SHIGAKU ZASSHI
Online ISSN : 2424-2616
Print ISSN : 0018-2478
ISSN-L : 0018-2478
The Secular Trend of Rice Prices in Chiang-nan in the First Half of the Ch'ing Period
Mio Nakayama
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JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

1978 Volume 87 Issue 9 Pages 1269-1301,1406

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Abstract

The main available materials for rice price data in the first half of Ch'ing are officials' private reports to the emperor (tsou-che), miscellanious writings of the literati, and the records of natural calamities in the local gazetteers. Because of the lack of uniformity of weights and measures in the Ch'ing period, we cannot discuss the trend of rice prices simply by comparing price figures, but must also rely heavily on the accounts of contemporary observers. Rice prices had been rising since the end of the Wan-li Period (1573-1620) and went up sharply after the 10th-11th year of Ch'ung-chen (1628-44). Although these high prices continued to obtain throughout the earlier half of the Shun-chih period (1644-61), the widespread starvation witnessed in Ch'ung-chen was no longer found. Rice prices declined from the second half of Shun-chih until the early k'ang-hsi period (1662-1722), and this brought about the rural depression remarked upon with the saying "The cheapness of grain distresses the farmers" (ku-chien shang-nung 穀賎傷農). The decline was followed by a gradual rise after the mid-k'ang-hsi period and then a sudden upward surge in early Ch'ien-lung (1736-95) which caused rice-riots. Prices continued to rise throughout the later Ch'ien-lung period, and this rise is thought to have been accompa-nied by economic prosperity.

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© 1978 The Historical Society of Japan
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