Crisis and Response: Natural Disasters and T'ang Society

Citation

Tao, S. and Guoying, M. (2009), "Crisis and Response: Natural Disasters and T'ang Society", China Agricultural Economic Review, Vol. 1 No. 4, pp. 485-488. https://doi.org/10.1108/17561370910989293

The mode of impact: response in T'ang Dynasty

The existence and development of human beings is a course of constant utilizing and transforming nature. While nature is not a passive recipient of human behaviors, it responds to human behaviors in unique ways, generally known as disasters. We may say that each stage of human development is accompanied by the process of fighting against disasters. Crisis and response, or the mode of impact‐response, has summarized the whole development process of human society. China was called the Nation of Famine. Frequent occurrences and negative effects of natural disasters have posed great threats to realistic environmental backgrounds for human survival.

People over time have accumulated abundant historical data and strategies for reducing and relieving disasters, stemming from people's research into disasters in the hope of dealing with them more effectively. The researches for famine history have been constantly developed and have made innovative progress in various aspects such as disaster situations, provincial districts, waters, and dynasties, while researches on disasters in the T'ang Dynasty are comparatively rarer than those in other dynasties. Now, a book entitled Crisis and Response: Natural Disasters and T'ang Society, compiled by Professor Yan Shoucheng from Capital Normal University is a pioneering work, presenting an overall investigation into disasters in the T'ang Dynasty.

The book is the result of a National Social Science Foundation project, which is also the first monograph for natural disasters in the T'ang Dynasty at home and abroad. Professor Yan has long been devoted to conducting researches on the history of ancient disasters. He has a unique vision in this respect. Almost all the masters and doctors under his supervision are engaged in the relevant researches, which has formed an excellent academic team. This book is a conclusion by Professor Yan of his years of study of disasters' history, and is composed of ten chapters.

It comprises three parts, with more than 400,000 words, to investigate natural disasters in the T'ang Dynasty, and discusses crises caused by calamities and the correspondent measures taken at that time. It has the following features.

Environmental history view: sediments of time

Chinese traditional view holds that heaven, earth, and man should be in harmony and unity. However, improper human social and economic activities will deteriorate the natural environment, thus causing or worsening natural disasters. It is where negative effects lie in the interactive relationship between social development and natural environment. With knowledge expanding and technology developing, man has an even deeper understanding of natural disasters, and can deal with natural challenges more rapidly. The measures human beings took laid solid foundations for prosperity at the next stage, but degraded the natural environment as well, which in some ways made the next potential crises more severe. That is the process of sediments of time.

The existing researches on disasters' history usually concentrate on the positive effects of disasters reduction and relief, focusing on measuring the economic and social benefits caused, while paying little attention to the negative effects the measures made in the long run. By making a comprehensive analysis of disasters in the T'ang Dynasty, the author holds that the disasters tended to be more and more frequent in late T'ang Dynasty which had vital ties with social factors at that time. In the early T'ang Dynasty, garrisons exploring the land in the upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River developed agriculture to prevent the neighboring minorities from invading; but this damaged vegetation and the ecological environment, causing soil drain, which became the reason for frequent flooding of the Yellow River in late T'ang. In the An Shi Rebellion, there were a large amount of people from the north migrating to the south; contradictions existed between people and water struggling for earth. As a result, the ecological environment was damaged and floods frequently occurred along the Yangtze River. Therefore, changes in politics and military patterns, and the negative effects of economic development on natural environment, are all social factors for the frequent natural disasters in late T'ang.

Interpreting history from the perspective of disaster history

The impacts exerted by natural disasters on economic society are spread progressively in waves and layers. In a country like China, where disasters occur frequently, the history of Chinese society's evolution is a history of disasters and calamities relief as well. The author holds that disasters, as a cutting point, are an essential approach to observe and study T'ang history. This view greatly enlightens us and provides us with references to investigate natural disasters.

The author believes that the initial impact of natural disasters in the T'ang Dynasty on society was the damage to agriculture, population, and property, followed by famine, disease, and the atmosphere of disturbance and horror. The people in disaster areas utilized various means of self‐relief in order to lessen the disasters' threat to life. When they could not survive, the people would flee to other places. Meanwhile, the impact would spread to a large‐scale, thus disturbing the society. When fleeing could not help, the people would embark upon armed struggle to strive for the right to live, thus causing society to become trapped in serious crises. However, before the natural disasters caused severe social crises, their influence had been on politics, military, race, and so on.

In a small‐scale peasant economy, the backward productive forces and frangibility of natural economy trapped the civilians in poverty. Once disasters occur, they will lead a miserable life. In ancient times, when disasters happened, the local people would actively respond to stay alive while the government took certain measures. Calamities' administration is both governmental behavior and social group behavior. Disasters being a cutting point, the author interprets politics and economic events, which can be a creative contribution to history researches in T'ang.

The T'ang Dynasty was the most prosperous period in China. How important is it in history? What was the economic situation in ancient China? From the perspective of impact‐response, we will have an even deeper understanding.

Methodology

If we want to make a breakthrough from the previous researches on disasters' history, it is obvious that the historical data available are not adequate, and the creativity in methods is more important. With the uprising of Cliometrics, econometric methods have been more and more utilized into the study of history issues. Though there are some shortcomings in quantitative research, it provides us with a more vivid picture of society at that time. In some way, quantitative research can be a basis of more rational understanding. In addition, interdisciplinary research is a trend of present history research, which is also represented in the book Crisis and Response: Natural Disasters and T'ang Society

Crisis and Response: Natural Disasters and T'ang Society contains systematic studies for six major disasters in the T'ang Dynasty, and 17 kinds altogether. Meanwhile, the book adopts some science principles and methods such as weather, geology, and biology. A new perspective of statistics of times, evaluation of disasters' degrees, category of disasters, and so on in the T'ang Dynasty is proposed. For example, flood is categorized into water logging and flooding, or even more concrete categories by utilizing theories in meteorology, which not only greatly puts forward traditional research on flood in ancient times, but also builds up a tie between flood researches in the past and at present.

As for the statistics of disasters, it used to be calculated in the year, which is rough. More detailed statistics have been made by combining the characteristics and locations of disaster areas to carefully analyze the historical data. The evaluation of disaster degrees has borrowed the concept of disasters' degree in modern disaster study. Based on the features of data in T'ang, the book proposes its own views on the criteria of disasters' degrees, and has made the concrete evaluation of various disasters. In addition, the features and laws of disasters' times and space distribution are investigated to explore their causes. A concrete description and analysis of special cases and rescue measures for certain disasters, such as a plague of locusts, and fire has been made as well.

Conclusion

The most intuitive feelings natural disasters bring to human society are their negative effects. Besides personal heartbreak, the damage to social material and wealth are impressive as well – putting social development into decline, or slowing it down. Based on that, it has been traditionally recognized that disasters are an incurable tumor in the body of human society. Starting from the point of historical materialism, and more objectively viewing the effects disasters have brought to society and man, the conclusion will be more rational. There do exist certain reasonable factors in disasters. The previous balance will be broken once there is uncoordinated development in some respect. Then, a new factor emerges to coordinate and rebalance all parties involved.

Moreover, the recognition of the actions people took to fight against disasters in ancient times should also be rationalized. With the influence of the Confucian thinking “Interaction between Man and Nature,” ancient society formed basic disasters' views such as Theory of Disasterous Signs, and Theory of Tsai‐I based on Yin Yang and Wu Xing. Therefore, rulers should make amendments to their own actions for disaster indemnity, and have unshirkable responsiblities to balance Yin and Yang by regulation, which has covered the disasters with fate or destiny. In contrast, various disaster indemnities' policies and measures have been taken. The previous researches criticize it as superstition. However, as a matter of fact, disaster indemnity is one of the important approaches for nature to go into history and also a vital approach for disasters to affect society, especially with its rich connotation. Although disaster indemnity cannot eradicate disasters in a real sense, it is still meaningful to relieve social crises brought about by disasters. More importantly, disaster indemnity activities have reflected some influence on a political situation, staff struggle, and some systems.

To summarize, the mode of impact‐response between nature and human society has long existed, which constitutes various vivid pictures. With such fruitful historical materials, there is still a long way to go and also a mission for disaster history research on how to find out how laws, man and nature reach harmony.