What are the characteristics of the development of handicrafts in ancient China

Characteristics of the development of handicrafts in ancient China

The History Curriculum Standards for High Schools require "listing the basic historical facts of the development of handicrafts in ancient China, and recognizing the characteristics of the development of handicrafts in ancient China". What are the characteristics of the development of handicrafts in ancient China? Many students feel that it is difficult to fully understand, here, the author of a rough analysis, I hope to help the majority of students in their studies.

First, a long history, and continuous development and progress.

Pottery, textile and jade production in the ancient times have shown a high level of craftsmanship, such as half-slope face net pots, jade in the Longshan culture. In the late primitive society, handicrafts from agriculture in the separation, become an independent production sector. Bronze casting technology is quite mature in the Shang and Zhou periods. Spring and Autumn and Warring States period, iron casting became an important production sector. Han dynasty ironmaking, iron casting and steel industry, silk weaving industry and the development of the paper industry, was one of the main signs of economic prosperity. Wei Jin and North and South Dynasties period, the emergence of the steel method, which became the most advanced steel production methods, successful paper burning out of white porcelain, porcelain technology is a major breakthrough. Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties period, the woof technology, porcelain industry has become an independent production sector. In the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Bisheng invented movable-type printing, and Huang Daobao invented the foot-operated three-spindle spinning wheel in the Yuan Dynasty, and fired the blue and red glaze. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, cotton textile industry became a new craft sector, and produced doucai, wucai porcelain, famille-rose and enamel.

Secondly, a variety of business practices have long coexisted, in which the government-run handicraft industry has long been dominant.

During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the handicraft industry was operated by the government, which was called "industry and commerce eat the government". Spring and Autumn and Warring States period with the establishment of private land ownership and the formation of small peasant economy, began to appear professional private handicrafts and cottage industry, since then, the government-run handicrafts, professional private handicrafts and cottage industry has become the three main forms of handicrafts in ancient China, presenting a pattern of long-term coexistence. The government-run handicraft industry has strong capital, large-scale operation, detailed division of labor, strict organization, high requirements for product quality and strict management, which promoted the improvement of handcrafts and represented the highest level of production technology in ancient China. From the Western Zhou Dynasty to the early Ming Dynasty, the government-run handicraft industry has always occupied a dominant position.

Thirdly, the development of handicrafts in ancient times was inextricably linked with the agricultural economy and was always in the subordinate position of the agricultural economy.

Except for the mining industry, which is limited by resources and transportation, the developed handicrafts areas in history are all distributed in the area of intensive agricultural cultivation. For example, the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River in the early period and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in the late period. Precision agriculture can provide a lot of raw materials for traditional Chinese handicrafts closely related to agriculture, such as textile industry, sugar industry, tea industry, brewing industry, etc. In addition, the development of handicrafts is also conducive to the development of the agricultural economy, such as the development of metal smelting industry, especially iron smelting industry and steel smelting industry, which greatly contributed to the improvement of the tools of agricultural production, and pushed forward the development of the agricultural economy. Although the ancient Chinese handicraft industry is very developed, but due to the rulers to implement the policy of agricultural suppression of business and other reasons, in the combination of handicraft industry and agriculture, handicraft industry service in agriculture, always in the subordinate position of the agricultural economy.

Fourth, the handicrafts of regional division of labor and the level of specialization affected by the degree of activity of the commodity economy.

Early development and layout of handicrafts by the distribution of natural resources have a greater impact, with the improvement of transportation conditions, the development of commerce, regional and national unified market formation, the development of handicrafts breakthrough in the raw material origin of the limitations of the products to the whole country, all of these are for the emergence of handicrafts production centers of specialization to provide the conditions. For example, in the Song Dynasty, Wenzhou was "not suitable for mulberry but for weaving and sewing, not suitable for lacquer but ready for use" (Yongle Canon). In the Ming and Qing dynasties, "Tiangong Kaiwu" reads: "Where the Japanese satin manufacturing from the East Barbarians, Zhangquan coast follow the example of the silk from Sichuan and Sichuan, merchants trafficked thousands of miles to easy pepper to return to the country ... ." Jingdezhen porcelain industry is also "craftsmen to eight parties, ware into the world away". It can be seen, if there is no active commodity economy, the unified domestic market, the division of labor in various regions of the handicrafts and the development of specialized handicrafts is inconceivable.

Fifthly, the development of handicrafts and the changes in social life interacted with each other.

Song dynasty in the paper industry on the basis of the great development, engraved printing was popularized, folk book printing industry flourished, the south appeared many private book engraving centers, in the past, "hard to get" books as a commodity around the world, at your fingertips, "a hundred surnames", "thousand characters" a class of literacy textbook popularity, so that the popularity of folk education, literacy rate increased, and the development of the crafts and social life changes. The popularity of literacy textbooks such as "The Hundred Surnames" and "Thousand Character Texts" has greatly popularized folk education, increased the literacy rate, moved academics downward, and promoted the prosperity and development of folk culture and art. With the development of culture, in order to save printing cost and improve printing efficiency, the society urgently demanded to improve the engraved printing technology, which promoted the birth of movable type printing.

Sixth, the distribution of handicraft centers changed accordingly with the southward shift of the center of economic gravity.

Around the Southern Song Dynasty, the center of economic gravity of China's ancient times completed the transfer from the north to the south. As the center of economic gravity shifted to the south, many handicrafts and handmade products were transferred from the north to the south. Take the silk weaving industry as an example, from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, the center of China's silk weaving industry was in the north, basically centered in Chang'an. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Chengdu set up silk weaving centers, each with hundreds of looms and thousands of craftsmen. Private workshops are more private, producing a large number of fine silk fabrics, such as Wukang and Anji silk yarn, goose fat cotton, are of the highest quality, Jiashan Weitang Mi family weaving painting silk, known far and wide. These show that the center of silk weaving industry from the north to the south.