This study examines how the Song-Jin wars and climate change in the 12th century triggered mass migrations, leading to significant transformations in the agricultural landscape of the Jiangnan region during the Southern Song Dynasty. Despite the dire ...
This study examines how the Song-Jin wars and climate change in the 12th century triggered mass migrations, leading to significant transformations in the agricultural landscape of the Jiangnan region during the Southern Song Dynasty. Despite the dire economic straits caused by the loss of North China and the protracted conflict with the Jin, the agricultural sector in Jiangnan became the driving force behind the Southern Song’s economic development. In traditional agriculture, population growth directly correlates with labor supply; Jiangnan experienced three major waves of migration, resulting in a population and wealth scale that eventually surpassed those of North China.
The primary catalyst for the migration of people from North China during the Southern Song was the war between the Song and Jin dynasties, which turned much of the north into a battlefield where farming was unsustainable. Furthermore, the Jin government’s agricultural policies were inadequate, leaving the remaining Song subjects struggling to survive. Coupled with a cooling climate and an increase in natural disasters during the transition between the two dynasties, these factors drove the populace southward. Initially, migrants from the north preferred the uplands of Jiangnan for their suitability for dry-field farming; over time, they expanded their focus to the development of lowlands.
The government also played a crucial role in Jiangnan’s development. Despite shortages of labor and resources due to the ongoing war, the emperor and officials dedicated themselves to the advancement of agriculture and sericulture, as well as disaster prevention. As part of its agricultural revival policy, the central government encouraged land reclamation. In Jiangnan, the development of polder fields (wutian, weitian, and hutian) was prioritized, and these paddy fields came to represent a significant portion of reclaimed land. Additionally, the promotion of dry-farming led to the expansion of various dry-field crops compared to the Northern Song period, with the expansion of wheat cultivation being particularly noteworthy.
Local governments also made multifaceted efforts to revive agriculture. Local officials, commissioned by the central government, oversaw specific field tasks such as plowing, manuring, transplanting, weeding, and sericulture. Their commitment is documented in Quannongwen (勸農文, Exhortations to Agriculture), which reflects their intent to address local agricultural challenges and enhance productivity.
Another key task for local officials was the dissemination of agricultural treatises. A representative work of the Jiangnan region is Chen Fu Nong Shu (陳旉農書, The Agricultural Treatise of Chen Fu). The context of its distribution can be traced through the postfaces and epilogues written by local officials who carved and distributed the text. These writings reveal that officials recognized the limits of mere exhortation and sought to supplement technical deficiencies by distributing both exhortations and technical manuals simultaneously.
In practice, Chen Fu Nong Shu avoided the traditional approach of merely compiling vast amounts of general knowledge. Instead, Chen Fu identified specific problems in Jiangnan agriculture and proposed solutions for efficient management, providing concise and essential techniques. Key methods included the double-cropping of rice and wheat, the utilization of diverse terrains for cultivation, and the production of cost-effective fertilizers. These techniques, which emerged following the southward migration of the northern populace, represent the most significant changes in Southern Song agriculture. In short, the migration of the North Chinese people was the decisive factor in transforming the agricultural system of Jiangnan. Their arrival led to the reclamation of previously underdeveloped uplands, the implementation of double-cropping, and the successful cultivation of various dry-field crops despite regional environmental challenges.