The general trend of climate fluctuations in China over the past five thousand years has been that the warm period is shorter than one and the warmth is lower than the other, which determines the trend of southward migration of the economic center of gravity based on the agricultural economy as a whole.
Economic “South-North Decline” is emerging. The gap between East and West and between North and South has widened further.
Generally speaking, for every 1 degree Celsius drop in temperature, the northern boundary of the subtropical boundary also moves southwards by a latitude or so, and the northern boundary of subtropical plants suitable for crop growth also moves southward.
Lead to the separation of China’s political and economic centers. The southward shift of economic center of gravity in Chinese history is mainly manifested in three periods:
First, during the Wei-Jin North-South Dynasty, the Yellow River basin was stagnant and declining, the Yangtze River basin was developed on a large scale and the south economy was rising;
Second, during the five generations and two Song Dynasties, the economy of the south rose and overtook that of the north, forming a new economic center of gravity;
Third, since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the economic center of gravity has shifted further southwards, and the southeast coastal areas have developed abnormally.
Looking southwards at three large-scale economic centers of gravity, coinciding with the second, third and fourth cold periods in history, it is not difficult to see the relationship between changes in geographical environment and economic development.