Ming-Qing - Social Changes in the Shandong Canal Region

Author: Wang Yun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: Based on inheriting the research achievements of predecessors and mastering extensive literature and social survey data, this book employs theories and methods from multiple disciplines such as history, historical geography, sociology, and folkloristics, combining comprehensive research, case studies, and comparative studies. It conducts a relatively comprehensive and in-depth examination and research on the historical driving forces, fluctuating processes, and historical trends and characteristics of social transformation in the Shandong Canal Region during the Ming and Qing dynasties, which is highly representative. The book argues that the main driving forces behind social transformation in the Shandong Canal Region during the Ming and Qing dynasties were improvements in transportation environments, grain transport policies, and the integration and assimilation of diverse cultures from other regions. It highlights the imbalance in social development between the towns along the canal and the hinterland of the canal, and summarizes the (mǎtāxíng - horsehoe-shaped) trend of large fluctuations and lessons learned during the social transformation process in this region. The focus of this book lies in exploring the patterns of social transformation in the canal region during the Ming and Qing dynasties. This not only holds significant academic reference value for the study of regional social history but also provides practical insights for current efforts in China to nominate the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal for World Heritage designation, the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, and the rational utilization of water resources in Northern China, particularly for promoting coordinated economic development between the eastern and western regions of Shandong Province.