I. Stone farm tools before the Western Zhou Dynasty
Primitive agriculture began in the Neolithic Age seven or eight thousand years ago. Since then, mankind has got rid of the situation of gathering and hunting for food for a long time and entered a new historical stage. At that time, the agricultural tools used by our ancestors were made of stones (there were also some bones and woodwork). Stone tools, as the main agricultural tools in China, have been used for four or five thousand years around the Spring and Autumn Period.
During the period of matriarchal clan commune, there were two important sites of primitive life in China, namely Banpo Site and Hemudu Site. A large number of primitive agricultural tools have been unearthed in these two places, including stone axe, stone knife, stone shovel, stone sickle, wooden fence and bone chisel, which are the earliest agricultural tools in China. Among them, classes and piles are tools used to turn over soil, dig ditches and make holes.
During the patriarchal clan commune, men replaced women as the main force of productive labor. An important progress of agricultural tools in this period was the appearance of triangular stone plough. According to Shan Hai Jing? Haineijing recorded that "the grandson of Ji (Hou) opened", and his uncle's time coincided with the end of patriarchal commune. But this record may not be credible. At that time, the plow was probably pulled by human power. The adoption of ploughing method is an epoch-making progress in agricultural history. In addition, bamboo poles were used to twist river mud in paddy fields during this period. Other farm tools have also been improved, such as stone hoes and clam hoes, which have played an important role in reclamation of arid and hard dry land and crop field management. The best example of the improvement of farm tools in this period is a stone knife unearthed in Xuejiagang, Anhui Province in recent years. The back of the knife is neatly drilled with 13 fine holes. Stone knives are sharper and longer than before, so long as they are fitted with wooden handles, they are excellent sickles.
Shang Dynasty was a developed bronze age. The number, shape, quality and beauty of bronze wares unearthed in various parts of China are praised by the world. However, it should be pointed out that a large number of bronzes unearthed in the north and south of China are mainly used for religious sacrifice and decoration rather than agricultural production. Therefore, until the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, China's agricultural tools were mainly stone tools. Of course, this does not rule out that some economically developed areas occasionally use some bronzes. In recent years, some bronze grapples, shovels and sickles have been unearthed in Henan, Hubei and Jiangsu. Although the promotion of bronze farm tools is limited by cost and output, metal farm tools represent the future of China farm tools.
In the Bronze Age, the types of farm tools in China didn't change much compared with before, and Lei was still the most widely used farm tool. However, the appearance of Niu Geng in Shang Dynasty is an important event in the agricultural history of China. The bronze plowshares unearthed from Shang tombs in Dayang Prefecture, Jiangxi Province, provide valuable physical data for studying the history of China, which can prove that there are records of plowing in Oracle Bone Inscriptions.
Second, the widespread use of iron and Niu Geng during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
After entering the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, iron farm tools were widely used. Using iron as a farm tool has the advantages of low price, hard and sharp cutting edge and convenient forging. Iron farm tools are a great leap in the development history of farm tools in China. The extensive use of iron farm tools has greatly improved labor productivity, expanded the area of cultivated land, increased output and changed the way of cultivated land. All these have effectively promoted the transformation of productive forces and relations of production, and China society has gradually moved from a slave society to a feudal society.
In the Spring and Autumn Period, in addition to a wide variety of iron farm tools, it is worth mentioning that oranges were used as irrigation tools. It ties a long piece of wood to a stake, one end is tied with a heavy object such as a stone, and the other end is hung with a bucket. The weight and bucket move up and down by using the lever principle. It is extremely labor-saving and light to lift water in this way. Zhuangzi? Confucius' great disciple Zi Gong Zan Juying has a saying: "If you have the equipment here, you can make a hundred beds a day, but you can see more results with half the effort."
Iron farm tools were popularized on an unprecedented scale during the Warring States period, especially after the political reforms in various countries in the middle of the Warring States period. Since the founding of New China, Warring States ironware has been unearthed in vast areas from Liaoning in the north, Guangdong in the south, Sulu in the east and Sichuan and Shaanxi in the west. Such as hoes, shovels, hoes, sickles and plows.
Third, the invention of plowing, overturning, fanning and plowing in the Han Dynasty.
The Han Dynasty was the dynasty with the most achievements in invention and transformation, and many mechanical farm tools were produced in the Han Dynasty. Hammer is the earliest seeder in the world. It was invented by Zhao Guo, a captain searching for millet during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. The plough is pulled by cattle, and the three processes of ditching, sowing and covering the soil are completed at one time. This bold and imaginative design is amazing. A hammer consists of a hammer frame, a hammer bucket, a hammer leg and a hammer shovel. It has one leg, two legs, three legs and at most seven legs in the future. One leg can broadcast one line. Zhao invented the tripod, which can sow three rows at the same time. Sowing with rake, one person can plant 100 A Mu days, and the planting depth is consistent with the seed row spacing, which greatly improves the sowing efficiency and quality.
Rollover, also called keel waterwheel, was the most important irrigation tool in ancient China. Rollover was initiated by Bilan in the Eastern Han Dynasty and improved by Ma Jun, an expert in machinery manufacturing in Wei State during the Three Kingdoms period. As an irrigation tool, 1800 years has been used in China. Rollover uses the gear principle to drive a long wooden chain (i.e. keel) with feet. The wooden chain is equidistantly tied with vertical scrapers and covered with a sink. Scraper with a wooden chain around, scraping the water into the sink, which is equivalent to moving the water tanks one by one. With the rotation of the wooden chain, water keeps flowing into the ground. Later, with the cow-pulled millstone, the wind overturned, which was more labor-saving and labor-saving.
Fan car, also called fan and windmill, is a kind of equipment for cleaning grain, which was invented in the Western Han Dynasty and has been used ever since. The fan consists of a frame, a shell, a fan, a bucket and an adjusting door. When working, pour unwashed grains into a wooden bucket, then turn the fan with one hand and slowly open the adjusting door with the other. Falling grains are lightly discharged from the rear of the car in the wind, and full grains slide into the laundry basket from the armpit of the car. It can be used to clean grains that have just been knocked out of the threshing floor or need to be rubbed after grinding.
As the most important tool for farming, the plow was greatly improved in the Han Dynasty, which is the invention of the plow wall. There was only one share of plough in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. At that time, the share was V-shaped, and the opening was too wide for deep ploughing. After the ploughshare breaks the soil, it is difficult to turn the big clods to one side and break them, which only plays the role of breaking the ground and ditching. In this way, cattle and livestock are struggling, cultivators are not easy, and farming efficiency is not high. In order to overcome these weaknesses, the plow wall was invented in the Western Han Dynasty. It is an iron plate with inclined rollers, which is installed behind the plough share. When plowing, it can turn the clods scooped up by the plowshare to one side, which has good loosening effect and ridging. There are many kinds of plows in the Han Dynasty, besides the single plow with one person and one cow, there are also plows with two cows and three people, two Niu Yi people's combined plows, and one cow's double-shaft plough. One of them leads the cow, and the other two each help a plow, which has been vigorously promoted. There were also light short-axis plows in the Eastern Han Dynasty. China's farm tools developed to the Han Dynasty and were basically complete.
Fourth, the appearance of carriage and Qu Yuan plough in Sui and Tang Dynasties.
During the hundreds of years in the Three Kingdoms, the Jin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the development of farm tools in China was a relative intermission. With the prosperity of Sui and Tang Dynasties, China's feudal society entered its heyday. The country's long-term unity, stability and economic development promoted the improvement of farm tools, and the appearance of carriage and Qu Yuan plough represented the most important achievements in this period.
Open car is an irrigation tool that makes full use of water energy. Before the invention of steam engine, it should be the most advanced scientific "automatic" device. The gondola car relies on flowing river water and canal water to push the waterwheel to lift water. Many bamboo or wooden water tanks are obliquely tied to the outside of the waterwheel, and the waterwheel is constantly rotating under the impact of water. The water tank is filled with water first, and then the water comes out to turn over the soil. After the upper cylinder is turned to the highest point, the water in the cylinder naturally pours out, flows into the sink and finally flows into the field. After the truck is loaded, there is no need for personnel to look after it, which is extremely convenient.
There are detailed records about Qu Yuan, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, in Jing Lei. Before Sui and Tang Dynasties, all plows were straight-axis, big and heavy, so it was difficult to adjust the depth of plowing flexibly. After the direct shaft is changed to crankshaft, the plow frame becomes smaller and flexible to use. This bending of the wood allows the cultivator to freely adjust the depth of the plow during the farming process, thus changing the traction mode of two cows lifting the bar in the past, and only one cow can easily pull a plow. This improvement has once again improved the efficiency of cultivated land. The cultivated land in China has basically taken shape. Today, the plows used in rural areas of China are still in this form.
The development of farm tools in China basically stopped during the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Agricultural tools invented by the ancients were basically used for nearly a thousand years in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.