DOI: 10.1007/s10584-014-1244-7
Scopus记录号: 2-s2.0-84939883376
论文题名: How climate change impacted the collapse of the Ming dynasty
作者: Zheng J. ; Xiao L. ; Fang X. ; Hao Z. ; Ge Q. ; Li B.
刊名: Climatic Change
ISSN: 0165-0009
EISSN: 1573-1480
出版年: 2014
卷: 127, 期: 2 起始页码: 169
结束页码: 182
语种: 英语
Scopus关键词: Deterioration
; Drought
; Food supply
; Thermal processing (foods)
; Climate deterioration
; Government expenditure
; Government troops
; Historical records
; Military expenditure
; Per capita production
; Precipitation change
; Social vulnerability
; Climate change
英文摘要: Based on the reconstructed temperatures, precipitation changes, and occurrences of extreme climate events, together with historical records on fiscal deterioration, food crises, and the frequencies of popular unrest, rebellions and wars, we identified three principal ways in which climate change contributed to the collapse in the Ming dynasty. Firstly, cooling, aridification, and desertification during a cold period destroyed the military farm system, which was the main supply system for the provisioning of government troops on the northern frontiers; these impacts increased the military expenditure from 64 % of total government expenditure in 1548–1569 to 76 % in 1570–1589 and thus aggravated the national fiscal crisis that occurred during the late Ming dynasty. Secondly, climate deterioration (e.g., cooling, aridification, and an increase in the frequencies of frost- and drought-related disasters, etc.) led to a 20–50 % reduction in the per capita production of raw grain in most areas of China, which resulted in widespread food crises and exacerbated the vulnerability of social structures during the last several decades of the Ming dynasty. Thirdly, the severe droughts occurring in 1627–1643 were a key trigger to the peasantry uprising. These droughts also played a significant role to promote the peasantry uprising, especially reviving the peasantry troops by recruitment of famine victims when they nearly perished in 1633 and 1638, and severely disrupting the food supply for the government troops, resulting in the final defeat of the government troops by the peasantry troops. This study contributes to an understanding of the climate-related mechanisms behind the collapse of the Ming dynasty, and provides a historical case study that enhances our understanding of the nature of interactions between climate change and social vulnerability. © 2014, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht. Citation statistics:
资源类型: 期刊论文
标识符: http://119.78.100.158/handle/2HF3EXSE/84706
Appears in Collections: 气候减缓与适应 气候变化事实与影响
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作者单位: Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; The Institute of Qing History, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China; School of Geography, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China; School of Language and Culture, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China
Recommended Citation:
Zheng J.,Xiao L.,Fang X.,et al. How climate change impacted the collapse of the Ming dynasty[J]. Climatic Change,2014-01-01,127(2)