under this background, we can see the farmers' desire for land.

The Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty satisfied the farmers’ desire for land to a certain extent. The Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang once issued an order stating that all wasteland reclaimed across the country would be owned by farmers regardless of the number of acres. The official service also provided cattle and seeds, exempted from taxes for three years, and encouraged the population to move from densely populated areas to sparsely populated areas.

It can be said that Zhu Yuanzhang's various policies to rest with the people not only solved the worries of Jiangxi people migrating to Huguang area, but also greatly stimulated the motivation and vitality of immigrants. The economy of Huguang area was quickly restored, and the rule of related policies are closely related.

3. The population of Jiangxi during the Ming Dynasty ranked among the top in the country

Jiangxi has been a land of plenty since ancient times, and the Poyang Lake Plain is a real land of plenty. The superior natural geographical conditions make the local area The people were able to thrive and thrive in peace of mind, and the population grew rapidly.

According to relevant historical records, in the early years of the Ming Dynasty, the population of Jiangxi alone reached 12 million, second only to Zhejiang, which was prosperous and prosperous at the time, while the total population of Huguang area was only 4 million. , the huge population gap has made the local land situation in Jiangxi increasingly worrying. On the other hand, no one has cultivated land in the Huguang area, and a large amount of fertile land has been abandoned. Therefore, Jiangxi's huge population is the premise and foundation for Jiangxi's land reclamation in Huguang.

4. Huguang and Jiangxi are geographically adjacent

At that time, there were many areas where Huguang was vast and sparsely populated. Why did the people of Jiangxi not choose Sichuan and other places, but chose I chose Huguang. Huguang may not be the best for the people of Jiangxi at that time, but it must be the most convenient. If immigrants from Jiangxi choose the land route, it is only a few hundred miles away and can be reached in more than ten days. However, if they choose to move to Hubei by land and water, they can go upstream. Up there, it's extremely convenient to take a boat. Therefore, Huguang has the right time, place and people. It is close to home and is a world-famous land of plenty. Naturally, it has become the first choice for people in Jiangxi to migrate.

IV. Conclusion

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, natural and man-made disasters continued, and the Huguang area was the first to bear the brunt. Tragedies such as bones exposed in the wild and no roosters crowing for thousands of miles reappeared in the world, and Jiangxi filled the Huguang area. The great population migration has undoubtedly brought vitality and vitality to the Huguang area again. The reason why Jiangxi people prefer Huguang is not only because the Huguang area has a large amount of fertile land and government policy support, but also because of the huge population size of Jiangxi and the geographical location of Huguang and Jiangxi. are closely related to each other.

References

"History of Ming Dynasty"

"Tongzhi of Sichuan"

"History of Yuan Dynasty"