Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 6, Biology and Biological Technology; Part 2, Agriculture

THE PICTURE OF THE TAOIST GENII PRINTED ON THE COVER of this book is part of a painted temple scroll, recent but traditional, given to Mr Brian Harland in Szechuan province ([946). Concerning these four divinities, of respectable rank in the Taoist bureaucracy, the following particulars have been handed down. The title of the first of the four signifies' Heavenly Prince', that of the other three' Mysterious Commander '. At the top, on the left, is Liu Thien Chiin, Comptroller-General of Crops and Weather. Before his deification (so it was said) he was a rain-making magician and weather forecaster named Liu Chiin, born in the Chin dynasty about + 340. Among his attributes may be seen the sun and moon, and a measuring-rod or carpenter's square. The two great luminaries imply the making of the calendar, so important for a primarily agricultural society, the efforts, ever renewed, to reconcile celestial periodicities. The carpenter's square is no ordinary tool, but the gnomon for measuring the lengths of the sun's solstitial shadows. The Comptroller-General also carries a bell because in ancient and medieval times there was thought to be a close connection between calendrical calculations and the arithmetical acoustics of bells and pitch-pipes. At the top, on the right, is Wen Yuan Shuai, Intendant of the Spiritual Officials of the Sacred Mountain, Thai Shan. He was taken to be an incarnation of one of the Hour-Presidents (Chia Shen) , i.e. tutelary deities of the twelve cyclical characters (see Vol. 4, pt. 2, p. 440). During his earthly pilgrimage his name was Huan Tzu-Yu and he was a scholar and astronomer in the Later Han (b. + (42). He is seen holding an armillary ring. Below, on the left, is Kou Yuan Shuai, Assistant Secretary of State in the Ministry of Thunder. He is therefore a late emanation of a very ancient god, Lei Kung. Before he became deified he was Hsin Hsing, a poor woodcutter, but no doubt an incarnation of the spirit of the constellation Kou-Chhen (the Angular Arranger), part of the group of stars which we know as Urs~ Minor. He is equipped with hammer and chisel. Below, on the right, is Pi Yuan Shuai, Commander of the Lightning, with his flashing sword, a deity with distinct alchemical and cosmological interests. According to tradition, in his early life he was a countryman whose name was Thien Hua. Together with the colleague on his right, he controlled the Spirits of the Five Directions. Such is the legendary folklore of common men canonised by popular acclamation. An interesting scroll, of no great artistic merit, destined to decorate a temple wall, to be looked upon by humble people, it symbolises something which this book has to say. Chinese art and literature have been so profuse, Chinese mythological imagery so fertile, that the West has often missed other aspects, perhaps more important, of Chinese civilisation. Here the graduated scale of Liu Chiin, at first sight unexpected in this setting, reminds us of the ever-present theme of quantitative measurement in Chinese culture; there were rain-gauges already in the Sung (+ 12th century) and sliding calipers in the Han (+ [st). The armillary ring of Huan Tzu-Yii bears witness that Naburiannu and Hipparchus, al-Naqqash and Tycho, had worthy counterparts in China. The tools of Hsin Hsing symbolise that great empirical tradition which informed the work of Chinese artisans and technicians all through the ages.

SCIENCE AND CIVILISATION IN CHINA The three first men in the world were a gardener, a ploughman, and a grazier; and if any man object that the second of these was a murtherer, I desire he would consider that, as soon as he was so, he quitted our profession and turned builder. It is for this reason, I suppose, that Ecclesiasticus forbids us to hate husbandry; 'because,' says he, 'the Most High has exalted it'. We were all born to this art, and taught by Nature to nourish our bodies by the same earth out of which they were made, and to which they must return, and pay at last for their sustenance. Behold the original and primitive nobility of all these great persons, who are too proud now, not,pnly to till the ground, but almost to tread upon it! We may talk what we please of lilies and lions rampant, and spread eagles in fields d'or and d'argent, but if heraldry were to be guided by reason, a plough in a field arable would be the most noble and ancient arms. Abraham Cowley (1618-67), The Antiquiry of Agriculture Therefore the ancient kings made people turn back to agriculture and war. For this reason it is said: 'Where a hundred men farm and one is idle, the state will attain supremacy; where ten men farm and one is idle, the state will be strong; where halffarms and half is idle, the state will be in peril.' That is why those, who govern the country well, wish the people to take to agriculture ... A sage knows what is essential in administering a country, and so he induces the people to devote their attention to agriculture. If their attention is devoted to agriculture, then they will be simple, and being simple, they may be made correct. Being perplexed it will be easy to direct them, being trustworthy they may be used for defence and warfare. Being single-minded, their careers may be made dependent on rewards and penalties; being single-minded, they may be used abroad. Indeed, the people will love their rulers and obey his commandments even to death, if they are engaged in farming, morning and evening; but they will be of no use, if they see that glib-tongued, itinerant scholars succeed in being honoured in serving the prince, that merchants succeed in enriching their families and that artisans have plenty to live upon. If the people see both the comfort and the advantage of these three walks oflife, then they will indubitably shun agriculture; shunning agriculture, they will care little for their homes; caring little for their homes, they will certainl,! not fight and defend these for the ruler's sake. Shang Chun Shu, tr. Duyvendak (3), p. 191 The plough was invented by the ancient sages, and ever since the first use of cereal grains the people's livelihood has depended upon it. No king or ruler of a state could dispense with it. To eat one's fill and live in peace without having to struggle for survival, is commended as proper conduct, and is what distinguishes us from what Yang Tzu calls 'living like brutes'. Lei Ssu Ching, tr. auct.

JOSEPH NEEDH

1\;1

SCIENCE AND C~I\lII~IS~~TION

IN

CHINA VOLU~IE

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6

B I () I.() C}'l A.NI) B I () LC) C; I (:[\L 'TECHNC)LC)G '{ PART 11: AGRICULTURE BY

FR;\NCESCA BRA. Y RESEARCH FELLOW

ASIAN HISTORY OF SelF-NeE LIBRARY

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CA~IBRIDGE

UNIV E RSITY PRESS CAMBRIDGE

LONDON

NEW YORK MELBOURNE

NEW ROCHELLE SYDNEY

Published by the Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 IRP 32 East 57th Street, New York, NY 10022, USA 296 Beaconsfield Parade, Middle Park, Melbourne 3206, Australia

© Cambridge University Press

1984

First published 1984 Printed in Great Britain at the University Press, Cambridge Library of Congress catalogue card number: 54-4723

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

I.

Needham, Joseph Science and civilisation in China. Vol. 6 Pt. 2: Agriculture Science-China-History 2. Technology-China-History I. Title 11. Bray, Francesca 5ag'·5 1 Q 12 7· C5 ISBN 0 521 25 0 76 5

This book is dedicated to the memories of SHIH SHENG-HAN of the Northwestern Agricultural College, Wukung, WANG YU-HU of the Peking Agricultural College, and AMANO MOTONOSUKE of Os aka City University, without whose pioneering works on the history of agriculture in China this volume would not have been possible.

AO

CONTENTS page XiI List

Tables,

XXll

list of Abbreviations

xxm

Author's ,OVate

XXIV

4-1

AGRI LTURE Introduction, p. I ( I) General characteristics of Chinese p. Agricultural regions, p. 9 (i) The maize-millet-soybean area, p. 10 The spring wheat area, p. 1'2 (iii) The winter wheat-millet area, p. 1:2 (iv) The winter wheat-sorghum area, p. 14 (v) The Yangtze rice-wheat area, p. 15 The rice-tea area, p. 17 (vii) The Szechwan rice area, p. 18 (viii) The double-cropping rice area, p. 19 (ix) The Southwestern rice area, p. 20 Origins of Chinese agriculture, p. 27 (i) Stimuli to the adoption of agriculture, p. 29 (ii) General theories of agricultural origins, p. 34 (iii) The origins of agriculture in China, p. 39 Sources, p. 47 (I The ]iieh ling or agricultural calendars, p. 52 Agricultural treatises, p. 55 (i) The Chhi A1in rao Shu, or Essential Techniques for the Peasantry, p. 55 (ii) Wang Chen's Nung Shu, or Agricultural Treatise, p. 59 (iii) The Nung Cheng Chhiian Shu, or Complete Treatise on Agricultural Administration, p. 64 (3) State-commissioned compilations, p. 70 (i) The Nung Sang Chi rao, or Fundamentals of Agriculture and Sericulture, p. 7 r (ii) The Shou Shih Thung Khao, or Compendium of \Vorks and Days, p. 7'2 (4) Monographs, p. 74 (5) Supplementary sources, p. 76 IX

x

CONTENTS

CONTENTS

(6) The content of the Chinese sources, and the implications for historical interpretation, p. 80 (7) A comparison with the European tradition, p. 85 (c) Field systems, p. 93 ( I) Land clearance and reclamation, p. 93 (2) Shifting cultivation, p. 98 (3) Permanent fields, p. 10I (i) Northern China, p. 101 (ii) Southern China, p. 106 (iii) Special field types, p. 113 (d) Agricultural implements and techniques, p. 130 (I) Tillage implements, p. 130 (i) The plough, p. 138 (ii) Hand tillage: hoes, mattocks, spades, p. 196 (iii) Smoothing and levelling: beetles, rakes, harrows and rollers, p. 220 (2) Sowing, p. 241 (i) Planting calendars and the selection of sowing dates, p. 241 (ii) Preparation of the seed-grain, p. 245 (iii) Sowing methods, p. 25 I (iv) Sowing rates, p. 286 (v) Conclusions, p. 288 (3) Fertilisation, p. 289 (4) Weeding and cultivation, p. 298 (i) Dryland agriculture, p. 300 (ii) Horse-hoeing husbandry, p. 307 (iii) Irrigated agriculture, p. 3 I I (5) Harvesting, threshing and winnowing, p. 3 I 9 (i) Harvesting, p. 319 (ii) Threshing, p. 345 (iii) Winnowing, p. 363 (6) Grain storage, p. 378 (i) The importance of storage methods; their place in the literature, p. 378 (ii) Storage technology, p. 381 (iii) Storage facilities, p. 386 (iv) Public grain storage, p. 415 (e) Crop systems, p. 423 ( I) Crop rotations, p. 429 (2) Millets, sorghum and maize, p. 434

Xl

(i) Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) and broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) , p. 434 (ii) Kaoliang or sorghum, p. 449 (iii) Maize, p. 452 (3) Wheat and barley, p. 459 (4) Rice, p. 477 (i) The origins of domesticated rice in Asia, p. 48 I (ii) Chinese rice varieties and nomenclature, p. 489 (iii) Cultivation methods, p. 495 (5) Legumes, p. 5 10 (6) Oil crops, p. 518 (7) Tuber crops, p. 526 (8) Fibre crops, p. 532 (9) Vegetables and fruits, p. 539 (f) Conclusions: Agricultural changes and society-stagnation or revolution?, p. 553 (I) Did China contribute to Europe's Agricultural Revolution?, p·55 8 (i) Pre-modern agricultural technology in Europe, p. 562 (ii) European access to Asian agricultural technology, p. 566 (iii) The transformation in European agriculture, p. 571 (iv) Asian contributions to Europe's Agricultural Revolution,p·5 81 (2) Agricultural revolution in China?, p. 587 (i) Agricultural development and agrarian change III North China in the Han, p. 587 (ii) The 'Green Revolution' in South China, p. 597 (3) Development or change?, p. 61 5 BIBLIOGRAPHIES Abbreviations, p. 6 I 8 A. Chinese and Japanese books before + 1800, p. 621 B. Chinese and Japanese books andjournal articles since + 18oo,p. 634 C. Books and journal articles in Western languages, p. 649 GENERAL INDEX

Table of Chinese Dynasties Romanisation Conversion Tables

LIST Of' ILl. USTRA nONS

LIS Ceremonial ~VCN'S I I

r6 !

7

18 19 20

21

Xll

()F ILL

S RA

I

the emperor and his

ll;age

,\flap of the northern page Map the after Buck ~ p. r68. page '\Iap of China's nine agricultural areas, showing betw'een the region and the pp. 25 and 27 loesslands; S. \V vVilliams ( page P·97· Hoeing in the broad. northern plain; \ I; I I:) page + Yangtze Delta landscape; China, Land afCharm and Beauty, p. page Terraces in Szechwan; ibid. p. 162 . page 18 Steep, forested hills of Southwest China; ibid. p. 151 page 2 The products of the Nine Provinces as given in Han sources page Long-term Huctuations in average temperature in and China; Chu Kho-Chen P.495 page 24Nlap showing the chief mineral deficiencies of Chinese after Shen (r), p. 25 page 26 Map showing the percentage variability of annual rainfalL after Tregear fig. 16 page lvlap showing the percentage of land in different after Buck (2), p. 187. page The Semalle Scroll version of the Keng Chih Thu, ChhienLung's preface of 1769; Pelliot (24), pt. X . page Final page of the + 1590 Korean block-print edition of the Sw J·hn Tsuan rao, copied from a popular Hangchou edition of 996 page 50 Calendrical diagram from the + 13 I 3 vVang Chen }.(ung Shu; I 1/ 26a--b page 54The hand-harrow, yiin thang, an innovation of the Yangtze area in the 14th century; TrVCNS I3/28a page 62 Variations in the same illustration in different versions of the Wang Chen Nung Shu page 63 Archimedean scre",,' from the Thai Hsi Shui fa; Nces 19/1 5b-

16b . page 68 Hsii's blueprint for a work certificate to be allotted to those who participated in the officially organised maintenance of irrigation works; NCCS I 5/l 3(l page 69 Han pottery model of a winnowing fan and quem; Seattle Art lVluseum . page 78

;;:8 29 30 3I 3'2

3435

37

39

40

43

44 l5

49 50 51

XIH

Plough with a straight wooden mould-boa.rd, as seen in page 78 Fall qf lcarus; lVfuseum of Fine Arts, Brussels page The Ming land tax system; Ray Huang p.83. Layout of fields in modern North China, sho'rving traces of the pa,ge ancient strips; Leeming (I ,pt 5 Reconstructions of the 'skein' ploughing technique page r04 Han model of a rice field with water-·f}ow control; Canton page 108 lVluseum page 112 Irrigated fields ridged for ginger; (1 ,p. 91 page 115 Dyked fields thien); SSTK 14!5h 'Counter fields' (kuei . SSTK I pal!,e 16 page 117 'Counter fields'; TrVCNS II/I7a page 118 'Sand fields' (sha thien); SSTK 14/1 Ib Poldered fields thien); after F ei page i 19 page T20 Floating fields; SSTK 14/7a . page 122 'Silt fields' (thu thien); ~VClV"'S I 1/2 [b Preserving the topsoil in loess terracing; after Leeming fig. 5 . . . . . . . . . . '. page 27 A diagram showing the layout of pits in the ou chung system; .NCCS 5/2a page 1.29 Different types of caschrom; J. lVIacdonald (I), p. 57 page 136 Common plough types . page 39 Typical wooden turn-ploughs: (a) English: after Fitzherbert (1), Blith and Fentan (3); (b) Chinese: after WCNS 12/T3b, Hommel (J), p. 41; Alley & Bojesen (I) page 140 Yuan reconstruction of the lei ssu; W('""'.NS 12j2b page 143 Reconstructions of the lei ssu: from the Khao K ung Chi Thu of 1746, the Sung Khao Kung Chi Chieh by Lin Hsi-I, and from Chheng YaoThien (2). . . . . . . . . . page 146 Han reliefs of Shen Nung and Yii the Great wielding two-pronged digging implements; Nagahiro (1), p. 65; Hayashi (4), fig. 6--'4 page 147 Archaic graphs of iei, based on Hsii Chung-Shu (10) page 148 Reconstruction of the nu according to Sun Chhang-Hsii (1), p. 32 . page 148 Various types of pu coin; Li Tso-Hsien (J) page 149 Egyptian glyphs for 'ard' and related words page 152 Modern Chinese ards: (a) sole-handle ards; (b) Chinese ploughs with a cross-handle on the stilt . page 153 Archaic graphs for chhe, cart or chariot . page 154 Archaic graphs which may depict ox-ploughing page 154 Neolithic stone shares page 156 V-shaped shares: stone, from the neolithic Liangchu culture; p. 29; (b) Cast iron, from Honan; after Amano after Anon. (4), p. 73 6 . page 157

XIV

53 54 55

56

57 58

59 60 61 62

65 66

68 69

LIST OF ILL USTRATIONS

Early European iron shares: (a) stangle shares; (b) sleeve shares; page 163 after Balassa (I), figs. I & 4 Modem ploughs from Kansu with cap shares;JN orig. photos. page 164 Han ploughs: (a) Late Han wooden model from Wu-wei, Kansu; (b) E. Han stone relief from Mi-chih, Shensi; (c) E. Han stone relief from Wei-te, Shensi; (d) Wang-Mang mural from Phing-Iu, Shansi; (e) E. Han stone relief from Theng-hsien, Shantung; (f) E. Han stone re1ieffrom Sui-ning, Kansu . page 170 Chinese ploughshares: (a) Han shares; after Hayashi (4), figs. 6-16, 6-17, Liu Hsien-Chou (8), figs. 18, 20; (b) feng and kuan, after Hayashi (4), fig. 6-15; (c) Archaeological finds of shares: Tharig iron and bronze shares after Liu Hsien-Chou (8), figs. 2 I, 22; Chin/Yuan iron share from Liaoning, after Amano (4), p. 781; (d) Ming shares; WeNS 13/lOa and 13/1 la. page 172 Modern Chinese ploughshares; after Amano (4), p. 800 . page I 74 Chinese mould-boards: (a) Han, symmetrical or 'saddle-shaped'; after Anon. (510) and Liu Hsien-Chou (8), fig. 28; (b) Ming; WeNS 13/3a; (c) secured to the frame by metal loops: Sung; after Liu (8), fig. 30; modern, from Chekiang, after Hommel (I), fig. 62; (d) modem types; after Amano (4), p. 800 . page 175 Straight wooden European mould-board; Leser (I), fig. 148 page 178 Chinese whipple-tree; K eng Chih Thu, Franke (I I), pI. XIV page 181 Reconstruction of the plough described in the Lei Ssu Ching page 183 Variations in the Wang Chen Nung Shu illustrations of the page 184 plough Triangular Chinese ploughs from Shantung (IN orig. photo) and from Shansi and Peking, after Amano (4), pp. 798-9 . page 190 Ploughs with downward-curving shares: (a) from Heilungkiang; JN orig. photo; (b) from Hopei; (c) from Shantung; (d) from Hopei; after Amano (4), p. 798 page 192 Coulter (li hua or li tao); WeNS I4/9a page 195 Scraper (chhan) , an attachment to the plough designed to pare off weeds; WeNS 13/14a. page 197 Bone digging implements found at the early neolithic site of Ho-mu-tu: (a) the bone blades; Anon. (503), fig. 7; (b) a wooden haft; after Anon. (503), fig. 5; (c) author's reconstruction of the attachment of blade to haft page 200 Chinese neolithic stone hoes; (a) after Anon. (43), p. 29; (b) from Anon. (503), fig. 6; (c) from Anon. (515), fig. 7 . page 201 Incised sign on a pot from a Hua-thing site, depicting what seems to page 203 be a heavy hoe; K. C. Chang (I), p. 163 Stone 'spades' from neolithic sites in Kwangsi; (a) simple forms; Anon. (515), figs. 4, 5; (b) elaborated forms, ibid. fig. 6 page 204

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

71 72 73 74

75 76

77

79 80 81

88 89

90 91

93 94 95

96 97

XV

Warring States mould for cast-iron hoe; Anon. (43), p. 65 page 206 Iron drag hoes: (a) Warring States, from Hopei; Hayashi (4),6-30; (b) E. Han mural from Holingol, Mongolia; ibid. 6-31; (c) Ming; WeNS I317a; (d) modem; Hommel (I), fig. 93 . page 20 7 Chinese mattocks: (a) WeNS 13/Ib; (b) Nces 21/20a page 210 Asian hoes: (a) Chinese field hoes; after Wagner (I), fig. 60; (b) Javanese pachul of the late 18th century, after Raffles (I), p. 114; (c) Japanese hoes, NOgu Benri Ron 1/6b-7a. Cr. also Fig. 119 . page 2 I I page 2 14 Cultivating with drag-hoe and chhang chhan; SSTK 32/9a . Spade sketched by Juan Yuan in Shantung in the early Chhing page 2 15 Han spades, with blades or tips of iron; Hayashi (4), 6-1, 6 and 10 page 2 I 7 Korean tabi: (a) ancient engraving on bronze; Amano (4), p. 1019; (b) modern forms; Pauer (I), fig. 27 page 2 18 Ming spade; WeNS 13/2b page 219 Flat harrows (pa); WeNS 12/8a page 224 Vertical harrow (chhiao) , as used in Sou thern rice fields; WeNS 12/9b. . page 225 Wei/Chin murals from Chia-yii-kuan, Kansu, showing ploughing, sowing and harrowing; Hayashi (4),6-32, 33. . page 226 Elizabethan English harrow; Markham (2), p. 64 . page 227 Modern Chinese harrows, after Wagner (I), p. 203. page 227 Chinese bush harrow (lao); WCNS 12/IOb page 232 Ovoid roller (lu thu); WCNS 12/14b page 235 Cylindrical ribbed roller, from the Sung-based illustration to the Keng Chih Thu; Pelliot (24), pI. XV page 236 Rollers with spikes (left) and blades (right) (ko chih); WeNS 12/16 page 237 Bladed roller of the ko chih type from modem Chekiang; Hommel (I), fig. 89 page 237 'Scraping board' (kuapan) forlevellingseed-beds; WeNS 14/30a. page 239 Soaking the rice seed in baskets; Keng ehih Thu, Franke (I I), pI. XII page 248 Broadcasting seed in 14th-century Europe, after the Luttrell Psalter, and in Southern China, Keng Chih Thu, Franke (I I), pI. XXII. page 253 Broadcasting seed and covering it with a beetle; Wei/Chin mural from Holingol, Mongolia; Hayashi (4),6-34 page 254 Broadcasting wheat in South China and covering the seed with the feet; Ming illustration to the Thien Kung Khai Wu 1/17a page 255 Chinese seed-drill (lou chhe); WCNS 12/17b page 257 Babylonian single-tube drill; Anderson (2) page 258 Multiple-tube drill and covering implement from South India; Halcott (I) page 259

99 lOO

{or

LIST OF ILLl'STRATIONS

LIST OF ILLVSTRA.TIONS

XVI

A reconstruction of TuB's Anderson page page z6r as shown on the title-page of Maxev I page Han seed-drill from Phing-Iu~ Shansi; Anon. pI. 6. page 262 Han seed-drills; Hayashi 23 . page 1\fodern seed-drill from Shantung; Hommd page Drill share . l\rling, JlVCJ\'S r 31 I sb setaria minet; TKKlV

pa,ge d) page

If

Chinese seed-dropping IlH::\Al