Generally speaking, the performance of agricultural development should be investigated from the improvement of farm tools and crop promotion, the construction of water conservancy projects, the progress of farming technology, the increase of cultivated land area, the increase of grain output, the increase of government fiscal revenue and the proliferation of national population. The reasons for the development mainly depend on the importance attached by successive governments to agricultural development, agricultural policies, land systems and tax systems.
First, agricultural production tools:
1, woodworking tools: Mulei, stone knives, mussels and sickles were used in the Xia, Shang and Western Zhou Dynasties.
2. Iron farm tools: appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period, popularized in the Warring States Period, widely used in the Western Han Dynasty, and spread to Lingnan and the Western Regions in the Qin and Han Dynasties.
3. Farming method: Niu Geng appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period and was popularized in the Warring States Period. Double plows were widely used in the Western Han Dynasty, and two Niu Yi plows appeared, and the curved plow was invented in the Tang Dynasty.
4. Irrigation and drainage tools: Ma Jun of the Three Kingdoms invented rollover; In the Tang dynasty, there was a tube car.
▲ (Du Fu's poems in the Eastern Han Dynasty invented water rafts as handicraft tools)
5. Sowing tools: rickshaws were used in the Western Han Dynasty.
Second, water conservancy:
1, pre-Qin: primitive water conservancy existed in Xia Dynasty; There were gullies in the Spring and Autumn Period; During the Warring States Period, there was Dujiangyan in Zheng Guoqu. 2. Harmony with Han Dynasty: Six auxiliary canals, Hundred Songs, Emperor Wen and Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty governed the Yellow River; During the period of Emperor Han Ming in the East, Wang Jing governed the Yellow River. 3. Three Kingdoms: Wei built water conservancy projects in the Huaihe River basin and defended Dujiangyan;
4. Five Dynasties and Ten Countries: wuyue built the Qiantang River seawall;
5. Tang Dynasty: Irrigation canals were opened in the Yellow River and Yangtze River basins.
▲ (Qin Lingqu; The Grand Canal in Sui and Tang Dynasties was dominated by shipping)
Third, crops:
Matriarchal clan: millet, vegetables and hemp are planted in Banpo; Hemudu grows rice.
Shang dynasty: millet, millet, wheat, rice, mulberry and hemp; The Western Zhou Dynasty included most of the crops of later generations.
Qin and Han Dynasties: Grapes, alfalfa, walnuts and carrots were introduced to the western regions.
Southern Dynasties: Wheat planting became popular and rice planting techniques improved.
Tang Dynasty: Tubo planted highland barley, wheat, buckwheat, peas and vegetable seeds and introduced them to Tibet.
Northern Song Dynasty: millet, wheat, millet and beans spread from Huaibei to Jiangnan and Guangdong; Zhancheng rice introduced from Vietnam was extended from Fujian to Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Huaihe River basins. Tea trees are widely planted in Fujian and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
Southern Song Dynasty: Taihu Lake Basin is rich in rice; Cotton planting expanded from Fujian and Guangdong to Jianghuai.
Ming dynasty: double-season rice in Jiangnan and triple-season rice in Lingnan; Corn, sweet potato, potato and tobacco were introduced into China; Mulberry, hemp and cotton are widely planted, and cotton cloth has become the main clothing material for the people.
Fourth, animal husbandry:
Matriarchal clan: Banpo: pigs, dogs, cows, sheep and chickens; Hemudu: pigs, dogs and buffaloes.
Shang dynasty: pigs, dogs, cows, sheep and horses
Northern Wei Dynasty: Qi Shu introduced poultry, livestock and fish farming.
Tang dynasty: Tubo raised yaks, horses, pigs and single-mountain camels; Humble herbivorous pig
Verb (abbreviation of verb) cultivated land, grain and population
Sui and Tang Dynasties: A large amount of land was reclaimed, grain, cloth and silk were increased, and the population growth was nearly three times that of Emperor Taizong in Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty.
During the early Qing Dynasty 100, the cultivated land increased by more than 40%, and the population increased rapidly.