The southward shift of China's ancient economic center of gravity was the result of a variety of factors. Mainly manifested in:
1. The long-term war in the north and the relative stability in the south have provided a favorable social environment for the economic development in the south. For example, during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the social economy was relatively prosperous, but later, due to the influence of the Anshi Rebellion and the separatist regime in the buffer regions, the social stability in the north was destroyed; During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, a large-scale war broke out in the north almost every ten years on average; In the song dynasty. Against the minority regimes, the war is even more continuous.
2. A large number of working people in the north moved south to escape the war, enriching the labor force in the south and bringing advanced tools and technologies. For example, from the end of the Western Jin Dynasty to the Southern Dynasties, as many as 900,000 farmers moved from the north to the south, accounting for one-eighth of the total population in the north. This has provided sufficient labor force for the development of the southern economy. The southward migration of North Renye Fang brought the advanced production technology of the Central Plains to the south. In the southern region, the original fire tillage method has been developed to use manure as fertilizer. Niu Geng is popular.
3. The southward movement of the political center (such as the Southern Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty) or eastward movement (such as the Ming and Qing Dynasties) accelerated the development of the South. In order to maintain their own rule, the southern rulers adopted a series of measures conducive to economic development; During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the rulers of the Southern Tang Dynasty "built white ponds to irrigate fields" in Chuzhou. Wuyue has built many water conservancy facilities, such as the famous stone pond for keeping the sea.
The natural conditions in the south are good, suitable for agricultural development, and the foreign trade conditions are superior to those in the north.
Second, the process
1. Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties: tend to be balanced. After the demise of the Western Jin Dynasty, the southern region experienced regime change from the Eastern Jin Dynasty to the Southern Dynasties. During the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Southern Dynasties, the economic development in the south of the Yangtze River narrowed the economic gap between the north and the south and tended to be balanced, which laid the foundation for the gradual shift of China's economic center of gravity to the south.
2. Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties: Began to move south. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, both the North and South economies made great progress. The land resources in Jiangnan area have been further developed and become an important grain producing area. However, after the Anshi Rebellion, the northern province was divided into provinces, and the northern economy was seriously damaged again. By the late Tang dynasty, there had been a phenomenon that "most of the gifts were in Jianghuai". China's economic center of gravity began to move south. During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, there were frequent wars in the north and less wars in the south, which were relatively stable. Throughout the Five Dynasties, China's economic center of gravity moved southward, and the south became an advanced region of the national economy, with a population exceeding that of the north.
3. Song Dynasty: Finally finished. During the Song Dynasty, there were frequent wars in the north. After the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Southern Song regime settled in the southeast corner, further developing the southern economy. At that time, there was a proverb in Taihu Lake basin, "Su Lake is ripe, and the world is full", which indicated that the agricultural production in the south of the Yangtze River had surpassed that in the north, completely replacing the position of the northern economic center. In the Yuan Dynasty, in order to solve the problem of "transporting grain from the south to the north", grain transportation and unprecedented sea transportation were also vigorously set up, which shows the importance of the southern economy. It can be seen that the Southern Song Dynasty was the last stage of China's ancient economic center moving southward. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the position of the southern economic center was consolidated and developed.
Third, the impact
1. Impact on China's traffic and trade. Due to the shift of economic center of gravity to the south, coastal cities in the south have developed rapidly, and maritime transportation has also been greatly improved. After the economic center of gravity moved south in the Southern Song Dynasty, southern cities benefited a lot until now. Some cities with seaports have developed rapidly by using maritime traffic and river transportation, which has promoted economic and political exchanges with neighboring countries.
2. Impact on population distribution. To some extent, the transfer of population makes the economic center shift from north to south, and the southward movement of the economic center in turn urges the people in the north to move further southward. The population of the south is expanding rapidly, and the proportion of the population in the south and southeast regions is increasing.
3. The impact on talent education. The shift of the economic center of gravity to the south has led to the corresponding changes in talent education, the most obvious of which is the change of the number one scholar. From the Tang Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the geographical distribution of the top scholar's birthplace has an obvious trend of gradual progress from north to south. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, there were 68 northern champions, accounting for 665,438+0% of the national total, and the northern champions had obvious advantages. The geographical distribution of the three generations of top scholars in Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties has changed obviously compared with the previous generation. During this period, there were 194 top scholars in China, of which only 26 were from the north, accounting for 13.4% of the national total. Southern champion 168, accounting for 86.6%, and the local champion in the south has formed an absolute advantage in amount.
4. Influence on ethnic relations. The southward shift of economic center of gravity has better integrated all ethnic groups in China, and the southward shift of northerners has enabled nomadic people and Han people to have deeper and wider exchanges and cooperation, which has promoted the development of ethnic diversity and unity.
5. Impact on the southern environment. Over-exploitation in some southern areas, such as "burning wasteland and reclaiming farmland around lakes", has destroyed the ecological environment to some extent and affected sustainable development.