清代中晚期闽江流域茶叶贸易与生态环境变迁

Tea Trade and Ecological Environments in Minjiang River Basin During the Middle and Late Qing Dynasty

清代中晚期,随着外贸茶叶需求的增加,闽江流域山地茶树的种植面积日益扩大,这在给闽江流域带来经济效益的同时,还对当地生态环境造成了一定的影响:其一,导致水土流失较为严重。其二,茶叶在加工过程中消耗了大量林木,导致森林植被遭到破坏。其三,采茶过程中,出现了大量季节性工人,他们的涌入,一方面造成了粮食供应紧张,导致粮价高涨,刺激丘陵地区进一步开发;另一方面部分采茶工人定居闽江流域,在山区从事农业生产,这些也加剧了闽江流域的水土流失。茶叶贸易的发展,对闽江流域生态环境的影响是多重的。

In the middle and late Qing Dynasty, with the increasing demand for tea export trade, the growing area of tea trees in the mountain area of Minjiang River Basin brought economic benefits, and caused certain influence on the local ecological environments as well. Firstly, soil erosion was more serious. Secondly, a large number of trees were consumed in the procedure of processing, resulting in the destruction of forest vegetation. Thirdly, during the process of tea picking, a great amount of seasonal workers poured in. On the one hand, the food supply was tight, leading to high grain prices and stimulating further development in the hilly areas; on the other hand, some tea pickers settled in the Minjing River Basin were engaged in agricultural production in mountain areas and intensified the water and soil loss in this area. This paper concludes that the development of tea trade has multiple influences on ecological environments of Minjiang River Basin.