The Chinese have a vast land with features ranging from mountains to desert. Surviving in China more than two thousand years ago required extensive hard work and determination. The Chinese accomplished this feat miraculously and developed into one of the most productive cultures in history. Ancient China extended from present day Siberia to the equator and from the shores of the Pacific Ocean to the center of the Eurasian continent. Starting in the south-western area, there were high mountains and vast plateaus formed by the folds of the Himalayas. This area stretched into the prairies which were suddenly intercepted by the deserts.

These deserts cover the area between the Siberian forests and the cultivated regions of North China. The fertile plains in North China were formed by the deposits of great rivers such as the Sungari and Liao basins and the Red River basin. Islands and peninsulas are scattered along the entire coastline of China. Climate had a huge impact on this land with the eastern and southern regions subject to the influence of monsoons and the interior with a dry continental climate. Weather was extremely affected by its northern latitude which brings much of the Siberian cold and harsh winters in addition to damp, heavy tropical heat in the summers.

Of all the advances ancient China had for centuries over the rest of the world, one of the greatest achievement may have been the ability to sustain the largest population in the world with the earliest developments in animal domestication and agriculture. With only about 10 percent of China's land suitable for agriculture and animal domestication, the efficiency of ancient Chinese land management is still studied as a model for today.

Origins of Ancient Land Management

Producing food by cultivating crops and raising animals was a most important step forward in the development of human history. Around 10,000 years ago, people moved from an economy of gathering to one of producing and entered the New Stone Age. Based on archeological studies, the Chinese are noted as the first civilization to see the emergence of advanced agricultural principles and the concepts of raising livestock. The cultivation of grain crops and domesticated animals began the significant evolution of nomadic people at the mercy of the land to a civilization of villages that could predict and manage the land. Boasting one of the world's most vibrant agricultural civilizations, China's agriculture began in remote antiquity when there was still no written history.

Ruins of the New Stone Age can be found throughout China's north and south. Unearthed in Northwest China's Gansu Province, these millets were planted in the Neolithic age. It was in China where millets, originally wild, were first planted as a crop about 7,000 years ago. Also, finds at the ruins of the Hemudu Culture in Yuyao and the site of the matriarchal society at Banpo Village near Xi'an, which all date back 6,000 to 7,000 years, include rice, millet and spade-like farm tools made of stone or bone. The spade was the most typical farm tool of that time. The Hemudu Culture site in particular yielded a large number of spade-like tools made from animals' shoulder blade bones. Among the artifacts from the sites of the Peiligang-Cishan Culture in north China, millstones for husking millet are quite common. The Hemudu site, about 7,000 years old, was one of the earliest New Stone Age locations along the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Archaeological studies have proved that the area of Hemudu at the time was covered under large tracts of marshland, providing suitable conditions for cultivating rice and developing farming. At the sites, indications of rice cultivation are in great abundance, as piles of rice grains, husks, stalks and leaves have been found there. In some places, the piles were one meter high. Examinations reveal that the rice grown at Hemudu was long-grained non-glutinous rice, and is the earliest example of artificially-cultivated rice that has been found in China to date. The relics are also the oldest rice found so far in Asia. This verifies that China was one of the key areas in the world where rice cultivation originated and reflects the advance of farming along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River during the New Stone Age.

Ancient Chinese Agricultural Inovations Changed the World

Iron Plough had been promoted by Chinese government officials around 4th century BC. Strong, heavy, square framed, and sturdy with adjustable strut regulates the ploughing’s depth. Growing of crops in rows was a Chinese invention, too. If plants were grown in rows, they have a tendency to mature rapidly. Chinese had been doing this 2200 years in advance over the Westerners.

Row and Hoe - The greatest achievement in the field of agriculture is row cultivation and intensive hoeing, 2200 years inadvance over the Westerners.. In Europe, as with the rest of the world, they practiced scatter seed farming. Scatter seed farming is the practice of throwing the seed onto the fields at random. By throwing the seed randomly, half the seeds would not grow and make it impossible to weed the field. The Chinese on the other hand, planted individual seeds and rows, thus reducing seed loss and increasing a tendency to mature rapidly.

Seed Drill- Another major advancement in the field of agriculture is the seed drill. The seed drill complements the row farming of the Chinese. The seed drill is a device that plants the seed into the ground. It replaces the farmer to plant the seeds by hand, thus allowing the farmer to plant more acreage. The first seed drill was introduced to Europe in sixteenth century, 3500 years after the Chinese had invented it. At first, the seeds were placed by hand in furrows, in a ridge-and-furrow pattern. Around the Second Century B.C., the Chinese introduced the seed drill, which became almost universally used in northern China. This device consisted of small plows that cut small furroughs in the ground, a mechanism that released the seeds, evenly spaced into these furrows, and a brush or roller that covered the seeds with dirt. The seed drill could be adjusted for different types of soil and seeds. This method of planting was so much more efficient than sowing the seed by scattering it, that it could achieve an efficiency 10 or even 30 times greater.

Ax - north part of the Yangtze River. Over there we dug at a Neolithic site. It's called the Qingdun Culture. Now, it's a preserved site. we found things that revealed information about the early culture around the lower bank of the Yangtze River. We found the "first ax," the oldest complete pottery ax in China. It might have been a ceremonial item, a toy, or an imitation of the real tool. There are different opinions. It dates to approximately 5000 to 4000 B.C. The important part was that we found the handle and the ax together at the same site. This type of ax, with holes in it, was often seen in stone, but the handle was always missing. This complete example helped solve the mystery of how this type of ax was held.

Plow - China had grown into one of the most powerful countries in the world by the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Improvements in farming machinery, including the curved-shaft plow and bucket carriage continued to expand the acreage of arable land and irrigated farmland. The curved-shaft plow was a representative achievement of the renovation of agricultural machinery in the Tang Dynasty. According to historical records, the plow had 11 component parts of both metal and wood. Greatly improved from earlier types of plows, the curved-shaft plow could turn both left and right, and even turn around. It had a multitude of functions, such as crushing and turning over the soil. Easy to operate and energy-saving, it greatly raised productivity and created the necessary conditions for the prosperity of farming during the Tang period.

Bucket Carriage - The bucket carriage was a water-powered irrigation tool. Wood or bamboo was used to produce a huge vertical wheel. Its size was determined by the height of the river bank and the flow of the water. Both sides of the wheel had a pillar to support it. The edge of the wheel was fixed with wooden planks on which wooden or bamboo buckets were fastened. The river water pressed against the planks on the wheel, making it revolve. The bamboo or wooden buckets on the planks lifted water from the river and then poured into the canals leading to the fields. This water wheel was a major creation of the Sui-Tang period, as it visibly rose per unit grain yield and promoted economic crop production.

Rotary Winnowing Fan - Winnowing is the separation of husks and stalks from the grains after they had been harvested. Rotary Winnowing fan had been invented around 2nd century BC. Yan Shigu of the early 7th century describes Shi You's rotary winnowing fan or jijiu pian created in approximately 40 BCE as, "The fan (shan) means the rotary winnowing-fan (shan che), and tui explains the principle of the shan che. Some write this tui but in any case it means "to fall" that is to say, while (the machine) fans, (the grain) falls through. Other people after pounding toss up in winnowing-baskets, to blow away (yang) the chaff. Some write yang but the pronounciation and idea is the same."

Harness - First to harness animals for agriculture, Chinese breast-strap or breastcollar harness developed during the Warring States (481 BC-221 BC) era of China. Its first depiction in artwork was on lacquer-ware boxes from the ancient State of Chu. After the breastcollar harness was the collar harness which appears on painted moulded-bricks in the Three Kingdoms (220-265 AD) era tomb of Bao Sanniang at Zhaohua, Sichuan province, China. The Chinese breast harness became known throughout Central Asia by the 7th century, introduced and spread to Europe around the 920s AD, to become universally by the 12th century.

Wheelbarrow - Chuko Liang (181-234 AD) is considered to be inventor of the wheelbarrow. Wheel barrows in China in China could generally transport six human passengers at once and instead of a laborious amount of energy exacted upon the animal or human driver pulling the wheelbarrow, the wieght of the burden was distributed equally between the wheel and the puller.

Irrigation - The ancient Chinese also developed agriculture on hillsides with terraces. In order to do so, they built canals and trenches for drainage. This required an enormous amount of labor and common habits of organization and work, which in turn provided some of the impetus for the distinctive organization and efficiency of the Chinese empire.

Dikes for controlling water extended alluvial plains with water conservancy facilities for farming until they covered most areas in north China. Several noticeable water conservancy projects of the Warring States Period were completed. Li Bing, a local official, organized the building of the Dujiang Dam in today's suburban Chengdu, Sichuan Province, which rationally solved the problem of diverting floods and irrigating farmland. This project greatly promoted agriculture in the region, and even today still irrigates more than 500,000 hectares of farmland on the Chengdu Plain. Another canal called the Canal of the State of Zheng played its part in developing agricultural production in the Guanzhong region in today's Shaanxi Province.

Agricultural Research and Writings - The history of plant domestication in China becomes brilliantly clear in the Zhou dynasty (ca. 1000 B.C.E.–221 B.C.E.). The Shi Jing or "Book of Odes," a collection of Zhou folk and court poetry, records dozens of plants. This work was edited in final form by Confucius himself, in the fifth century B.C.E.—according to historical records that we have no reason to doubt. Its 305 songs mention more plants than the whole of the Bible, as well as 88 animal species (some mythical). Coming from north China, the songs reflect a world dependent on millets. Wheat is mentioned in passing a few times. There were beans, cabbages, gourds, melons, and a huge host of vegetables and fruits. Pigs and chickens were the animals of daily use, but China was still rich in game and fish at the time.

Some important works combining the achievements of the previous dynasties in science and technology were printed during the Ming Dynasty. The eighteen-volume "Exploitation of the Works of Nature" was written by Song Yingxing of the late Yuan and early Qing period. The book covered almost all the important production technologies and processes in agriculture and handicrafts. Under the influence of early capitalism, it dealt in great length with the production techniques of the handicrafts industry, which was rarely seen in other books, thus giving it a very high scientific value. The more than 200 drawings, mostly describing production processes, are equally important. The book has been referred to as the world's first encyclopedia of agricultural and handicraft production. Soon after it was published, it was translated into several languages including German, Japanese, English and French and caught the attention of people in various countries.

The "Complete Treaties on Agriculture" was written by Xu Guangqi (1562-1633). An avid reader from childhood, he gained extensive knowledge of a wide range of topics, and made in-depth studies of mathematics, astronomy, the calendar, geography, water conservancy and firearms making. But Xu's greatest achievement was in agricultural science. He devoted almost his entire lifetime to the study of agricultural science, and eventually brought out the gigantic work quoted above. The book, half a million characters long, is divided into 60 volumes. It records in detail farming, agricultural techniques, soil, water conservation, application of fertilizers, selection of seeds and grafting of fruit trees, thus summarizing and preserving many agricultural production experiences and techniques of the ancient Chinese people.

Six Stages of Chinese Agriculture

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 and keeping animals such as sheep or chickens. 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.

Agricultural Myths and Legends

In Chinese culture raising crops was essential to their survival and was celebrated in their myths and legends. Legends tell a story of a time when civilization were ignorant of the art of sowing and planting. They lived in the bush with great difficulty. Before they could settle on the fertile soil, which was overran by tall and rough plants, they had to join together in order to root out and destroy the weeds that covered the land. It was difficult to maintain this rich soil because of the great rains of the spring equinox and mid-summer. The rains brought along numerous weeds and insects which in turn destroyed the crops. Therefore the ancients called upon the god of the field, Shen-nung, to come and cleanse the land. He taught them how to use the plow and hoe. He also bore the name Flaming Sovereign, for the god of agriculture was also the god of fire.

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 in the beginnings of land management 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.

Agrarian Life and Customs

The people lived in villages or small towns and their cottages were set up along the hillsides. They built walls around their cottages for two reasons. One, to keep their homes out of the reach of floods, and two, to prevent assault and robbery from the barbarous people who lived in the forests and the brushwood of the marshes. The houses themselves were extremely simple structures. Many of the Chinese lived in oven-shaped caves. Others lived in huts made of branches and shaped like little cubes, covered by thatch. Heat and rain almost destroyed these fragile little homes, so before each winter they had to stop up holes with straw. There was one narrow door cut into the south wall, and it was not passed without religious terror. This superstitious outlook on the front door is also expressed in today's culture; great emphasis is put on the front door of a home. When crossing the threshold the Chinese peasants should not step directly on it, and they should also lower their eyes when passing through it. Also, before entering, they were supposed to remove their shoes.

With sure physical labor they obtained a plentiful harvest and everything was done in a complementary fashion according the Taoist traditions. Millet, which grew well in dry soil, was planted next to rice, which required an abundance of water. To make the cultivation complete, the crops were grown going up the hill in terraces in order of importance. The most important crops, which were usually grown in a private garden, were nearest to the house; next to the garden were the orchards, and beyond them the first fields, used for textile plants, usually hemp and below this were the fields devoted to the dry vegetables, then the fields of cereal, and finally, at the bottom of the hill, were the squares of land reserved for rice.

Chinese did not build granaries since variety of crops and their advanced and ealry understanding of the seasons which was truly amazing. The agricultural year began with the first month of spring. This was when the hibernating animals and the fish began to appear. In the second month, the month of the equinox, they knew the rains were coming and they began to plow the fields. The appearance of the sow-whistles in bloom marked the first month of summer. The heat of summer was admired, but equally feared for its droughts and great storms. Heavy rains were the sign of the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. The grain was reaped and threshed during these months. The agricultural year ended in the tenth month. The soil, hardened by the cold, was no longer fertile. The beginning of the winter thus ended the struggle with the land. To deal with the cold and the snow must have been such a relief for these people. Another year had ended and many things had to be done in preparation for the next.

During the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), two revolutionary improvements in farming technology took place. One was the use of iron tools and beasts of burden to pull plows, and the other was the large-scale harnessing of rivers and development of water conservancy projects. These developments were widely spread during the ensuing Warring States Period (475-221 BC).

Before the Spring and Autumn Period, farm tools were mostly made of stone or wood. Human labor had to be employed to pull primitive plows. Farming areas were strictly limited by the natural environment. Iron plows pulled by cattle could plow larger areas of farmland within a shorter period of time, in addition to being able to plow deeper. This enabled the opening up of the desolate Loess Plateau. Improvements in iron smelting technology and the extensive application of iron tools served as a great impetus to the economy of the Warring States Period.

Dikes for controlling water extended alluvial plains with water conservancy facilities for farming until they covered most areas in north China. Several noticeable water conservancy projects of the Warring States Period were completed. Li Bing, a local official, organized the building of the Dujiang Dam in today's suburban Chengdu, Sichuan Province, which rationally solved the problem of diverting floods and irrigating farmland. This project greatly promoted agriculture in the region, and even today still irrigates more than 500,000 hectares of farmland on the Chengdu Plain. Another canal called the Canal of the State of Zheng played its part in developing agricultural production in the Guanzhong region in today's Shaanxi Province.

Economic development promoted urban prosperity. According to records, Linzi, capital of the State of Qi, had a population of 70,000 households and was crowded with carriages, carts and pedestrians. Yingdu, capital of the State of Chu, was no less bustling. Someone described the city by saying that the streets were so crowded with people that brand-new clothes put on in the morning got terribly worn by the evening.

After the First Emperor of Qin (259-210 BC) unified China, he had the Ling Canal dug, which linked the two large river systems in south China: those of the Yangtze and Pearl rivers. The canal not only facilitated water transportation but also served as a channel to link the Central Plains with the areas south of the Qinling Mountains. It was also used to irrigate fields. Even today, it brings water to some 3,000 hectares of farmland. During the Warring States Period, more eye-pleasing silk textiles were produced. A piece of satin unearthed in a tomb of the State of Chu during the Warring States Period in Jiangling, Hubei Province, is 51 centimeters wide and has a pattern of eight groups of dancers in seven categories, along with dragons, phoenixes and animals. Its beauty and elegance fully demonstrate the scale and achievements of silk weaving of the period.

Iron farm tools became very popular during the Western Han Period (202 BC-AD 16). Such tools were available in even remote border regions, as indicated by the Han Dynasty iron plow discovered in Liaoyang, Liaoning Province. Iron plowshares and moldboards dating from the Han Dynasty have been unearthed in Xianyang, Shaanxi. They were relatively advanced combination farm tools for their time. The plowshares, which are triangular in shape, were fixed to the plow to cut open the soil. The U-shaped moldboard was fixed to the rear of the plow for the purpose of turning over and crushing the earth. Therefore, two operations were combined in the same implement.

In the early Western Han period, 36 small kingdoms, including the Loulan, Yutian, Qiuci and Shule kingdoms, existed in the regions on both sides of the Tianshan Mountains, Xinjiang, in western China. Some of them were engaged in farming while others raised animals. At the time, people used the broad term "Western Regions" to refer to Xinjiang in China, and Central and Western Asia. I, Emperor Wu of Han twice sent his envoy Zhang Qian (in 138 BC and 119 BC, respectively) to travel to the Western Regions, taking along over 10,000 cattle and sheep, and large amounts of gold and silk fabrics, as gifts to the rulers of these kingdoms. In 60 BC, the Western Han court established a government agency to exercise administration of part of the Western Regions.

The Eastern Jin (317-420) and the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420-589) saw further social and economic development in areas south of the Yangtze River. For three centuries, the north was troubled by wars, which gravely disrupted the normal social order and production. In contrast, the areas along and south to the Yangtze River were relatively stable. Northerners migrated to the south in large numbers, taking not only an enormous labor force but also advanced production tools and technologies from the north. People from the north and south learned from each other and worked together to develop the south, giving a great impetus to economic growth in the region.

In agriculture, people opened up large areas of wasteland and built irrigation works. Rice was already grown twice a year. Use of cattle and manure in farming was widespread, and the per-unit yield of grain saw a great increase. Some northern crops such as wheat and soybeans began to be cultivated in the south. Tombs in Nanjing dating from the Eastern Jin and the Southern Dynasties have yielded pottery models of granaries which are the best proofs of agricultural development. Increase in grain production enabled the improvement of processing tools. Water conservancy projects included instruments to process grain such as water-powered trip-hammers and water-mills.

In agricultural science, Jia Sixie of the Northern Dynasties emerged as the leading agronomist of the time. His work Important Arts for the People's Welfare was China's first book on agronomy. With 92 chapters in 10 volumes and running to nearly 120,000 characters, the book covers a wide range of topics, recording agricultural production experiences and production methods in farming, forestry, animal husbandry, fisheries and side-line occupations from the Western Zhou era and particularly at the time the author lived. To this day, the book remains a valuable source of reference for the study of the history of agricultural science and a rare work in the treasure house of China's ancient knowledge of science.

During the Sui and Tang dynasties (581-907), China, as a unified multi-ethnic country, experienced further development, increased exchanges between various ethnic groups, saw the prosperity of its feudal economy and led the world in certain types of technology in the fields of agriculture and handicrafts. Both the Sui and Tang were powerful empires, well known worldwide.

In 581, Yang Jian, known as Emperor Wen, established the Sui Dynasty. To facilitate economic and cultural exchanges between the north and the south, he had the Grand Canal, which runs more than 2,000 kilometers, dug. This ancient economic artery was the world's earliest and longest canal. Taking Luoyang as the center, it began in Yuhang in the south and ended in Zhuo Prefecture in the north, flowing through the five provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan, Shandong and Hebei. It served as the only water transportation channel for shipping grain from the south to the north as well as north-south trade. The canal played a significant role in economic activities not only during the Sui and Tang dynasties, but in all the dynastic periods that followed.

Non-Nomadic Livestock Developed in Ancient China

The earliest animal domestication reported so far is of pigs at Zengpiyan in Guangxi, a site dated to 7,600–9,000 years ago. The east Asian pig is the same species as, but a very different variety from, the Near Eastern one, and represents an independent domestication. Well before 6000 B.C.E., large villages with complex cultures and abundant domesticated rice occurred widely in the Yangzi Valley and elsewhere.

Cattle and pigs, associated more with settled communities, are domesticated slightly later - but probably not long after 7000 BC. Silkworms produce cocoons for the eggs that the Chinese used to make silk. Historians think the production of silk started in China around 3000 B.C., revealing that people must have begun domesticating the silkworm around this time.

By 4000 B.C.E., chickens, pigs, sheep, dogs, and Chinese cabbages (Brassica campestris) were found widely. The chicken is native to southeast Asia and southern China. Its first archaeological occurrence, however, is in the north, near Xian; it may have once been native there (considerably older bones of wild chicken-like or pheasant-like birds have been found), or it could have been domesticated in the south and spread northward (Anderson, 1988). Sheep possibly were independently domesticated in China and in the Near East. From archeological evidence, the water buffalo may first have been bred and domesticated in China.

In ancient China, there are references to the ‘harvest of abundant five crops and flourishing with six livestock species’. The ‘six species’ were horse, cow, sheep/goat, pig, dog and chicken (Shao 2003).
There are two models to explain the origin of livestock in ancient China: one is the domestication of certain indigenous species from the Neolithic times through interacting with, controlling and taming the wild stocks as the domestic pig. China was a centre for early animal domestication. The other is the introduction of an exotic, already domesticated species from another geographic area by exchange with other ancient, outside residents such as the horse.

In China, cattle have been domesticated and used for draught purposes for 6 000 years and horses for 5 000 years. They were mainly used for war, transportation and agricultural purposes, and, by the Tang Dynasty, about l 000 years ago, the techniques for training draught animals had already reached a high level, as had the development of harnesses. Rural areas in China still use these traditional techniques for feeding, rearing and using horses. These include selective breeding (castration) as well as breaking-in and training techniques. Similarly, China has also accumulated a great deal of experience in exploiting cattle as work animals. For example, the Main review on cattle judgement, published in the Qing Dynasty, is a book of 12 000 characters in which such key issues as judging and feeding are described. Many other technical books on these subjects have been published, including those by Qin Lu and Tang Liu Dian.

The first reason keeping cattle and pigs in the village, is to secure a regular supply of fresh meat. The hunter is dependent on the luck of the chase; if more animals are killed than can be immediately consumed, meals from the surplus will be increasingly unpleasant as the days go by. The herdsman, by contrast, has a living larder always to hand and a supply of dairy products as well.

These animals also provide for almost every other need of neolithic man. While they are alive, they produce dung to manure the crops. When they are dead, leather and wool for garments; horn and bone for sharp points, of needles or arrows; fat for tallow candles; hooves for glue.

Aquaculture was first recorded in China as early as 771 BC. The raising of fish, frogs, and turtles was accomplished with man made ponds, the surface of pond covered by woods and straws which made the fish warmer. This also helped the farmers to harvest the fish easily. Later in Han Dynasty (about 26 BC to 25 BC) a special book on pond fishes called “Taozhugong Fish Raising Collection” was published. An artificial pond consisting of multiple varieties of carp to use the different pond depth was mentioned in the chapter “fish” in Kuiji country archives (nowadays in province Zhejiang) in 1201–1204. The farmers in southern China have for a long time earned their living by managing the artificial fishing ground. One of the ways was to use planted grass to feed the fish. Some ideas about integrated livestock-fish farming was suggested 800 years ago. This kind of farming was identified as an intensive method of animal production with more benefits. This practice was accepted by farmers who have got a primary training and became popular.