本文通过康熙与雍正时期地方官员对贵州环境描述的对比研究发现,康熙时期文献显示贵州多山少树、田土多石,部分地区已出现石漠化景观,是一片穷荒异瘠的土地,地方官员劝垦的态度消极悲观,更多的是向康熙争取特殊政策。雍正时期地方官员以积极的态度在贵州实施劝垦,认为贵州气候适宜,即便气候异常,有山有平地的起伏地形保证贵州不会出现颗粒无收的现象。贵州的森林往往是“逆苗”藏身之处,成为剿苗的障碍,故“焚烈山泽”成为如同“疏浚江河,挑筑沟坝,垦辟荒芜”一样重要的政务。文章指出,两朝官员眼里的贵州自然环境发生变化,有两个原因,一是两朝最高统治者治理贵州的思路和要求不同;二是地方官员针对的地区相异。
A comparison of the records of the environment of Guizhou by the local officials in the Kangxi Period and the Yongzheng Period of the Qing dynasty reveals the following facts. The records of the Kangxi Period were mainly about the barren mountains and poor land as well as some desertification, and the local officials were pessimistic about agricultural cultivation and tried to get some special preferential policies from Emperor Kangxi. However, the officials the Yongzheng Period were optimistic about agricultural cultivation because they thought the local climate was mild on the whole. Even if there appeared a bad year, the diversified topography of Guizhou would have some harvests. They also thought that because the "Miao rebels" usually hid themselves in the forests, these forests should be burned, which was regarded as important to them as other policies like "dredging the rivers and cultivating wasteland". Their different understandings were closely related to the different ideas and requirements of the kings for controlling Guizhou as well as the different understandings of the environment by the local officials.