Spatial-temporal characteristics of land reclamation in Guanzhong region in the Qing Dynasty

Based on numerable and valuable historical documents, spatial and temporal characteristics of land reclamation in Guanzhong region in the Qing Dynasty has been analyzed in this paper The results are: 1)As a taxing facility rather than a precise description of the farmland area, the registered farmland in historical documents of Guanzhong region in the Qing Dynasty didn't agree with the fact However, the records and their variations were spatially rational Obvious differences can be found between the farmland variations in different regions, while the variations in the same region were consistent 2)Five stages of the land reclamation in Guanzhong region during the Qing Dynasty were identified,i.e., a stage of desolation in the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, a stage of recultivation from the 10th year of Shunzhi Emperor to the 6th year of Qianlong Emperor, a stage of expanding reclamation from the 6th year of Qianlong Emperor to the end of Xianfeng Emperor,and still another stage of desolation from the 1st year of Tongzhi Emperor to the 6th year of Guangxu Emperor, another stage of recultivation from the 6th year of Guangxu Emperor to the end of the Qing Dynasty The arable lands were reclaimed up by the time of Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors, when farmland area reached the level of the end of the Ming Dynasty The expanding reclamation during the time of the next 4 emperors (Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang and Xianfeng) kept on enlarging the farmland and brought it to the peak level in the reign of Daoguang and Xianfeng emperors This level was not reached during the recultivation in the late Qing Dynasty 3)The land reclamation is spatially imbalanced due to environmental differences In the early stage, recultivation concentrated in the plain and tableland areas In the mid stage, expanding reclamation occurred in mountainous and hilly areas In later stage, the reclamation activities moved back to plains and tablelands As for the spatial characteristics, the plain and tableland areas with better natural conditions had a low ratio of desolation, a high ratio of recultivation and a quick process of recultivation The mountainous and hilly areas had a higher ratio of desolation, a lower ratio of recultivation and a slower recultivation, or could hardly be recultivated And the intensity of reclamation in the plain and tableland area was much higher 4)Detailed analysis on the spatial temporal characteristics of land reclamation is not only the basis of the study on farmland variation, but also an important way for the study of the variation processes of other land use types Inconsiderate employment of the registered data as the normal farmland statistics without correction will affect the reliability of the research and result in a deviation from the fact