Cambridge University Press 0521591775 - Tigers, Rice, Silk, and Silt: Environment and Economy in Late Imperial South China Robert B. Marks Frontmatter More information
Challenging the conventional wisdom conveyed by Western environmental his- torians about China, this book examines the relationships between economic and environmental changes in the southern Chinese provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi (a region historically known as Lingnan, “South of the Moun- tains”) in imperial China, focusing on the period from to , but also providing substantial background from on. Robert Marks discusses the impact of population growth on land-use patterns, the agroecology of the region, and deforestation; the commercialization of agriculture and its impli- cations for ecological change; the impact of climatic change on agriculture; and the ways in which the human population responded to environmental challenges. This book is a significant contribution to both Chinese and envi- ronmental history. It is groundbreaking in its methods and in its findings.
© Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521591775 - Tigers, Rice, Silk, and Silt: Environment and Economy in Late Imperial South China Robert B. Marks Frontmatter More information
Tigers, Rice, Silk, and Silt
© Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521591775 - Tigers, Rice, Silk, and Silt: Environment and Economy in Late Imperial South China Robert B. Marks Frontmatter More information
◊◊◊◊
Editors Donald Worster◊◊University of Kansas Alfred W. Crosby◊◊University of Texas at Austin
Other books in the series Donald Worster, Nature’s Economy: A History of Ecological Ideas Kenneth F. Kiple, The Caribbean Slave: A Biological History Alfred W. Crosby, Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, – Arthur F. McEvoy, The Fisherman’s Problem: Ecology and Law in the California Fisheries, – Robert Harms, Games Against Nature: An Eco-Cultural History of the Nunu of Equatorial Africa Warren Dean, Brazil and the Struggle for Rubber: A Study in Environmental History Samuel P. Hays, Beauty, Health, and Permanence: Environmental Politics in the United States, – Donald Worster, The Ends of the Earth: Perspectives on Modern Environmental History Michael Williams, Americans and Their Forests: A Historical Geography Timothy Silver, A New Face on the Countryside: Indians, Colonists, and Slaves in the South Atlantic Forests, – Theodore Steinberg, Nature Incorporated: Industrialization and the Waters of New England J. R. McNeill, The Mountains of the Mediterranean World: An Environmental History Elinor G. K. Melville A Plague of Sheep: Environmental Consequences of the Conquest of Mexico Richard H. Grove, Green Imperialism: Colonial Expansion, Tropical Island Edens and the Origins of Environmentalism, – Mark Elvin and Tsui’jung Liu, Sediments of Time: Environment and Society in Chinese History
© Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521591775 - Tigers, Rice, Silk, and Silt: Environment and Economy in Late Imperial South China Robert B. Marks Frontmatter More information
TIGERS, RICE, SILK, AND SILT
Robert B.Marks Whittier College
© Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521591775 - Tigers, Rice, Silk, and Silt: Environment and Economy in Late Imperial South China Robert B. Marks Frontmatter More information
The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge , United Kingdom
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© Robert B. Marks
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A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Marks, Robert B., – ◊◊◊◊Tigers, rice, silk, and silt: environment and economy in late imperial south ◊◊China/Robert B. Marks. ◊◊◊◊◊◊p.◊◊cm. – (Studies in environment and history) ◊◊◊◊Includes bibliographical references and index. ◊◊◊◊ --- (hb) ◊◊◊◊.◊Economic development – Environmental aspects – China – History. ◊◊.◊Nature – Effect of human beings on – China – History.◊◊.◊Human beings – ◊◊Effect of environment on – China – History.◊◊.◊Kwangtung Province (China) – ◊◊Economic conditions.◊◊.◊Kwangsi Chuang Autonomous Region (China) – ◊◊Economic conditions.◊◊.◊China – History – Ming dynasty, –.◊◊ ◊◊.◊China – History – Ch’ing dynasty, –.◊◊I.◊Title.◊◊II.◊Series. ◊◊HC..M◊◊ - ◊◊.ЈЈ – dc CIP
© Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521591775 - Tigers, Rice, Silk, and Silt: Environment and Economy in Late Imperial South China Robert B. Marks Frontmatter More information
CONTENTS
List of Maps, Figures, and Tables page vii Dynasties, Qing Dynasty Emperors’ Reign Dates, and Weights and Measures xi Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction ◊1◊◊“Firs and Pines a Hundred Spans Round”: The Natural Environment of Lingnan ◊2◊◊“All Deeply Forested and Wild Places Are Not Malarious”: Human Settlement and Ecological Change in Lingnan, –
◊3◊◊“Agriculture Is the Foundation”: Economic Recovery and Development of Lingnan during the Ming Dynasty, –
◊4◊◊“All the People Have Fled”: War and the Environment in the Mid-Seventeenth-Century Crisis, –
◊5◊◊“Rich Households Compete to Build Ships”: Overseas Trade and Economic Recovery
◊6◊◊“It Never Used to Snow”: Climatic Change and Agricultural Productivity
◊7◊◊“There Is Only a Certain Amount of Grain Produced”: Granaries and the Role of the State in the Food Supply System
◊8◊◊“Trade in Rice Is Brisk”: Market Integration and the Environment
v
© Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521591775 - Tigers, Rice, Silk, and Silt: Environment and Economy in Late Imperial South China Robert B. Marks Frontmatter More information
vi Contents ◊9◊◊“Population Increases Daily, but the Land Does Not”: Land Clearance in the Eighteenth Century 10◊◊“People Said that Extinction Was Not Possible”: The Ecological Consequences of Land Clearance Conclusion
Bibliography Index
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MAPS,◊FIGURES,◊AND◊TABLES
Maps Lingnan prefectures, ca. page xvii Lingnan counties, ca. xix .a South China, ca. .b South China, ca. . Guangdong land cover, ca. .a–d Population densities, ca. , , , and . The Pearl River Delta, ca. , , , and . Levees on the West River, Tang–Ming dynasties . Population density, ca. . Cultivated land, ca. .a–b Density of waterworks, ca. and .a–b Markets, ca. and . The Nanyang .a–b Markets, ca. and . Grain-deficit prefectures, ca. . Grain trade flows, ca. . Mean price of rice, – . Structure of the Lingnan rice market .a–b Density of waterworks, ca. and
Figures . The Meiling Pass, . . Mean monthly temperature and rainfall at Guangzhou. . Pinus massoniana. . Water pine (shui song). . Temperature changes in China, – . . Population (recorded) of Lingnan, –. . South China Sea. . Lingnan population, –.
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© Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521591775 - Tigers, Rice, Silk, and Silt: Environment and Economy in Late Imperial South China Robert B. Marks Frontmatter More information
viii Maps, Figures, and Tables . Number of counties reporting frost or snow, –. . Dearth in Guangdong province in the seventeenth century. . Chinese maritime customs revenue, –, by province. . Foreign trade at Guangzhou, –. . Value of Indian raw cotton imports, –. . China’s foreign trade balances, five-year averages, –. . Silver flows at Guangzhou, –. . Exports of Pearl River delta silk from Guangzhou, –. . Percentile distribution of market density in Lingnan counties, –. . Market increase in selected counties, –. . Three patterns of market systems in Lingnan (Luo Yixing’s model). . Temperature fluctuations, –. . Northern hemisphere temperatures, –. . Guangzhou wetness index, –. . Annual cropping cycle. . Rice prices in cold and warm years at Guilin. . Annual temperatures, –. . Frost, harvest ratings, and monthly rice prices in the Pearl River delta, –. . Northern hemisphere temperatures, –. . Number of counties reporting pestilence, –. . Guangdong province harvest ratings, –. . Adverse climatic conditions in Guangdong, –. . Price spread between Guangzhou and Wuzhou, –. . Harvest ratings and rice prices, –. . Estimated population of Lingnan, –. . Counties afflicted with floods, –. . Counties afflicted with droughts, –.
Tables . The Pearl River drainage basin . Population densities, by prefecture, – . Early Ming population returns for Hainan Island . Waterworks in Guangdong, ca. . Markets in Guangdong, and . Population and land totals, – . Land laid waste, ca. , by prefecture . Market density, ca. 1731 . Climatic changes in Lingnan, – . Deficient harvests in Guangdong province
© Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521591775 - Tigers, Rice, Silk, and Silt: Environment and Economy in Late Imperial South China Robert B. Marks Frontmatter More information
Maps, Figures, and Tables ix . Frequency of adverse climatic conditions, – . Food needs for Guangdong province, ca. . Supply of food in Guangdong province . Variation of monthly rice prices . Regression of prefectural mean price on Guangzhou mean . Estimated merchant profits at Guangzhou . Correlation of harvest rating with rice price . King’s law . Price changes following abundant or deficient harvests . Population and cultivated land estimates, – . Prefectural population changes, – . Land reported reclaimed, by province, –
© Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521591775 - Tigers, Rice, Silk, and Silt: Environment and Economy in Late Imperial South China Robert B. Marks Frontmatter More information
DYNASTIES,◊QING DYNASTY EMPERORS’ REIGN DATES, WEIGHTS◊AND◊MEASURES
The dynasties of imperial China, 221 BCE 1911 CE Qin – Han – Sui – Tang – Song – Yuan – Ming – Qing –
Qing dynasty emperors’ reign dates Shunzhi – Kangxi – Yongzheng – Qianlong – Jiaqing – Tongzhi – Xianfeng – Tongzhi – Guangxu – Xuantong –
Weights and measures Area Volume |mu ϭ qing shi ϭ picul ഠ bushel |mu ഠ acre shi ϭ dou qing ഠ acres dou ϭ sheng
xi
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xii Dynasties, Weights and Measures Length Currency zhang ഠ feet silver liang ϭ qian qian ϭ fen Weight silver liang ϭ tael jin ഠ . pounds , copper wen ഠ silver liang liang ϭ jin dan ϭ jin shi ഠ pounds
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The intellectual, emotional, and institutional debts that I have accumulated while writing this book are enormous. For the probity of their questioning, I want to thank James Lee, John Siedensticker, and two anonymous readers. Through their questions and comments, Mark Elvin and Pierre-Etienne Will convinced me that I was on the right track. Richard Archer, Patrick Caffrey, Alfred Crosby, Christopher Hill, J. Donald Hughes, Joyce P. Kaufman, John R. McNeill, Rhoads Murphey, J. Richard Penn, and Kenneth Pomeranz did me the honor of reading and commenting upon the entire manuscript, for which I am exceedingly grateful; they helped in ways too numerous to mention. Others critiqued parts of the manuscript in various stages of preparation, and I thank each of them: Robert Antony, William Atwell, Thomas Buoye, Cao Shuji, Chen Chunsheng, Helen Dunstan, Joseph Esherick, Robert Gardella, Philip Huang, James Lee, Lillian Li, Katherine Lynch, John D. Post, Mary Rankin, Thomas Rawski, G. William Skinner, Kathy Walker, Yeh-chien Wang, and R. Bin Wong. Participants at various conferences where I presented preliminary findings – the Fourth International Conference on Qing Social and Economic History at Shenzhen in , the February Southern California China Colloquium, and the Conference on the History of the Environment in China – also provided helpful comments, and I thank them all. Special thanks go to Gordon Jacoby and Rosanne D’Arrigo for sharing with me their reconstruction of northern hemisphere temperature trends and then reading a draft chapter that incorporated their findings. Qiu Yuanyou, head librarian at Beijing Teacher’s College (now Capital Normal University), intro- duced me to the archives at the Number One Historical Archives in Beijing; fellow researchers at the Number One – Jack Wills, Tom Buoye, Lillian Li, Robert Antony, and David Kelly – shared ideas and experiences. Helen Dunstan graciously allowed me to use and quote from a wonderful manuscript she is working on, and Tom Buoye shared with me harvest data he collected in Beijing. Yeh-chien Wang made available his rice price data, which I used to corroborate the data I collected; and Betty Wiens graciously gave me a copy
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xiv Acknowledgments of her late husband’s (Herold J. Wiens’s) book. Whittier College students Keith Black and Susan Ingersoll entered data, and the former helped with prelimi- nary statistical analyses. Building the digitized maps and geocoding the data that undergirds much of this book would have been impossible without the help of numerous people. Robert Hartwell selflessly shared with me both what he had learned about geo- graphic information systems (GIS), as well as his coding system for China’s counties. Larry Crissman has been extraordinarily helpful, offering not only advice and base maps, but also the good offices of the Australian Centre for Asian Spatial Information and Analysis Network (ASIAN) at Griffith Univer- sity in translating my ARC/INFO files to MapInfo (neither a small nor, for me, insignificant feat). Qin Tang of CITAS (China in Time and Space) at the University of Washington provided technical assistance, as did Noel Paul and Nadja Leibers at ASIAN. Eric Patrick helped me to learn and use ARC/INFO at Whittier College’s W. M. Keck Image Processing Laboratory. Professor Chen Chunsheng, chair of the History Department at Zhong- shan University in Guangzhou, has been of enormous help and support for this work. Indeed, he has had a greater influence on my understanding and conceptualization of this work than any other person. His interests and mine overlap, and collaborating with him over the past decade has been delightful. I have learned much about rice prices, granaries, Guangzhou, the Pearl River delta, Zhujigang, and the nature of international collaboration and friendship from him. I would like to thank Professor Ye Xian’en for first introducing us in when I passed through Guangzhou, and then bringing us together at the Fourth International Conference on Qing Social and Economic History in , where we shared our interest in, and enthusiasm and respect for, each other’s work. A grant from the Committee on Scholarly Communication with the People’s Republic of China (CSCPRC) enabled Chen Chunsheng to spend six months in the United States in early , and Professor Philip C. C. Huang arranged for Chen to affiliate with the Center for Chinese Studies at UCLA; we thank both for their support. Chen hosted me at Zhongshan University in early for two weeks of field work in Lingnan, and I thank him and his wife, Liu Hong, for their hospitality. Chen also introduced me to Liu Zhiwei, his colleague in the History Department, who is exceptionally knowledgeable about the history of the Pearl River delta; I thank Liu for sharing both his ideas, especially about the Pearl River delta and the migrations from northern Guangdong into the delta, and his written work with me. Without libraries and archives, and their staffs, none of this book would have been possible. I would like to thank the Number One Historical Archives in Beijing, especially Ju Deyuan and his staff, including Liu Wei and Wang Daorui; the National Palace Museum in Taibei; the Library of Congress, espe- cially Chu Mi Wiens, Robert Dunn, and David Hsü in the Asian Division, and Pam Vanee and the staff of the Geography and Map Division; Ann Topjon
© Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521591775 - Tigers, Rice, Silk, and Silt: Environment and Economy in Late Imperial South China Robert B. Marks Frontmatter More information
Acknowledgments xv of the Bonnie Bell Wardman Library at Whittier College; Ramon Myers and the staff at the Hoover Institution Library at Stanford University; the Uni- versity of Wisconsin Library; the Gest Library at Princeton University; and the Yale University Library. At Cambridge University Press, Frank Smith made the process of getting the manuscript to print a delight, Camilla T. K. Palmer saw it through pro- duction, and Robert Racine helped sharpen my prose and argument and saved me from making several errors. Generous financial support gave me the time to do the research and to write. A Graves Award (administered for the American Council of Learned Societies by Pomona College) in supported two months of research at the Number One Historical Archives in Beijing, followed two years later by another month’s research there. A Stanford University grant allowed me to use the Hoover Institution Library. A NEH Travel-to-Collections grant supported work at the National Palace Museum in Taibei, and a – NEH Fellowship for College and University Teachers (FB--) supported the writing of this book. Support from the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation enabled me to travel to Hong Kong to attend the Conference on the History of the Environment in China in . The indulgence of two Whittier College presidents granted me the time to pursue my scholarly interests by releasing me from my more bureaucratic duties, and a sabbatical leave of absence from Whittier College provided another semester of time. Whittier College also granted me funds to purchase computer hardware and software. Grant McNaughton made his mountain home near to the John Muir Wilderness available to me, and com- pleting the final revisions of this book there was pleasurable indeed. Finally, permission to use material previously published is gratefully acknowledged: from E. J. Brill for material from my and Chen Chunsheng’s article, “Price Inflation and Its Social, Economic, and Climatic Context in Guangdong Province, –,” T’oung pao ,no. (); and from the Society of Qing Studies for material from “Rice Prices, Food Supply, and Market Structure in Eighteenth-Century South China,” Late Imperial China , no. (Dec. ). To all of these friends, colleagues, students, institutions, libraries, colleges, universities, and granting agencies, I say, “Thank you.” Whatever errors or questionable interpretations that remain are mine alone.
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Map key◊Lingnan counties, ca.
County Key County Key County Key County Key County Key County Key
Anding Fengshun Huitong Luorong Shangsi Xingning xviii Anping Fengyang Jiangzhou Luoyang Shangxiadong Xingye Baishan Fengyi Jiaying Maoming Shicheng Xinhui Beiliu Fogang Jie’an Maping Shixing Xining Binzhou Fuchuan Jielun Mingjiang Shunde Xinning Bobai Gan’en Jieyang Nadi Si’en Xinning Boluo Gaoming Kaijian Nama Sihui Xinxing Bose Gaoyao Kaiping Nan’ao Is. Siling Xinyi Cangwu Gongcheng Laibin Nandan Suixi Xiuren Cenxi Guangning Lechang Nanhai Taiping Xuanhua Changhua Guanyang Lehui Nanxiong Teng Xuwen Changle Gui Lianping Ningming Tianbao Yaizhou Changning Guide Lianshan Panyu Tianhe Yangchun Chaoyang Guiping Lianzhou Pingle Tianzhou Yangchun Chenghai Guishan Lin’gao Pingnan Wanzhou Yangjiang Chengmai Guishun Lingchuan Pingyuan Wancheng Yangli Chongshan Guling Lingshan Puning Wenchang Yangshan Chongzuo Guohua Lingshui Qianjiang Wengyuan Yangshuo Conghua Haifeng Lingui Qinzhou Wuchuan Yingde Danzhou Haikang Lingyun Qingyuan Wulu Yining Dapu Haiyang Lipu Qiongshan Wuxuan Yishan Deqing He Liucheng Quanzhou Xialei Yong’an Dianbai Hechi Long’an Quanming Xiangzhou Yongfu Ding’an Hengzhou Longchuan Qujiang Xiangshan Yongkang Dingluo Heping Longmen Raoping Xiangwu Yongning Dong’an Hepu Longsheng Renhua Xiaozhen’an Yongshun Dongguan Heshan Longying Rong Xiashixi Yong’an www.cambridge.org Donglan Heyuan Longzhou Rong Xilin Yulin Dujie Hua Luchuan Ruyuan Xilong Zengcheng Dukang Huazhou Lufeng Sanshui Xin’an Zhaoping Duyang Huaiji Luobai Shanglin Xincheng Zhenping Enping Huaiyuan Luocheng Shanglin Xing’an Zhenyuan Fengchuan Huilai Luoding Shanglong Xinglong Zhongzhou Cambridge University Press 0521591775 - Tigers, Rice, Silk, and Silt: Environment and Economy in Late Imperial South China Robert B. Marks Frontmatter More information Lingnan counties, ca.
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Tigers, Rice, Silk, and Silt
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