Late Yuan Famine and Social Unrest

Timeline

1. 1330Songjiang, Pingjiang, Jiaxing, Huzhou · East ChinaAutumn floods destroyed over 36,000 qing of farmland; in Songjiang, Pingjiang, Jiaxing, Huzhou and other circuits over 405,570 households suffered flood and famine. The court promoted grain purchase for official posts to raise relief grain.
2. 1333–1335Zezhou, Luzhou, Yidu, Jinan · North ChinaDrought and famine struck Zezhou and Luzhou, and the court sent envoys to relieve them; later, grain from ever-normal granaries was distributed to famine victims in Yidu, Jinan and Bindi. In the first year of Zhiyuan, silver from levies relieved the poor of Ganzhou, and 30,000 shi of grain relieved famine victims in Jinan.
3. 1337–1339Jiangzhe Province · East ChinaThe court issued 400,000 ingots of paper money to relieve 400,000 flood-stricken households in Jiangzhe, and lifted bans on rivers, lakes, hills and fields to allow people to gather fuel. Yet relief could not offset years of disaster and heavy taxes and corvée; local uprisings, corvée revolts and Yao revolts arose one after another.