Characteristics and development stages of Chinese traditional agriculture

Chinese traditional agriculture is intensive agriculture, which is mainly characterized by intensive cultivation according to local conditions, focusing on improving land utilization and increasing yield per unit area, and adopting a series of technical measures such as improved varieties, intensive cultivation, thin tubes and more fertilizer. Its formation is related to the small-scale peasant management mode and the gradual formation of the pattern of more people and less land under the feudal landlord economic system. In terms of agronomy and yield, Chinese traditional agriculture once reached the highest level in the ancient world.

Focusing on grain production, diversification is the dominant form of traditional agricultural production structure in China. In addition to this kind of agricultural areas, there are pastoral areas dominated by nomadic economy, which are interdependent and have ups and downs in different periods.

The development of ancient agriculture in China was unbalanced. Although intensive agricultural areas have been expanding, some areas have been extensively managed, and even the remnants of primitive agriculture have been preserved. Taking the formation and development of intensive cultivation as the main clue, Chinese traditional agriculture has generally experienced the following stages: ① Xia, Shang, Western Zhou and Spring and Autumn are the transitional periods from primitive agriculture to intensive cultivation, with furrow agriculture as the main feature; ② The Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties were the period of intensive cultivation, and its main feature was the formation of dry land agricultural technology system with tillage, harrowing and tillage as the core; (3) The Sui, Tang, Song, Liao, Jin and Yuan Dynasties were a period of intensive cultivation and agricultural expansion, characterized by the formation of paddy field agricultural technology system with tillage, harrowing and tillage as the core; (4) The Ming and Qing Dynasties were a period of sustained development of intensive cultivation, which was mainly manifested in coping with the contradiction of large population and less cultivated land caused by rapid population growth, devoting to improving multiple cropping index and expanding cultivated land, and the land utilization rate reached the highest level of traditional agriculture.