Cotton Textile Handicraft and the Development of the Cotton Textile Industry in Modern China.

The article describes the evolution of cotton textile handicraft in China. The supply of cotton steadily expanded from the late Sung and early Yuan periods. In north China cotton first appeared in Shensi and spread gradually to Shantung, while in the south it was transplanted from Hainan Island to the China coast and spread northwards toward the Yangtze Valley region. Government demand for military uniforms encouraged greater cotton cultivation in the north. During the Yuan and Ming periods officials instructed farmers to adopt improved techniques of seed care, planting, and harvesting. Increased taxation in the late Ming period was also a powerful inducement to compel peasants to grow more cotton. Gradual changes in taste, the steady growth of towns, and the extension of money relationships increased demand for cotton cloth. On the supply side technical advances in both rice and cotton farming made for increased cultivation and greater yield. More land could be devoted to cotton because quick-ripening Champa rice seeds became more widely used, thus permitting double cropping and freeing more land for cash crops.