气候剧变与元代黄河流域蚕桑业的兴衰-《中国农史》

文章信息/Info

Title:: Climate Change and the Sericulture Transformation in the Yellow River Basin in the Yuan Dynasty

Author(s):: XIA Ru-bing; (Institution of Chinese Agricultural Civilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095)

Keywords:: Yuan Dynasty; sericulture industry; climate change; Yellow River Basin; economic history

摘要:: 元代黄河流域的蚕桑业发生了前盛后衰的显著变化，元代前期蚕桑业发展迅速，中后期急剧衰退。造成这一转折的主要原因并非棉花推广的取代，气候变化是关键的影响因素。元代前期气候温暖，中后期发生突变，从此进入近600年的寒冷期。在气候剧变的影响下，空前剧烈的灾害严重破坏了黄河流域的蚕桑业，持续寒冷的气候显著降低蚕桑生产的效益。二者的交互作用导致元代黄河流域的蚕桑业由盛转衰，并由此彻底失去中心地位。

Abstract:: The sericulture industry in the Yellow River basin had undergone transformation in the Yuan Dynasty. In the early Yuan Dynasty, it was restored and developed to a very high level，while it was rapidly declining in the middle and late period. As a result, the Chinese sericulture center completed its southward shift in the Yuan Dynasty. The southward movement of the sericulture center is not the result of the cotton promotion. The climate was warm in the early and changed abruptly in the middle and late Yuan Dynasty. Under the influence of climate change, unprecedented severe disasters had caused serious damage to the production of sericulture in the Yellow River basin, and the cold climate had significantly reduced the benefits of sericulture production. The drastic climate change in the middle and late Yuan Dynasty was the key factor that caused the flourishing and then declining of the sericulture industry in the Yellow River basin and led to the southward movement of the sericulture center.