In the long history of China's agricultural civilization, Jia Sixian, an outstanding agronomist in the Northern Wei Dynasty, left an immortal work "Qi Min Yao Shu". This monumental work can be called the "encyclopedia of agriculture" in ancient China, with extensive and profound content, including production experience and practical skills in many fields, from farming and planting to animal husbandry, from processing agricultural and sideline products to storage and insect control, and even making wine and vinegar. As one of the earliest monographs in the history of world agriculture, Qi Min Yao Shu has had a profound impact on the development of agricultural science and technology in later generations. So, what is the life of this "agricultural saint" Jia Sixian? How did he get this tome done? What are the essences, theories and unique insights of the content of "Qi Min Yaoshu" that are worth exploring? Let's walk into this ancient and wise "encyclopedia of life" and appreciate Jia Sixian's farming wisdom and ingenious agricultural attainments.
The Source of Wisdom: Jia Sixian's Life and Creative History
Jia Sixian, whose name is Sixian, is a native of Yidu, Qingzhou (now Shouguang County, Shandong Province). During the Yongxi period of the Northern Wei Dynasty, he was appointed as the Taishou of Gaoyang County and was in charge of the government affairs of a county. Gaoyang County is located in the alluvial plain of the Yellow River, which is a warm temperate semi-humid continental monsoon climate, with little rainfall and arid and barren land. Jia Siqian is well aware of the importance of agriculture to the country and the people, and has witnessed the hardships of farmers during his tenure, so he has developed a strong interest in agricultural production technology.
In the second year of Yongxi (533 AD), after Jia Siqian stepped down as the county governor, he began his long journey to explore the truth of agriculture. As an important agricultural town in the north, Gaoyang County has accumulated rich practical experience in agricultural production, and Jia Siqian put down his body, walked all over the countryside and fields, and humbly asked farmers for advice. He braved the scorching heat and cold, investigated and researched everywhere, and made detailed records of the planting skills of various crops, animal husbandry tips, and the use of agricultural tools. In order to grasp a more systematic knowledge of agriculture, he also consulted the works of his predecessors extensively, and collected valuable documents that had been lost for a long time.
In this way, Jia Siqian worked tirelessly on agricultural knowledge for nearly ten years, until the second year of Wuding (544 AD), when he finally completed this groundbreaking masterpiece "Qi Min Yao Shu". The book consists of 10 volumes and 92 articles, compiled from a vast sea of agricultural knowledge, which also incorporates many vivid and lively agricultural proverbs of farmers, reflecting the industrious wisdom of the working people. The reason why Jia Siqian was able to complete this groundbreaking work is largely due to his strict style of study. He adhered to the scientific attitude of "collecting scriptures, and singing ballads, inquiring about the old ones, and testing them", linking theory with practice, speaking with facts, and testing the truth with practice, so as to ensure that the content recorded in "Qi Min's Techniques" is true and reliable.
Agricultural Treasure Book: The core concept of "Qi Min's Technique".
"Qi Min Yaoshu" was praised as "ancient Chinese encyclopedia" by later generations, and its content is rich and broad, which is really breathtaking. In this masterpiece, Jia Siqian expounded some important understandings and insights on agricultural production, and its core concepts mainly include three aspects.
First of all, Jia Siqian attaches great importance to the role of the three major factors of time, location and manpower in agricultural production. He believes that "if the three are not coupled, they are not familiar". The so-called time of the day is to grasp the agricultural time according to natural environmental factors such as climate change and rainwater distribution; The so-called geographical advantage is to adapt measures to local conditions and make full use of the fertility and characteristics of the land; The so-called manpower is to give full play to people's subjective initiative and carefully organize the labor force. Only by coordinating the relationship between these three can we achieve a good harvest.
Secondly, Jia Siqian advocates the agricultural concept of "working diligently, not chasing impetuousness". He pointed out that in agricultural production, we must persist in intensive and meticulous cultivation, treat every link of farm work diligently, and not be careless. At the same time, it is also necessary to follow the agricultural time, arrange the operation in an orderly manner, and do it in stages and according to the division of labor, and do not rush and rush to be the first. This kind of careful and meticulous style is really important for achieving a good yield.
Again, Jia Siqian advocates the production concept of "early customization, the way of management". The so-called "way of management" is to comprehensively consider the production costs and benefits, weigh the advantages and disadvantages of various gains and losses, and formulate a reasonable production plan. For example, according to factors such as land fertility and climatic conditions, the planting varieties and areas of crops should be reasonably arranged; It is also necessary to take into account the selling price, adjust the scale of commodity production, and so on. Only by meticulously implementing management in this way can agricultural production be targeted and effective.
If interpreted in modern terms, Jia Sixian's theory of "time, place, and manpower" is actually the three elements of natural conditions, means of production and labor; The concept of "diligent work and rest" is to pay attention to agricultural technical factors; "Advance customization, the way of management" emphasizes the importance of agricultural management. It can be seen that Jia Sixian's subtle understanding of the essential laws of agricultural production is no less than that of a generation of agricultural economic wizards. Although subject to the times, his theories have some concepts of heaven and man and idealism, but in general he already has a scientific way of thinking and a rational attitude.
Farming Wisdom: A New Theory of Crop Planting and Cultivation
The essence of the book is the planting and cultivation technology of crops, Jia Siqian will talk about many years of field work experience and practical experience, and put forward many far-sighted new theories and methods.
The first is the theory about the choice of crops to grow. Jia Siqian believes that due to the differences in natural conditions such as climate and soil, suitable crops are also different in different regions. In the dry and rainless areas in the north, crops such as millet, millet and wheat with strong drought tolerance and good environmental adaptability should be preferred. In the humid and hot areas of the south, it is more suitable for planting water-loving crops such as rice and mushrooms. Jia Siqian made it clear that if you go against this law and plant reluctantly, it will inevitably affect the harvest.
The second is the theory of crop selection. For the first time, Jia Siqian systematically classified crops and made a detailed review of the advantages and disadvantages of different species. For example, in terms of cereals, he divided millet into more than 80 varieties such as red millet, white millet, and silk millet, and made detailed records of their morphological characteristics, growth period, yield, and permeability. In terms of vegetables, he divided vegetables into root vegetables, stem vegetables, leafy vegetables, fruits and vegetables, and listed more than 90 common varieties of cultivation methods. In terms of fruit trees, there are also more than 100 kinds of fruits included. It can be seen that Jia Siqian knew the types of crops at that time.
The third is the theory of crop variety breeding. Jia Siqian attaches great importance to the cultivation of excellent varieties, and he clearly put forward the variety purity system of "one harvest, one dozen, one collection, and one species", requiring isolation measures to be taken in the whole process of harvesting, threshing, storage and sowing to prevent varieties from hybridizing and deteriorating. In addition, he introduced techniques such as seed treatment and germination to ensure germination rate and emergence. It is worth mentioning that Jia Sixian recorded for the first time in the book the method of artificially promoting rice germination, which can be said to have created a precedent for rice seedling raising in mainland China.
Finally, there is the theory of improving the fertility of the earth. In the book, Jia Siqian systematically expounded the role of leguminous plants in "ripe fields" and incorporated them into the crop rotation system, which became the world's earliest crop rotation theory. He stressed that the application of green manure can improve soil properties and increase the content of organic matter; Continuous cropping, on the other hand, will severely deplete the soil and must be intercropped or fallow to recover. This theory has a far-reaching influence, and later generations of farmers have regarded it as a classic.
In general, "Qi Min Yaoshu" puts forward new theories and new methods in many aspects of crop selection, cultivation technology, variety cultivation, and crop rotation theory, which has made outstanding contributions to the development of ancient agricultural science in mainland China, and also has extremely important reference significance for guiding today's modern agricultural production.
Animal Husbandry Treasures: New technologies for livestock and poultry breeding
In addition to the cultivation technology of crops, "Qi Min Yaoshu" also made a systematic exposition on the breeding management of livestock and poultry, which can be described as a well-deserved treasure of animal husbandry. In the book, Jia Siqian recorded in detail the characteristics of cattle, horses, pigs, sheep, chickens, geese, ducks and other domestic animals and poultry, and put forward many new theories and methods on their reproduction, breeding, and epidemic prevention.
The first is the theory of breed selection. Jia Siqian believes that the breed of livestock and poultry is directly related to production efficiency, so it must be strictly controlled. He proposed to select the best breeds, combined with local climate and environmental factors, to select and breed those excellent breeds that are "magnificent, loud and powerful, and endlessly bred". At the same time, it is also necessary to pay attention to heredity, and use those superior breeding animals that "inherit milk and are the same from generation to generation" to breed and reproduce. These advanced concepts have undoubtedly pointed out the direction for the development of animal husbandry on the mainland.
The second is the theory of livestock and poultry management. Jia Siqian emphasizes the principle of managing the right place at the right time, and he recommends "paying attention to the weather", and flexibly adjusting the way livestock and poultry are raised according to seasonal changes. For example, in summer, you can take the way of "staying away from the dampness and hunting for the coolness", and in winter, you should "attach charcoal fire, fat and strong to protect from the cold". At the same time, it is necessary to give an appropriate amount of feed, not only to "know greed" to prevent excessive grass eating, but also to "no hunger and thirst" to prevent malnutrition. These management theories, which emphasize adapting measures to local conditions and attaching importance to practicality, have embodied a high degree of scientificity and advanced nature.
Again, it is the epidemic prevention theory of livestock and poultry. Jia Siqian was the first scholar in mainland China to systematically discuss the prevention and control of livestock and poultry diseases. He listed the common diseases of livestock and poultry and suggested a number of effective treatments. For example, for Tsushima's "intestinal disease", he suggested pouring it with salt soup and applying snake bed grass to treat it; For the "eye disease" of chickens, it is advocated to wipe them with dansha powder. At the same time, Jia Siqian also emphasized the epidemic prevention concept of putting prevention first, and advocated taking effective measures such as regular quarantine and isolation to prevent problems before they occur. These theories were really ahead of their time at that time, and they can be said to have opened a precedent for animal husbandry medicine in mainland China.
In addition, Jia Sixian's book also involves many contents such as livestock servitude, slaughtering and processing, and also talks a lot about domesticating wild beasts, which can be said to concentrate all the experience of the Jia family in animal husbandry. With the help of the mineral deposit of "Qi Min Yaoshu", later generations of scholars were able to absorb the wisdom of the ancients, and then bring forth the new, pushing the development of animal husbandry in the mainland to a new height.
Agricultural complex: horticulture, brewing and other skills
In addition to crop cultivation and animal husbandry, "Qi Min Yaoshu" also involves a number of agricultural technology fields such as horticulture, wine-making vinegar, fly and insect control, etc., which can be said to integrate all aspects of the production and life of ancient farmers, and is a real agricultural encyclopedia.
Gardening techniques are a key focus of Jia Sixian's discussion. He divided the fruits into branch fruits, stem fruits, root and calamus fruits, etc., and introduced the planting techniques of more than 50 kinds of fruit trees such as pears, peaches, dates, persimmons, and elms. For fruit tree pruning, grafting, transplanting and other technologies, Jia Siqian also has a detailed discussion. In addition, he explained the processing methods of oil crops such as soapberry, sesame, and sunflower. In terms of planting flowers, Jia Siqian is also an expert, and he has recorded the cultivation tips of more than 20 kinds of precious flowers such as peonies and peonies.
Winemaking and vinegar technology is another indispensable and important element. Jia Siqian proposed the brewing process of "10 days of steaming, 5 days of exposure, and 100 days of simmering", and introduced the use of auxiliary materials such as koji and medicinal sauce. He also made a detailed discussion of different types of wine, such as "koji syrup wine, lavender wine, rice wine, honey wine, and Jiji wine". In addition, Jia Siqian also recorded in detail how to brew vinegar and suggested tips to prevent vinegar from spoiling. These contents undoubtedly greatly enrich the connotation of "Qi Min's Technique".
Fly and insect control technology is also the focus of Jia Sixian's attention. He pointed out that crops are often attacked by insects and rat bites during the process of growth, harvesting and storage, causing huge losses to agricultural production. To this end, he suggested spreading medicines such as Sophora sophora and Spiral Flower in the fields to drive away insects, and hanging herbs in warehouses and burning ephedra to prevent rodents. These environmentally friendly and effective insect control tips have not only been widely used, but also laid the foundation for future plant protection research.
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In addition, "Qi Min's Technique" also involves other fields such as tea making, fishing and hunting, and salt industry. Jia Sixian is all-encompassing in all aspects of agriculture, which can be described as a well-deserved "agricultural complex". It is precisely with this astonishing knowledge and insight that "Qi Min Yaoshu" can become a guide to the production and life of farmers at that time, and has made indelible contributions to promoting the development of ancient agricultural science and technology in the mainland.