清代鄂西山区的美洲作物种植

Cultivation of American Crops in the Mountainous Areas of Western Hubei Province in Qing Dynasty

本文通过梳理鄂西3府19县的地方志中关于美洲作物的记载,采用"一般分布"与"集中产区"概念呈现了18世纪以来玉米、甘薯、马铃薯等美洲作物相继传入湖北的历史演变轨迹,其中,在清中叶形成了鄂西玉米集中种植带。研究结果表明,新作物的引入在增加山区耕地、丰富山民生计、促进土客交融上发挥了重要作用,初步转变了鄂西农业生产方式,缓解了灾区社会矛盾。山地作物与平原市场的互动使得山林经济呈现立体化开发与多样化经营,并未显现作物的"逃避特征"。新作物对鄂西人口增长的贡献有限,移民垦殖山地也并非以玉米种植为主,故而玉米并未加剧刀耕火种之风,与水土流失等灾害生成亦无直接关联。

By combing the records of American crops in the local chronicles of three prefectures and 19 counties in western Hubei,through the concepts of general distribution and production area concentration,this paper presents the historical trajectory of the introduction of American crops to Hubei since the 18th century.The central maize planting belt was formed in the middle period of Qing Dynasty.The introduction of new crops played an important role in increasing the cultivated land in mountainous areas,enriching the livelihood of mountain people and promoting the integration of soil and visitors.The interaction between mountain crops and plain markets formed the three-dimensional development and diversified management of forest economy,without revealing the"escapist character"of the crops.The new crop's contribution to the population growth in western Hubei is limited.And the settlement of mountainous areas by migrants was not dominated by maize cultivation.So,corn planting did not aggravate slash-and-burn wind,nor was it directly related to soil erosion and other disasters.