According to relevant historical records, in ancient China, due to drought, floods and other reasons, there were often no crops in the fields, which determined that the people at that time would go hungry. At that time, when all kinds of materials were extremely scarce, the people could only survive the disaster by chewing bark and eating roots.
Speaking of which, everyone must be very curious. Why didn't the victims go to the river to catch fish, but ate roots and bark?
In fact, all this goes back to the specific situation of ancient disasters. People in different areas, different geographical environments, and different degrees of disaster.
First, ancient disasters occurred frequently.
In ancient times, due to low productivity and limited science and technology, for the people, it was entirely up to the sky to eat. It can be said that the weather at that time directly decided the harvest of the land. Especially for people who make a living by farming, natural disasters are a fatal problem for them. In case of natural disasters, their first problem is how to fill their stomachs.
According to legend, there were disasters in ancient times, and there were different forms and degrees of disasters almost every year. And these disasters will bring troubles to the people's lives at that time. The fruits of people's hard work for a year are likely to be destroyed by a heavy rain or a few months of drought.
For people at that time, once natural disasters appeared, it meant that a year's hard work was in vain. Not only that, they also have to face different degrees of hunger. In some areas, people are hungry because of natural disasters, so they can only eat easily. Although this practice is extremely cruel, it also exposes the hardships of the bottom people in ancient society, which is a fact that we have to accept.
Because of the disaster, most people will go to the mountains to pick some wild fruits and other foods to satisfy their hunger. In addition, bark and grass roots have become food for ordinary people. These things are not enough to eat, but they are also terrible. At the very least, they can maintain human needs and not starve to death.
But then again, why don't people in the disaster area go down to the river to catch fish and shrimp to eat?
In fact, this is closely related to different disasters in different regions.
Second, the northern region.
In ancient China, the northern region was also a disaster-stricken area, and a large area of drought often occurred in the north, resulting in a large area of rice fields without grain harvest. In addition to drought, the north occasionally experienced some floods, but floods were very rare in ancient north.
However, despite the vast plains in the northern region, the land is very barren. These lands can't grow too many crops, and the interference of weather often leads to a large area of land failure in the north. The north is densely populated, and lack of food will inevitably lead to disaster.
The disaster in the north was a matter of great concern to the rulers at that time. After all, the center of political power from ancient times to the present is in the Central Plains in the north. In order to stabilize the rule, the ruler will send an imperial envoy to bring food into the disaster area for disaster relief. Although the effect is not too great, it also alleviates the disaster to some extent.
Many people are curious about why people in disaster areas prefer to eat bark and grass roots rather than fish and shrimp in the river. In fact, there is a reason for this.
As we all know, the rivers and lakes in the north are far inferior to those in the south. Once the rivers here suffer from drought, most of them are in a state of exhaustion. How can I catch fish and shrimp? In other words, as long as there is a drought, the rivers in the north will be blind.
But because of the conditions at that time, the larger rivers in the north could not be caught at all. If you rush in, you will not only waste your strength, but even lose your life. Even for people who are extremely hungry in the disaster area, it is not worth the loss to lose their lives like this. Therefore, most people in the disaster-stricken areas in the north will choose to eat bark and grass roots, barely survive, or wait for the government's disaster relief. It is useless for them to catch fish and shrimp in the river.
Third, the southern region.
In ancient southern China, especially in the south of the Yangtze River, there were? Land of plenty? Good name. For southerners, they are much happier than northerners. First of all, they will not encounter the so-called drought. Although floods often occur, the impact on the people in the south is far less than that in the north.
It is worth mentioning that the southern region has high temperature, strong sunlight and sufficient water, and crops here can reach two or three crops a year. As long as it is not a perennial disaster, it will not have much impact on the people in the southern region. Objectively speaking, southerners can eat more food than northerners.
If there are minor disasters, southerners can almost solve them by themselves. If there is a major disaster, the court will not ignore it.
There is also a very important reason, that is, the population in the south was small at that time, far less than that in the north. Even the same disaster is relatively small for the southern region.
Therefore, people in the south, even if affected by natural disasters, will not go down the river to catch fish and shrimp. Because ordinary disasters for southerners have not reached the point where they have to go down the river to catch fish to eat.