Boasting one of the world's most glaring agricultural civilizations, China's agriculture began in the remote antiquity when there was still no written history.
Unearthed in Li County of Central China's Hunan Province, these relics of ancient rice, currently collected in the Hunan Archeology Institute, were planted during the Neolithic age, proving that China was one of the earliest countries to grow rice in the world, with a history of at least 8,000 years.
In one of the ancient Chinese legends, there is a story of Shen Nong Shi (also known as the Red Emperor or Yan Emperor) concerning the origin of agriculture. Before Shen Nong Shi, people ate reptiles, little animals, mussels, and wild vegetables. As the population gradually increased, food gradually became more insufficient, thereby creating a desperate need to explore new means of food.
Shen Nong Shi tasted all kinds of herbals, even poison, to finally select the grains that could be eaten by people. Later, he also studied the climate and invented some farm tools, which resulted the appearance of husbandry in China.
While the legend leaves behind some clues about when agriculture originated in China, modern archeology has provided more abundant and reliable materials about the origin and the condition of Chinese agriculture. So far, there have been thousands of discoveries of agricultural sites during the Neolithic age all across China, especially along the Yellow River (Huanghe) and Yangtze River. Chinese agriculture can be traced back to about 10,000 years ago, and the primitive agriculture was very advanced about seven or eight thousand years ago.
There are three major centers where agriculture first appeared worldwide: West Asia, Central and South America, and East Asia (mainly referring to China). With its own characteristics, Chinese agriculture also established its own system. Of all the advantages China had for centuries over the rest of the world, one of the greatest may have been the ability to sustain its large and growing population through agricultural technology. With only about 10 percent of China's land is suitable for agriculture, so farming efficiency has been a concern as population increases. The development of Chinese agriculture can be generally divided into six stages:
The first is the rudimentary stage, which ranged from about 4,000 to 10,000 years ago in the Neolithic age. During this time, Chinese agriculture was developed on the basis of plucking and picking as well as hunting and fishing. The emergence of agriculture laid a solid foundation for the development of human civilization.
The second is the primary stage, covering the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties (about 2100 BC to 771 BC), during which China invented metal smelting technology (process in which metal is separated from ore by melting). Bronze farm tools began to be used, irrigation projects began to be built, and in general, agricultural technology had some burgeoning development.
The third stage spans the time during the Spring and Autumn and the Warring State periods (770-221BC), when intensive and meticulous farming appeared. Highlighted by the invention of smelting iron, Chinese society, politics, technology, and culture experienced substantial improvements during this era. The mass use of iron farming tools and animal power also propelled the development of agriculture.
The fourth stage is the period from the Qin and Han dynasties to the Northern and Southern dynasties (221BC-589AD), when intensive and meticulous farming technology became mature in the dry land in North China. A set of agricultural technologies, including furrowing, harrowing, and leveling land, was established, while a multiple of large-scale and sophisticated farming tools were also invented. An agricultural encyclopedia titled Qi Min Yao Shu (Important Arts for People's Welfare) by famous agronomist Jia Sixie, summarizing previous agricultural experiences, also appeared in this period.
The fifth stage spans through dynasties from the Sui, Tang, and Song to the Yuan (581-1368), when paddy field intensive cultivation appeared. During this period, China's economic center shifted from the North to the South, and various paddy field farming tools were invented and distributed. Cotton was gradually more widespread. A lot of agricultural books appeared, while ways of using land also increased. Agriculture experienced substantive improvements both in North and South China.
The sixth stage is the advanced phase of the intensive cultivation from the Ming Dynasty to the mid-Qing Dynasty (1368-1840). At this time, the gap between the growing population and relatively scarcer land became increasingly prominent. As a result, the intensive and meticulous farming was even more sophisticated. The new crops from America were also introduced to China, greatly affecting China's crop structure. The diversified kinds of crops and multiple-harvest mode became popular across most of the country.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China (1949), Chinese agriculture has achieved even more significant progress, characterized by utilizing more modern technologies. With only seven percent of the world's cultivated land, China has to feed one-fifth of the world's population. In the agricultural sci-tech sphere, China has been constantly narrowing its gap with the advanced countries. The contribution rate of scientific and technological progress to China's agriculture has increased from 20 percent in 1949 to 42 percent. The agricultural sci-tech departments have made much progress in bio-technology, new and high technology and basic research, and the cultivation of plant cells and tissues, anther culture, haploid breeding and the research on its application have reached the world's advanced level. Bilinear hybrid rice, hybrid corn breeding and multi-crop planting technologies featuring intensive cultivation have reached or approached the world's advanced level. In addition, an important breakthrough has been made in the research of making use of the advantages of hybrid beans.
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