The Water and Sediment Environment and the Development of “Water-Farmland-Soil” in the Yangtze River Estuary Region since the Ming and Qing Dynasties
08-13-2025
International Social Science Journal (Chinese Edition)
No.4, 2024
The Water and Sediment Environment and the Development of “Water-Farmland-Soil” in the Yangtze River Estuary Region since the Ming and Qing Dynasties
(Abstract)
Wu Junfan
After the mid-Ming Dynasty, the new round of changes in the salt-fresh water environment caused a series of responsive changes in sandbar morphology, farmland water conservancy, and land use in the Yangtze River estuary area. The northern part of Chongming Island and the southeastern part of the Tonghai Plain on the opposite side became major areas for sandbars becoming land. After the sandbars exposed, agricultural reclamation was carried out based on the water conservancy principle of introducing fresh water and blocking salt water. Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, a large number of sandbars of the Yangtze River have developed into a new type of “rice granary” and have continuously merged into a part of the agricultural area of the Yangtze River Delta, which is inseparable from the operation of the artificial water conservancy system that is highly coordinated with the water and sediment environment of the Yangtze River estuary area.