Song Dynasty regional economy

Author: Cheng Minsheng / Country: Mainland China
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Publishing Time: 1992-01-01
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14. Zizhou Road: This road is mostly located within the Chengdu Basin, in other words, it occupies most of the basin. However, its natural conditions differ greatly from those of Chengdu Fu Road. Although Zizhou Road is in the basin, historical records show it is not plains but mostly hilly areas, "mostly mountain fields, with no irrigation benefits." The Documentary Examination of Literature and History·Tax on Fields, Volume 4 also states: "The fields of Zizhou Road are on cliffs, making it difficult to measure the acreage," making it the only road in Song Dynasty China without statistical data on field quantities, indicating that the fields were highly fragmented. Under such conditions, the situation in each prefecture was not good. For example, Puzhou (now Anyue, Sichuan), located at its center: "Puzhou spans a thousand li, with rugged terrain, mostly poor fields, and large fields like sieves. Without rain for three days, the ground cracks like a turtle's back." Zizhou (now Zizhong, Sichuan): "The land is narrow and the people are poor, with no land to cultivate, making it one of the poorest and most remote places in Shu." Xuzhou (now Yibin, Sichuan), in the southwest: "The land is barren and narrow, not in the middle of the Central Plains, with hardworking people and poor soil." Zizhou (now Santai, Sichuan), the most prosperous prefecture: historical records show contradictory descriptions. One says, "The soil is barren, and the production of people and things is not as good as one large county in Western Shu." The other says, "Tongchuan, the crown jewel of Shu, governs eighteen prefectures, with magnificent mountains and rivers, elegant people and culture, tribute and textiles, and a large population, inferior only to Chengdu." The contradiction lies in whether the produce is abundant. The former statement is by Guo Liangneng, with an indeterminate era; the latter is by Li Xin, a person from the Huizong era. If Guo Liangneng lived before Li Xin, it is possible that the area developed by then, but Li Xin's claim that it is comparable to Chengdu is exaggerated. Other prefectures, based on the historical records I have seen, are only slightly better than Changzhou (now Dazhu, Sichuan), "abundant in mulberry, hemp, and rice," but "the clothing, food, and daily necessities for livelihood are not as good as those in other prefectures," belonging to a medium level.
15. Lizhou Road: This road is mostly located in northern Sichuan, with most of it being mountainous. In this mostly mountainous area, the environment is poor, and production is backward, known as "living in the mountains and drinking from the valleys, with insufficient agriculture but ample commerce." Due to the poor agricultural conditions, only the geographical advantage of being close to Shaanxi could be utilized to supplement the economy through commerce. However, due to a weak foundation, it remained a poor region. Lizhou (now Guangyuan, Sichuan) is a typical example: "Lizhou is the throat of transportation between Qin and Shu, with poor soil and impoverished people, low city walls and poor housing"; "The land is poor and the finances are scarce, even in years, people still struggle to find food." Although the transportation conditions are favorable, the land is barren, and the produce is not abundant, the cities are not developed at all, and the entire region's economy is backward. In Lizhou Road, only two prefectures have relatively good environments: Xingyuan Prefecture and Yangzhou (now Hanzhong and Yang County, Shaanxi), located in the Hanzhong Basin. Xingyuan Prefecture: "Since the Three Dynasties, it has been known as a major town, with its jurisdiction at the intersection of Qin and Shu, with flat terrain extending hundreds of miles, fertile soil, and numerous dikes and weirs. The wealth of mulberry, hemp, and rice is unparalleled. To the southwest, it crosses the stack road to Jiemen and descends to Chengdu, with the mountains of Qiyong blocking the northeast and far-reaching to Fan and Deng, adjacent to Qin and Long, where people come to trade." It has advantages in terrain, soil, location, and transportation. Yangzhou is similar but slightly inferior. Li Xin said: "Liang (Xingyuan Prefecture) and Yangzhou have the best fields, and food and clothing are the main source of the road." It became the economic pillar of Lizhou Road. From this, it can be seen that Lizhou Road's natural conditions are better than Zizhou Road.
16. Kuizhou Road: Among the roads in Sichuan, Kuizhou Road has the largest area and is also the most environmentally harsh. Its entire territory is within the mountains, known as "between Kuixia, there are large mountains and deep valleys, the land is poor, few people live, and the labor is poor. Compared to the east and west Sichuan, it is ten times less productive, and the farming is the worst"; "Kuilu is the most barren, known as the land where people cultivate by clearing forests and burning fields. Even in years, people still eat tree roots." The reason for clearing forests and burning fields is partly the extremely poor soil. For example, Shizhou (now Enshi, Hubei): "The mountain ridges are full of sand and stones, making it impossible to plow with oxen, so people cut down trees, burn fields, and plant crops." Most of the area is still in a primitive state, with low land cultivation rates, and miasma hangs between the poor mountains and waters. Worse, due to the high mountains, water sources are scarce. In Kuizhou (now Fengjie, Sichuan), the seat of the road, even drinking water is difficult: "In Kuixia, the people have no wells to drink from. In the city of Kuizhou, water from three caves and two streams is distributed in the streets and alleys, stored in tung oil boats and wooden barriers, replaced once a year, and people pay money to fetch it." In fact, the residents buy water to drink. Even drinking water is like this, let alone irrigating farmland! Compared to the four roads in Sichuan, Chengdu Fu Road is the best, followed by Lizhou Road, then Zizhou Road, and Kuizhou Road is not only the worst in Sichuan but also the worst in the entire country.
11. Sichuan: The farmland water conservancy projects in Sichuan are concentrated in Chengdu Fu Road. "Chengdu Fu Road has more paddy fields and fewer mountain fields, with irrigation channels and dikes." The water conservancy conditions are good. This place has the famous Dujiangyan, with an irrigation system divided into three main streams, fourteen branches, and nine dikes, benefiting the Chengdu Fu, Pengzhou, Hanzhou, Yongkang Army, and Huai'an Army of Zizhou Road. On the basis of the original good foundation, the Song Dynasty established a system of annual maintenance, making it more perfect and better utilized. This alone shows that the water conservancy construction in Chengdu Fu Road is very developed and plays a vital supporting role in local agriculture. Chengdu Fu Road has developed its water conservancy projects compared to previous dynasties, with the construction of new projects. For example, during Emperor Renzong's reign, Han Yi dredged the seven-rising river mouth in Chengdu, "irrigating thousands of hectares of farmland." Later, Zhang Yi also built a dike here, "blocking the river water to irrigate the farmland." In the seventh year of Emperor Shenzong's Xining (1074), Shuzhou built a new dike, irrigating 390 hectares of farmland and benefiting more than 5,000 households. Chengdu Fu Road is not large in area, with Dujiangyan and other water conservancy facilities, making agricultural production relatively stable and reducing the occurrence of flood and drought disasters. Zizhou, Lizhou, and Kuizhou roads have no records of large-scale water conservancy projects. For example, Wang Yingchen said: "Tongchuan Fu Road (i.e., Zichuan Road) is mostly mountain fields, with no irrigation benefits."
12. Guangnan: The farmland water conservancy construction in Guangdong is very backward. Except for the repair of the Lingqu Canal in Guangxi, which belongs to transportation water conservancy, there are no other records. The reason is that the land is vast and the population is sparse, and there is no need for large investments in agriculture. "The vast and wide land stretches far and wide, and farmers cultivate only one percent of it. Only where water springs flow all year round can it be farmland. If it is slightly high, it is abandoned." Although grain production in this area depends on water, the choice is broad, and natural water sources are sufficient, so there is no need for large-scale artificial water conservancy projects. This also reflects the backwardness of Guangnan's agricultural production, which relies entirely on nature, hence the nickname "lazy farmers." By the Xining era, water conservancy construction in Guangxi had made significant progress. Rice cultivation in the northern part of Jingning was largely promoted during the Northern Song Dynasty. For example, during Emperor Renzong's reign, people in Xuzhou still did not know how to grow rice. When Zhang Denggong governed Xuzhou, he summoned tenant farmers from Xianghan to teach them to grow rice on public land, developing rice cultivation. Soon, there was a prosperous scene of "frost-covered rice fields reporting a year, and scythes and clappers sounding under the wild sun," achieving a. In Heyang County of Mengzhou, people were not accustomed to the benefits of water fields. During Emperor Renzong's Huangyou years, Chen Xiang, as the county magistrate, began to experiment with rice cultivation: "He ordered his disciples to pay 100,000 coins to rent two hectares of land to test it. The glutinous rice yielded a large harvest! The grain paid back the money, and the rest was enough to supply the officials. The people of Heyang greatly benefited from this." Here, the promotion of rice cultivation was also successful, with the value of rice per mu at least 500 coins, plus "the rest was enough to supply the officials," making the value per mu around 1,000 coins. The reason the people of Heyang "greatly benefited" was that rice cultivation generated high economic benefits, and the further promotion of rice cultivation was self-evident. In Tangzhou, after the prefect Zhao Shangkuan vigorously built farmland water conservancy projects, many paddy fields were created, and rice was planted, "turning the former soybeans and millet into rice," changing the backward face of Tangzhou and expanding the area of rice cultivation in Jingxi. In Jingdong, many prefectures grew rice. For example, Su Zhe was interested in the rice in Qizhou and wrote a poem: "Low fields are full of glutinous rice, autumn harvest is as good as wheat and millet." This shows that low-lying land was full of rice, with the same benefits as dry-land crops. Yizhou had developed water conservancy construction, "with fields rich in fish and rice," indicating that rice products were abundant. Another example is Xuzhou, which also had rice production, "with fish, rice, quail, and pheasant, enough to fill the food." This proves that rice cultivation had a certain scale. Some prefectures and counties in Hebei had a long history of rice cultivation. For example, Weizhou, according to Mei Yaochen's poem: "I have been in Hebei for a long time and know the customs of Weizhou. Sandy fields grow a lot of rice, and wild rice is particularly coarse." Among them, Gongcheng County (now Huixian, Henan) is particularly prominent. The county has a Baimen Pool (now Baquan), 500 steps square, with abundant water sources, used to irrigate rice fields and cultivate high-quality rice: "This rice is clear, fragrant, and clean, different from other rice. Since the Wei and Qi dynasties, it has been used as tribute to the imperial court," making it tribute rice. Even in the Song Dynasty, it was still the source of rice for the imperial court, and during Emperor Renzong's reign, the planting area was expanded and made available to the people: "Gongcheng has rice fields to supply the imperial table, with sufficient water conservancy, and it is not included in this. (During Emperor Renzong's reign) it was ordered to irrigate annually and share it with the people." This advantage was better utilized. The rice of Gongcheng was loved by the imperial court for generations, indicating its high quality. Rice cultivation in the northern coastal areas of Hebei began during Emperor Taizong's reign. The local area has many rivers and low-lying terrain, "storing water in ponds everywhere, hindering people's farming," making it difficult to develop dry-land crops. He Chengju took advantage of the situation to vigorously develop, "growing rice to meet food needs." After experiments, they adopted the southern early rice variety "maturing in July" and succeeded, widely planting it in the pond areas along the borders, "from Shun'an eastward to the sea for hundreds of miles, all becoming rice fields." A vigorous promotion campaign was launched. By the Jingyou years of Emperor Renzong, the court sent officials to eight prefectures and cities, including Huai, Wei, Ci, Xiang, Xing, Luo, Zhen, and Zhao, to "teach people to grow water fields," further developing rice cultivation. Looking west to the Loess Plateau in Shaanxi, there are also many green rice fields. Su Zhe saw in the area around Chang'an "highlands planting soybeans and millet, and lowlands full of glutinous rice," a pleasing scene of harvest. Therefore, some people pointed out that the local area "fish and rice are like the Jiangnan water country," with rice fields comparable to the water-rich areas of southern Jiangnan! In Wushan County of Longzhou (now Baoji, Shaanxi north), there is a similar scene: "Rice fields are like the wind and water of Jingbo, like Jiangnan." It seems like another highland Jiangnan. Shangluo County began rice cultivation during Emperor Zhenzong's reign. At that time, the county magistrate organized farmers to divert water to irrigate fields, "making them plant rice, and the people relied on it to avoid hunger." This not only solved the problem of food shortages but also developed production. Even in the northernmost Bao'an Army, there was a government organization specifically for rice cultivation, "Bao'an Army Rice Bureau," and Emperor Zhenzong once ordered "the Bao'an Army Rice Bureau to report the progress of land reclamation every ten days to the court." Every ten days, they had to report on the planting situation, showing that it was highly valued by the court. During Emperor Shenzong's Xining years, it was further promoted westward. Wang Shao, while managing the Xixia region, believed that rice could be grown along the Tao River and requested the court to transfer a batch of criminal rice farmers to Xizhou (now Linzhang, Gansu). A total of 300 people were gradually transferred. This shows that rice cultivation in this area had a certain scale. In the mountainous Hedong Road, although it is a cold and high region, in places with sufficient water sources, rice production is not inferior to Shaanxi. Take Fenzhou as an example: there, "the richness of glutinous rice spreads to all directions." It only mentions rice and does not mention other grains, and with "richness spreading to all directions," it can be seen that rice is one of the main crops in the area, with a high yield. Near the Jin Temple in Taiyuan, the Jin Temple spring irrigates a local area, "a thousand families irrigate the fields, and the fields like those under the Jin Temple are like Jiangnan, with no drought years!" A prosperous atmosphere of a rice region is established, setting an example of developed production. From these two examples, it can be seen that rice cultivation in Hedong is on a large scale, vigorous, and plays an important role in local agricultural production. In summary, the northward movement of rice and the southward movement of wheat and millet have great significance in agricultural history. This allows various regions to make full use of geographical and water conservancy resources, rotate crops, expand cultivated land area and crop varieties, and thus increase total grain output. Overall, the grain crops in southern regions are relatively simple compared to those in the north, which are not as rich. During the Northern Song Dynasty, the promotion of wheat and millet in the south was not as large in area or effective as the cultivation of rice in the north. This is closely related to the northern land being suitable for all five grains, the great development of water conservancy projects in the north, and the Song government's emphasis on developing the northern economy. From this point of view, the northern agricultural economy was one beat ahead of the south.