Preliminary Investigation on Popular Famine Relief in the Early Ming Dynasty

The government plays a vital role in the disaster prevention and famine relief in the early Ming dynasty, namely, the governmental relief system dominates the whole famine relief practices. But at the same time popular famine relief behaviors permeate in it from the very beginning. During the Xuan De period the governmental famine relief system tends to be powerless, so the government begins to persuade the popular strength to join in order to share the pressure of famine relief. From the Zheng Tong period on, the role of the popular relief is getting more and more important.