The Early Agriculture in China
The Early Agriculture in China
From the perspective of the cultural history of mankind, you must first have a fairly stable agricultural production, material supply for people’s life, and then as the culture of the superstructure, is the basis of generation and development. By 9000 cal BP, the first sedentary villages, marking the Early Neolithic, are present in Northeast China, North China, and the Middle and Lower Yangtze regions, but plant and animal domesticates do not make a substantial contribution to subsistence until after several more millennia, when domesticated millet or rice agricultural production is finally in place.
Agriculture provides the material basis for the traditional culture in ancient China. The so-called agriculture provides the material foundation for the development of culture base on this three following point: The first one is provide guarantee to people’s life. The second is provided material for cultural activities. Third, to provided material for cultural creation. It is obviously to see that agricultural provides assurance for people’s culture life, people first maintain the life and then are able to talk about cultural activities. If destruction because of cannot keep the minimum material life, so the inherent culture will also goes lost. Ancient unearthed proof, China had already started planting activities in the early ten thousand years ago in the Neolithic age.
Cultural activities not only need life assurance, but also need, these main material are all provided by agriculture. For example “Calligraphy” is one of China's unique art, it is one aspect of Chinese culture. Calligraphy requires "four treasures”: paper, pen, ink, and ink stone. Besides ink stone, paper, pen, ink materials are all come from agriculture, such as paper fiber, cement, tools, pen, MAO bamboo tubes, the smoke of ink, glue.
Agriculture is not only to provide guarantee for life, material for cultural, but also provided material for cultural creation. In the folk art, Yangko, original intention is to coordinate labor rhythm when planting, eliminate fatigue and sing songs. Besides directly related to agriculture of farmer's saying in Folk songs, Tian Ge, firewood, pastoral, fisherman's song, these aspects reflect the agricultural activities of folk songs is the source of the development of Chinese poetry, Chinese poetry is often absorb nutrition of folk songs and move forward.
Inclusion, two river basins in ancient agricultural development earlier, had to create the ancient civilization, later because after land reclamation of salinization, agriculture begins to decline, the ancient civilization also early disappeared. Medieval European agriculture is more extensive and had a backward technology, thus medieval European history and culture were at a standstill. In China's feudal society, agriculture is more intensive; technology is advanced and developing continuously. Both Han dynasty had dry farming in the north and the south Tang dynasty rice agriculture had reached a high level. China sustainable development of agriculture in ancient China can become culture continues to develop and maintain the only countries to the modern. China's sustainable development of agriculture also cause china become the only country that sustainable development in culture from ancient to modern.