Economy of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty

During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the widespread use of iron farm tools and the promotion of ox farming greatly improved agricultural productivity.

Many wastelands were reclaimed into fertile farmland, farming techniques shifted from extensive to intensive farming, and agricultural output increased significantly.

Private land increased, the well-field system collapsed, and land relations developed toward privatization.

The princes had to implement reforms one after another, recognizing the private ownership of land, allowing land sales, and collecting land taxes from landowners. The enthusiasm of farmers for production increased.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the number of horses increased due to the needs of war.

The animal husbandry industry in the Central Plains has basically become a vassal of agriculture, and there are very few people who specialize in animal husbandry production.

Cast metal currency originated in the Spring and Autumn Period, and Jin was one of the earliest areas to cast and use coins.

In the late Spring and Autumn Period, the price of grain in Yue State was sixty yuan per stone at its most expensive and thirty yuan at its lowest.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, a new tax system came into being.

In the fifteenth year of Lu Xuangong (594 BC), the initial tax per mu was implemented, and the state levied a certain physical tax on landowners based on the land area.

This was the beginning of the ancient field tax.

In the first year of Lu Chenggong (590 BC), Qiu Jia was appointed as Qiu Jia, and a certain amount of military tax (A) was levied according to the land area, thus combining the tax and tax into one.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the collection of local taxes was very common.

In the seventh year of Duke Jian (408 BC), the State of Qin implemented the physical local tax system of "First Tax on Wo".

During the Warring States Period, tax systems varied among countries.

The Qin State first implemented the household registration system and used it to collect land rent tax and "Touhui" (population tax) based on the head count.

The Silk Road of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty even crossed the Eurasian continent.

The use of horse-drawn carriages was already common at that time.

At this time, the "Wang Ji" under the direct jurisdiction of the emperor was greatly reduced by the constant harassment of Rongdi and the constant encroachment by the princes. In the end, only a circumference of one or two hundred miles remained, which is a corner of today's western Henan; at the same time, the emperor controlled

The power and direct military power of the princes were also increasingly lost.

The emperor not only relied on the princes economically, but also was often at the mercy of the princes politically.

However, the emperor's name as "the Lord of Heaven" still has appeal.

Therefore, some vassal states that gradually became stronger with the development of local economy used the banner of the royal family to "coerce the emperor to order the princes" and actively develop their own power.

Oxen plowing and iron farm tools used in the Spring and Autumn Period were popularized in the Warring States Period.

Iron plowshare crowns from the Warring States Period have been unearthed in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan, Hebei and other places.

Water conservancy is the lifeblood of agriculture, and an upsurge in water conservancy construction focusing on farmland irrigation is gradually emerging.

There are many types of water conservancy projects, such as pit pond water storage, irrigation and flood diversion, canal irrigation, and multi-system water diversion.

The collapse of the well-field system allowed the people to gain a certain degree of personal freedom and their interest in labor increased.

The widespread use of iron farm tools and cattle plowing, and the large-scale construction of farmland water conservancy construction accelerated the development of farmland and the formation of the tradition of intensive farming. During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, crop yields increased significantly.

According to literature, during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, iron farm tools were widely used.

"Guoyu Qiyu" records that Guan Zhong said to Qi Huangong: "U.S. dollars are used to cast swords and halberds to test dogs and horses; bad gold is used to cast molybdenum barleys, jins, and test all kinds of soil." U.S. dollars refer to bronze, and evil gold refers to

It's iron.

Molybdenum, made of evil gold, is a hoe; Yi is a hoe for cutting grass and leveling the ground; Jin is a hoe-shaped but small tool, mainly used for cutting wood and flat wood; ? is a tool for digging earth.

Archaeological excavations have provided a large amount of conclusive physical evidence.

At least 22 provinces including Henan, Hebei, Shandong, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Hubei, Hunan, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou and Yunnan and

Iron farm tools have been unearthed from more than 140 locations in the autonomous region, including shovels, hoes, hoes, sickles, plows, etc.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, oxen were often used for farming.

The unearthed iron plowshare crowns from the Warring States Period in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan, Hebei and other places indicate that plowing has been promoted in the Central Plains.

Water conservancy is the lifeblood of agriculture.

During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, an upsurge in water conservancy construction focused on farmland irrigation gradually emerged.

There are many types of water conservancy projects, such as pit pond water storage, irrigation and flood diversion, canal irrigation, and multi-system water diversion.

During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the carving patterns on bronzes tended to be meticulous and neat, with light and flexible shapes, and gold inscriptions appeared.

The surviving bronze swords of Wu and Yue are rare in the world for their exquisite smelting and tempering, skillful alloying technology, excellent outer plating, and pattern casting.

Sectors such as salt boiling, iron smelting, and lacquerware were developed.

Iron tools are mainly handicraft tools and agricultural tools.

The silk fabrics of Qi State and the lacquerware of Chu State were of very high quality.

Some craftsmen became individual producers and operators, living together in "shops" in the city, producing and selling at the same time.

Gongshu Ban "Lu Ban", known as the ancestor of craftsmen, lived in the late Spring and Autumn Period.

With the in-depth development of archaeological excavations, many copper mining and smelting sites in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty have been discovered, and bronze casting sites are more common near the capitals of various countries.

The Tonglushan copper mining and smelting site in Daye, Hubei and the copper casting site in Houma, Shanxi are major archaeological discoveries of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, providing extremely valuable information for the study of copper mining, smelting and casting in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.

The Tonglushan ancient mining and smelting site has attracted the attention of academic circles at home and abroad in China because of its grand scale and extremely rich connotations, as well as the superb level of mining and smelting revealed through multi-disciplinary comprehensive research.

The bronze wares of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty mainly refer to the bronze ritual vessels and musical instruments used by nobles of various countries when holding sacrifices, banquets, weddings and funerals. They also include some daily utensils, chariots, horse ornaments, weapons and tools, etc.