During the Warring States period, Hepu began to produce and process pearls, and used pearls as ornaments and medicines, and exchanged food with cross-toed merchants as commodities. In the first year of Yuanfeng in the Western Han Dynasty (before 1 10), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty established Zhuya County in Hainan Island, and in the 19th year of Jianwu, it was built as Zhuya County, which belonged to Hepu.
When the Western Han Dynasty proclaimed himself emperor (the first 32 years-the first 7 years), Zhang Wang, who was so poor that she cried with her wife in her arms in the middle of the night, later became Jing Zhaoyin. Wang Feng, who came to power because he was outspoken, was imprisoned by Wang Feng for treason, and his wife sat together. Soon, Zhang Wang died in prison, and his wife's family confiscated Hepu, but his property was not confiscated. Because Hepu produces pearls and the opening of the Maritime Silk Road, Hepu is not only a pearl producing area, but also a pearl distribution center. Zhang Wang's wife seized this opportunity to run a pearl business in Hepu and accumulated millions of assets. Later, Zhang Wang's family was pardoned and returned to their hometown, where they could redeem their farm house and enjoy their life.
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the development of Hepu pearl industry reached its peak. However, due to the indiscriminate mining in the coming year, the pearl resources were seriously damaged, so the famous allusion of "Hepu Pearl Return" occurred: "(Meng Chang) moved to Hepu Taishou, and the county did not produce grain, but the jewelry was produced from the sea, which was comparable to the land of crossing toes, and often used commercial grain. This land is too greedy, too dishonest and too undisciplined. As a result, Zhu gradually crossed the county line and sought benefits from the illness of the people. When you are less than one year old, you will return to the Pearl, and all the people will return to business, and commercial goods will circulate. " This event will be described in detail below. In history, Hepu once had a forbidden zone for pearl production designated by the government. The sea is blocked to prevent pearl pickers from fishing in the sea, and businessmen are also prohibited from entering, so they can only collect pearls under the supervision of the government. The purpose is not to protect Hepu's pearl resources, but to give the government more exclusive rights. For example, in the third year of Taikang in the Western Jin Dynasty (2 18), in order to ensure the supply of jewels for the royal family, Emperor Wu of Jin issued a decree to send troops to guard Lianzhou Pearl Pond, stipulating that ordinary people were not allowed to collect pearls in it, and all pearl collection matters were arranged by the court.
In the winter of the second year of Jin Taikang, Sun Wu's regime banned pearl picking. People in Zhuhai are poor again. Jin Ping, empress Wu, wrote a letter asking for permission to open the Pearl River and allow people to trade, so that the lives of people in the Pearl River could be restored. The history book says: "Hepu people collect pearls as their profession and borrow rice from pearls, but Sun Wu prohibited pearl collection during the Three Kingdoms period. After Wu returned to the state of Jin, he asked for approval. Every June 10 to February of the following year, pearls are not picked, businessmen are free to travel, and people are trapped. " From the first year of Tianbao in the Tang Dynasty (742) to the second year of Guangde (764), feudal rulers forced pearl people to pay tribute to pearls, which led to over-exploitation of pearls in Hepu, almost killing all the golden goose that exploited the southern pearl, and the pearl resources were seriously damaged, resulting in the second great migration of pearl mussels in Hepu since "Hepu returned pearls" in history. As Ningling in the Tang Dynasty first said in Hepu Guizhu: "Since the first year of Tianbao in Hepu County, there has been no government, and the pearl has escaped." Yuan Zhen, a great poet, also wrote in Pearl Picking: "There are high waves in the bottomless sea, and pearl pickers are sentenced to death. A pearl sentenced ten thousand people to death, so what about the person who bought the maid? Picking pearls every year to avoid people, this year picking pearls Poseidon. Poseidon died picking pearls, and the pearls were empty. Beads are the sea, and the sea is god. God picked himself today, not to mention people. "
In addition, as early as the Tang Dynasty, some people in Hepu ground shells into Buddha statues, inserted them in pearl mussels and took them out three years later. This is the earliest Buddha pearl in Hepu. In 962 AD, Song Taizu imperial edict Hepu set up Mei Chuan County, set up a pearl class, and began to collect pearls by imperial edict. Nanzhu was regarded as a valuable item by the government and paid tribute to the court regularly. In 972 AD, Liu Ti, the little emperor of Lingnan, made a saddle belt out of Hepu pearls to please Song Taizu, which Song Taizu called "Pearl Dragon Jade Saddle". Song Taizu likes it very much. He said: "I can rule this country with my skills, so it will be destroyed."
During the Song Dynasty 190, from the third year of Song Taizu's land establishment to the twenty-sixth year of Shaoxing, Hepu pearls were seriously fished, and the pearl resources in coastal areas were exhausted. Officers and men forced pearl pickers to collect pearls at the border with Vietnam, and a large number of pearl pickers were buried in the belly of giant sharks. People complain everywhere. In the Tang Dynasty, Li Bai said, "When we meet, we ask about our sufferings, and when we are exhausted with tears, we call it Nanzhu".
In the Song Dynasty, some pearl pickers kept their pearls in ponds. When pearls grow up, they throw them into the fish. Two years later, they get fish pearls. The Lingnan Couple in the Qing Dynasty recorded that "Lianzhou people insert fish eyes into pearls, and mussels form pearls ... this is a mixture of fish eyes and pearls", which shows the wisdom of Hepu Zhu Min.
In the 4th year of Yuan Dynasty, in June+February, 5438, Lianzhou Pearl Picking Capital was restored, specializing in pearl picking. In June of 7, pearl picking was stopped. In the third year of Yuan Shundi Zhiyuan, the pearl picking department was re-established and stopped in April of the same year.
The Ming Dynasty was the most prosperous period of pearl picking in the history of China, and it was also the period when the pearl resources in Hepu were destroyed and the pearl people were most oppressed.
During the orthodox years, Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen sent eunuchs to Hepu to guard the Pearl Pond. During Chenghua period, Ming Xianzong imperial edict tried to collect pearls, and more than 4500 pearls were obtained/kloc-0.
In the 12th year of Hongzhi in Ming Dynasty (1499), Zhu Shitang, Emperor Xiaozong of Ming Dynasty, ordered 800 official ships from Leizhou, Qiongzhou and Lianzhou, with a population of 8,000 and 28,000 taels of silver and pearls. This time, more than 300 sergeant sailors died at sea, 280 sergeant sailors drowned, 70 ships were damaged by wind and waves, and more than 30 ships became empty. This bumper harvest is also the biggest pearl harvest in the history of Hepu pearl collection.
From the ninth year to the thirteenth year of Zheng De in Ming Dynasty (1514-1518), Zhu Houzun, the emperor of Ming Dynasty, issued an imperial edict to collect pearls twice, which made the pearl pickers restless.
In the fifth year of Jiajing (1525), pearl picking resumed. This winter, there was heavy rain and snow in Hepu. The water in the pool froze, the trees broke, and many people froze to death, but the pearl pickers were forced to go underground day and night to collect pearls. At that time, Yu Shi Fu Lin, the governor-general, said to Emperor Jiajing: "During the five years of Jiajing (1526), thousands of people died ..." During Jiaqing, Hepu built the Pearl City of Bailong Village, which was dedicated to processing Hepu pearls. In the 40th year of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty (A.D. 156 1 year), the pearl mussels in Leminchi moved to the toe boundary at night (A Brief Review of Guangdong and Guangxi), and the pearl mussels in Hepu moved to the toe boundary again, which was the third great migration of pearl mussels in history.
During the Apocalypse of the Ming Dynasty (A.D. 162 1 ~ 1627), eunuchs in Zhu Chi abused the people, resulting in the "shortage of pearl snails in Hepuhai, and people said that pearls were gone." ("Hepu County Records"). Pearl oyster Hepu escaped from Hepu coast for the fourth time. After that, the pearl production of Hepu gradually declined, which could not be compared with the heyday.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Lianzhou County was repeatedly invaded by Japanese pirates, and the war lasted for years. In addition, there were seven years of famine and three plagues in Hepu during this period, and countless people died. In this case, the eunuch guarding Zhu Chi continued to take advantage of it as a traitor in Hepu, extorting and plundering jewelry and paying tribute to the court. In the Qing Dynasty, the pearl picking industry in Hepu gradually declined. From the first year of Shunzhi in Qing Dynasty (1644) to the thirty-fourth year of Kangxi (1695), pearls were first sold by imperial edict, and stopped in the following year because of little income. In the seventeenth year of Qianlong (1752), he sent a letter to collect pearls in September. However, this time, the Pearl series is nothing.
During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, pearl mining turned into predatory mining, not only killing pearl shells in pearl ponds, but also going to the deep sea to catch mother shells indiscriminately. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were only more than 20 fishing boats fishing for pearls along the coast of Hepu during the pearl picking season. About 5- 10 Jin of pearls are collected every day, and local and foreign pearl merchants no longer often go to Hepu coastal areas to buy pearls. During the Republic of China, the pearl picking industry in Hepu plummeted. During the pearl picking season from 65438 to 0944, there were few pearl picking boats along the Hepu coast, and the daily output of pearls was only about 3-5 kg. In the early days of liberation, in the pearl picking season after autumn, there were often several boats coming to pick pearls along the coast, and only one or two kilograms of pearls were picked every day, which showed that the pearl source was very exhausted.
After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), the party and the state paid great attention to Hepu Pearl, and Hepu Pearl was reborn and reappeared. In June1957165438+10, Premier Zhou Enlai instructed: "We should raise the pearls in Hepu and change the natural pearl collection for thousands of years into artificial cultivation."
1958 In March, the first artificial seawater pearl culture base in China was established in Hepu Yingpan. In the same year, Chen Jingyi, the founder of artificial nucleus insertion and pearl cultivation in China, successfully conducted the experiment of artificial nucleus insertion and pearl cultivation of Pinctada martensii in Hepu Pearl Farm. 1959 China successfully cultivated pearls in seawater for the first time. 196 1 year, the first artificial pearl farm in China was built in Beibu Gulf. During the period of 1962, the research on seedless freshwater pearl culture in Zhanjiang Fisheries College was successful. 1965, the South China Sea Institute of Oceanography and Beihai Pearl Comprehensive Farm of China Academy of Sciences conducted artificial breeding of Pinctada martensii in Dongxing Pearl Farm, which was successful again. This is a national breakthrough achievement, ending the history of pure natural collection of seawater pearls in Hepu and even the whole country, and creating a new era of pearl culture production entering full artificial cultivation. Since then, Nanzhu culture has entered a new period of development.
Since the 1960s, the China Academy of Sciences and the relevant units of the Academy of Water Sciences began to study the breeding of white butterflies and their pearls. By the 1970s, the breeding of white butterflies was successful, and this technology is still in the leading position in the world. China Zhuwang 8 1 Breeding.
Since 1978, the pearl industry in Hepu has developed rapidly. In 1980s, Hepu began to cultivate pearls artificially. 1982, Guangxi Pearl Company was formally established, and three pearl farms were established successively in Fangchenggang, Qinzhou and Hepu. The culture area increased from 198 1 10 mu in 0 year to 2 100 mu in 1990, which increased by more than 8 times/kloc-0, and the output increased from 14.5 kg to 600. 199 1 year, Guangdong Shantou Shaohe Pearl Culture Company produced nucleated freshwater pearls, which paved the way for the formation of round freshwater pearls. After 1990s, the output increased greatly, reaching 5000 kg in 1994, with an annual output of 7000 kg.
Since the reform and opening up, with the promotion of policies and markets, the resource advantages and technical potential of Hepu Pearl have been further developed, forming a relatively independent and complete production system. So far, the artificial cultured pearls in Hepu County have experienced decades of development, and the industrialization of Nanzhu, represented by Hepu pearls, has begun to take shape.