Prohibition & food issues in Qing Dynasty
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    Abstract:

    After the Qing Dynasty unified China, there was a peaceful and stable situation and the prosperity and development of the economy and society, and the population was rapidly recovered and increased. During the Kangxi Period, the Chinese population broke through 100 million, and by the peak stage of population growth in the middle and late Qing Dynasty, it exceeded 400 million. Therefore, the Qing Dynasty also became the historical period with the largest population in ancient China. The substantial population growth has led to the increasingly prominent problem of food supply. In order to save food to meet the needs of the new population to maintain their livelihood, the early Qing Dynasty (mainly the three dynasties of Kang Xi, Yong Zheng and Qian Long) proposed a strict alcohol prohibition policy and issued relevant laws. In addition, the Qing Dynasty was a period of frequent disasters in China, which led to the emergence of prohibition laws in the early Qing Dynasty marked by "prohibition of alcohol due to disasters". However, the proposal of the alcohol prohibition decree also caused great repercussions within the Qing government, forming a clear division of supporter and opposition of the alcohol prohibition decree, and launching a fierce debate about whether to implement the alcohol prohibition policy. Although most emperors, as the supreme ruler, supported and carried out the policy of prohibition against alcohol, these prohibition laws were greatly discounted by officials at all levels in the actual implementation process, and were basically unable to be implemented. The reason is that, on the one hand, it is affected by the basic formation of the nationwide drinking custom, especially that alcohol has become a necessary consumable in daily social life and the consumption is huge. On the other hand, it is due to the practical impact of the alcohol industry as an important driving force of local economic development, because the production of alcohol can improve the market economic value of food crops, and can also drive the development of related industries, providing more opportunities for people to maintain their livelihoods and increase their income. Therefore, many local officials, proceeding from reality, pointed out that the production and sales of alcohol not only are the basis for many people to live on, but also promote the development of local economy. Therefore, they do not agree to implement such a strict alcohol prohibition policy. Objectively, as an irreplaceable daily consumer product with addictive consumption characteristics, alcohol has played an irreplaceable role in important ceremonies, commemorative activities and festivals. It has become an important consumer product that cannot be separated from people’s daily life. The prohibition policy simply because of food wasting or dealing with famine is unreasonable and impractical.

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崔思朋,仲伟民.清代禁酒与粮食问题[J].重庆大学学报社会科学版,2022,28(6):165~179

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  • Online: February 03,2023
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