Moreover, an irrigation system emerged in southern China in the CQZG Period, which focused on water storage, flood control and irrigation of paddy fields (e.g., the Shao Pond for water storage, and the Dujiangyan Weir). They started rapid development during the XSZ Period. The first variable provided basic information on the names of specific technologies. Extensive diffusion of technologies for inter-cropping combinations and cultivation practices were made in the Yellow River region, the Yangtze River region and the South-eastern region. 140, MacNeish RS (1964) Ancient Mesoamerican civilization. In: Lu Y (ed) A history of chinese science and technology. During the lock-in stage in the SY Period, limited technologies (46) of the agricultural engineering subsystem in the Yellow River region were developed. Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. New technologies consisted of composition of different fertilisers (e.g., green manure, weeds) and theoretical guidelines on how to use them. The narrative findings on key agricultural technology in ancient China outlined above could be further explored. Technological lock-in was evident in natural disaster prevention, as there were no new developments of technology since the ST Period. As rice continued to be the major agricultural crop, multi-seasonal rice varieties were more productive due to the warmer climates in these two southern regions. The agricultural crop subsystem was also initiated in the Neolithic Period (Fig. Although most of the emperors in China considered agriculture to be the foundation of a stable society and central to societal, political and economic activities, long-term stability and extreme power concentration favoured experience-based, labour-intensive agricultural practices over innovative tools and scientific theories. After students learn about the geography, natural resources and/or economy of ancient China, it can be helpful for them to see everything together on one map. These technologies were widely implemented on terraced fields and reclaimed land due to limited arable land resources. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.878564, Sadori L, Mercuri AM, Mariotti Lippi M (2010) Reconstructing past cultural landscape and human impact using pollen and plant macroremains. During the pre-development of agriculture in the Neolithic Period, no attention was given to crop protection (Fig. The result of regression analysis for modelling the number of technologies developed in different periods from the Neolithic to the MQ Period is shown below: where T is the number of technologies and t is year. The Yellow River region and the Yangtze River region were the origins of agricultural development in China and therefore were considered separately (Zhang, 2015). This subsystem slowed down during the ST and SY periods, with only 11 new technologies developed. This subsystem gradually shifted focus to fertilisation science (35%) from agricultural meteorology (25%) during the SY and MQ periods. China Agricultural Publisher, China, Brown HS, Vergragt PJ, Cohen MJ (2013) Societal innovation in a constrained world: theoretical and empirical perspectives. Sesame had been adopted as a new oil source from ancient Turkey and India. However, it was not until the QH and WJ periods that irrigation infrastructure projects were commonly constructed across the two regions (approximately 30 in each region). The classification of ancient Chinese agricultural technology was developed based on the Chinese Classified Thesaurus (CCT) (China, 2010). These technologies were made of bone, stone, wood, shell, and pottery and designed to dig and move soil for planting. The archaeological studies, documenting the findings of agricultural remains, are commonly event-specific and based on the detailed explanations of the excavated artefacts, thus could not cover the full duration of pre-industrial agricultural development from the Neolithic Period to the end of the Qing Dynasty in 1912. 6e, f). Thank you for visiting nature.com. The report found that China's growing affluence has made it . As boys were valued much more than girls, newborn baby girls were sometimes abandoned or drowned. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2015.08.010, Unruh GC (2000) Understanding carbon lock-in. Therefore, the historical patterns and trajectories of ancient Chinese agricultural technological development will be a suitable mirror when considering a more sustainable technological pathway in the future. It was unable to achieve a new dynamic equilibrium that featured contemporary scientific knowledge. As in the Yellow River region, the agricultural crops planted in these two regions initially included millet and ramie and later, after the WJ Period, wheat and soybean. This paper aims to uncover the evolutionary pattern of the ancient Chinese agricultural technology system that focused on land and water mobilisations from 8000 BC to 1911 AD. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the articles Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. Aharonson BS, Schilling MA (2016) Mapping the technological landscape: measuring technology distance, technological footprints, and technology evolution. At the pre-development stage, diffusion of the agricultural practice subsystem (less than 5) occurred between the Yangtze River region and the South-eastern region, which used animals for loosening soil (i.e., animal traction farming). This paper aimed to uncover the evolutionary pattern of ancient Chinese agricultural technologies. Biological measures were also used as natural control agents (e.g., birds) to control pests. culture - the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, . They were then categorised into the ancient Chinese agricultural technology system defined in Table 1. A few empirical studies have demonstrated this framework on certain technologies, such as the evolution of sailing ships by Geels (2002), and wastewater treatments by Prouty et al. J Econ Surv 19(4):561586. 1) (Chang and Baek, 2010). The Lake Tai Irrigation Complex in Zhejiang and Jiangsu Province contained multiple dikes, water ponds and channels for water storage, irrigation, flood diversion, and seawater infusion prevention. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104(33):1326813272, Needham J, Bray F (1984) Science and civilisation in China. While the ridge furrowing method was still commonly used in the North-eastern region during these periods, cultivation and harvesting tools such as the Tangtou iron rake was developed to make ridge farming easier in dryland. Princeton University Press, Princeton, Repository HWM (2000) Watersheds of China. As agriculture relied on rivers to develop, the regions were divided based on river basin boundaries: the Yellow River region, the Yangtze River region, the North-eastern region, the North-western region, the South-eastern region and the South-western region (Fig. Agriculture is the primary food source for our society (Conway, 1987). 4e). Grades 9 - 12+ article Understanding Rivers The Zhengguo Channel, along with the Lingzhi Channel and Bai Channel formed part of the large irrigation network from the Yellow River during the QH Period. In addition, cash crops, including yams, sugarcane, and buckwheat, were also actively developed. Vol. These infrastructure projects were run using irrigation practise guidelines, which documented the ratio of water quantities to farmland sizes. The copper smelting technique was developed in the late Neolithic Period to the XSZ Period; however, due to limited copper resources, most of the agricultural tools were still fabricated using stone and wood instead of bronze. There were only limited developments on tools for intensive furrowing (e.g., ploughs that could furrow to approximately 90mm), pest control (e.g., specialised tools for crop toggling and sweeping), and harvest (e.g., tools that harvest and process wheat at the same time). Development of agricultural theory (14%) was evenly distributed among biology, meteorology and soil science. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2018.05.022, Weisdorf JL (2005) From foraging to farming: explaining the Neolithic Revolution. The classification was mutually exclusive, which meant that one technology only belonged to one subsystem at any level. China is also one of the largest producers of cash crops on Earth, with rice and corn being major exports. New technologies were developed, especially for paddy field irrigation, to control water temperature, and vary irrigation amounts according to seasonal changes. Technological pre-development was characterised by a primitive society with a loose social structure, very low population, and low motivation for production during the Neolithic Period. These technologies were complemented by additional fertilisers and understanding of soil conditions from the agricultural theory subsystem to improve crop productivity. The main crops planted were millet and its varieties. Spatial diffusion of the agricultural engineering subsystem expanded and entered the acceleration stage with the development of iron-making techniques (Fig. Without such a system knowledge of the development of technology, we will not be in a position to analytically and normatively decipher the complexities of technological development and potentially reorientate future technology development. It had gradually out-paced the agricultural engineering subsystem (by more than 100 new technologies) on more detailed cultivation technologies for both paddy field and dryland farming. (2010) Chinese classified thesaurus web version 2.1. http://cct.nlc.cn/, Conway GR (1987) The properties of agroecosystems. Evidence uncovered with these finds shows that these early inhabitants knew how to fashion stone tools and use fire. More studies on the mechanisms of technological development are needed. Most technological transitions require long periods of time to be observed (Brown et al., 2013). Ancient China was a land of invention. Within agriculture (Level 1), there are four levels of classifications. The lock-in of the technological system was evident as technological exchanges became more constrained among the southern regions, focusing on pest control by their natural predators and chemicals. Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative, Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (Humanit Soc Sci Commun) Fitzroy Dearden, Chicago; Aslib IMI, London, Anadon LD, Chan G, Harley AG, Matus K, Moon S, Murthy SL, Clark WC (2016) Making technological innovation work for sustainable development. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-016-1555-8, Wei Y, Wu S, Tesemma Z (2018) Re-orienting technological development for a more sustainable humanenvironmental relationship. China ranks first in the world in the minerals graphite, tungsten, titanium, antimony, magnesite, pyrite, barite, flourite, zinc, rare earth, plaster stone and vanadium. The fitted R2=0.9866. During the Neolithic and CQZG periods, only approximately 1015 technologies, mainly belonging to the agricultural engineering subsystem, spatially diffused across all regions except the North-eastern region. In addition, regions using animal power to loosen soil were further expanded, and diffusion of less than 5 technologies of seed cultivation (marinating seeds with fertilisers before sowing) occurred between the Yellow River and the Yangtze River regions. Free. We found limited studies investigating the development of modern technologies with the same equation (Eq. Natural Resources. Wu, S., Wei, Y., Head, B. et al. Natural Resources in China - statistics & facts Primary resources, also known as natural resources, occur naturally and are derived from the environment in order to process them. CAS Greater understanding of the mechanisms of technology development will be required to reorientate technology development for present and future generations. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2010.02.010, China, N. L. o. A huge workforce and lots of natural resources have driven economic change. The Neolithic Revolution provided humans with stone and iron tools utilised for planting and cultivation to establish an agrarian society (Weisdorf, 2005); industrial revolutions elicited scientific and engineering discoveries that brought prosperity to the industrial society; and the information revolutions have facilitated knowledge exchanges and escalations in socio-economic evolution (Zacher, 2017). Furthermore, while it could be difficult to distinguish the causal relationships between technology evolution and socio-economic changes (Turnheim et al., 2015), the Actor Network Theory (Latour, 2005) provides an approach for exploring the network dynamics between social and technological actors. Other agricultural activities, including fisheries, animal grazing and husbandry with limited scales (Dong and Fan, 2000) were not considered in this study. 560L-740L. Three encyclopaedias were selected (Table 3). In contrast to the irrigation systems in the north, which mainly used water channels, irrigation systems in the south used a combination of channels, storage ponds, and waterwheels based on different spatial conditions. One of the most significant developments that induced take-off was the large-scale manufacturing of iron and utilisation of iron tools. Given the long study period, eight historical periods were established principally based on dynastic changes (Table 2). The agricultural technology system further advanced with use of iron tools, and multiple irrigation technologies during the QH and WJ periods, but were normally 150200 fewer in number than those in the Yellow River region. The temporal evolution of subsystems of ancient Chinese agricultural technology. The divisions of temporal periods and determination of spatial regions for agricultural technological systems are explained in sections Division of study periods and Division of spatial regions, respectively. China Agricultural Publisher, China, Board CAYE (2000) China agricultural yearbook 2000. Science 143(3606):531537, Montgomery DR (2007) Soil erosion and agricultural sustainability. 5). The relationships between soil types and soil fertility were further investigated (22% in soil science), along with how they may have influenced crop productivity (15% in biology). The number of technologies developed in each region generally increased over time (Fig. 1 The Coming Of Age. The availability of natural resources and constraints on the natural environment (and climate change) have also contributed to the shaping of spatial characteristics for the technology system (Unruh, 2000). . For . The key findings and implications for future research and practices are summarised below: The development of agricultural technology in ancient China was an extremely slow process. As ancient civilisations relied on large rivers to flourish, natural landscapes determined the types of agricultural activities and technologies adopted (Sadori et al., 2010). Res Policy 31(8-9):12571274. Temporal transition pattern of ancient agricultural technology in China. Google Scholar, Chang YS, Baek SJ (2010) Limit to improvement: myth or reality? China is an authoritarian state ruled by a very powerful central government. Reconstructing change in historical systems: are there commonalties between evolutionary biology and the humanities? However, lands that were not sufficiently fertilised were abandoned after a few years of farming when soil fertility was exhausted. MathSciNet So, referring to historical encyclopaedias, integrating the knowledge from these first-hand studies and organising them in a systematic way, was the method chosen in this study. Exploration for natural gas, long at only modest levels, has been increasing. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0048-7333(99)00092-X, Godelier M (1986) The mental and the material: thought, economy and society. The maximum growth rate was reached during the SY Period and continued to slow down during the MQ Period (lock-in). 2). The development of the ancient Chinese agricultural technology system originated during the Neolithic Period with agricultural engineering that focused on farming tools and irrigation infrastructures, was later enhanced by iron-making technologies, and remained the most dominant subsystem (594 technologies in total). These technologies formed the early stages of the agricultural technology system in the Yellow River region. The Neolithic and XSZ periods were the pre-development stages for the two regions, with stone and wooden Leisi, axes and limited copper containers used for farming, mainly in the North-western region. The farming tools developed were mainly made of shell and bone, while rice was planted in paddy fields using similar slash-and-burn methods. There was extensive construction of water channels for dryland farming irrigation in northern China. In this study, we will purposely not differentiate between science and technology because there was a much closer relationship between them in the ancient systems. Sociological analysis of technology is strong at descriptions and weak at prediction, which shows the challenges for incorporating such knowledge into policy-making and management. ArcMap 10.2 was used to conduct these spatial analyses. 351429, Zhang Q (2015) An introduction to Chinese history and culture. Despite the abundance of natural resources contributing to agriculture, Chinas huge population reduces the abundance of some of its reserves. This study focused on the agricultural technologies considered to be influential on land and water; therefore, crop planting activities, the earliest development of agricultural activity with strong links to the mobilisation of land and water resources, were mainly considered. CAS Data sources, data extraction and data analysis for developing the understanding of the evolution of this system are introduced in section Data sources, data extraction and data analysis. What Were Ancient China's Natural Resources? It considers technological innovations in the social context as complex nonlinear systems. (1) in the first derivative gives the growth rate or speed of the number of technologies developed in time; while the second derivative measures the rate of growth rate ('acceleration') of technologies development. : empirical analysis of historical improvement on three technologies influential in the evolution of civilization. While the boundary of China has changed throughout history, the data sources used in this study have mapped ancient locations and their ancient names with modern locations and administrative boundaries. Publishers note: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. 6g, h). Modification of the agricultural classification of the CCT was made for use in this study, as the CCT is designed for modern use. Less than 10 new technologies from the agricultural practices subsystem diffused across the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, the South-eastern and the North-western region in the QH Period and they expanded to include the agricultural crops and protection between the WJ and ST periods. As the past is the key to the present (Cracraft, 2006), understanding the historical patterns and trajectories of technology development will facilitate and unwind such complexities, as well as orientate current technology towards sustainable development for current and future generations. In 2017, according to the World Bank, the Chinese gross domestic product was the 2 nd highest in the world standing at $2.24 trillion. During these periods, the farming process became more precise and labour-intensive. There was also technological knowledge of fertilisation science (10%), which related to the use of rotten weeds for fertilisation. The focus was still on using bio-physical measures to reduce the effects of locusts at their birth (digging locust eggs), in their transition paths (setting traps and trenches to capture locusts), and in contacts with crops (use of birds and tools to capture locusts and other harmful pests). However, further technological advancement was sustained by agricultural practices (with an over 50% increase between the SY and MQ periods), with a focus on labour-intensive, precision farming practices. Like in the Yangtze River region, technological acceleration was evident by the widespread development of transplantation, soil cultivation and construction of water storage ponds in the two southern regions since the ST Period. This edition is currently the most up-to-date and comprehensive technological encyclopaedia in China. The development of furrowing techniques continued to dominate (at 44%), with a different focus on repetitive furrowing and deep furrowing to maintain soil fertility. While shovels, rakes, and ploughs used in the Yellow River region were made of stone, similar tools used in the Yangtze River region were made of shell and bone. However, collapses of ancient civilisations do not necessarily lead to the termination of traditional technology. Grades 5 - 8 Subjects Religion, Social Studies, Ancient Civilizations, World History Image Lighting Incense for Luck They were weather observations to determine the timing of farming activities and the use of fire to reduce pests, respectively. MATH Ancient literature and archaeological discoveries are commonly regarded as primary sources for historical studies. 4d). Mineral Resources and Raw Materials Found in China China has extensive deposits of coal, oil and natural gas. When was the key historical period of ancient Chinese agricultural technological development? Six spatial regions were considered necessary to understand the spatial patterns of ancient Chinese agricultural technologies. 1, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, Heidelberg, pp. Rice planting was discovered at approximately the same time, mainly in the southern parts of China. Societal structures, political concentrations, economic development and the frequency of war were identified by many studies as key drivers of transition of agricultural technology, and the shift of an agricultural centre from the Yellow River region to the Yangtze River region (Wong, 1997; Zhang, 2015). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Papagiannidis S, Gebka B, Gertner D, Stahl F (2015) Diffusion of web technologies and practices: a longitudinal study. The development of ancient Chinese agricultural and water technology from 8000 BC to 1911 AD. Dong and Fan (2000) took a step further to introduce the technological theories and philosophy, which is considered the software of technology in this study. PubMed Technological development in the Yellow River region entered the acceleration stage in the QH Period, during which most agricultural practices technologies consisted of furrowing and cultivation using shovels and hoes, specifically for wheat and soy beans (70%), which were greatly supported by large irrigation networks such as the Zhengguo Channel in Shaanxi Province. 2). Google Scholar, Zeng X (2015) Agriculture. This thesaurus covers 26 fields, including: agriculture, geography, history and social science. The number of technologies then increased to approximately 320 in a relatively short period (CQZG Period) and further accelerated from the QH to the SY periods with 200250 new technologies during each period. The soil was then loosened before planting using Leisi or animals and then sickles were used to harvest and process the crops. 6b, c). Technologies further diversified and increased significantly to 41 technologies during the CQZG Period, with agricultural meteorology (39%) and fertilisation science (14%), soil science (29%), agricultural biology (14%) and the newly emerged farmland management (4%). Springer International Publishing, Cham, Zeng A, Shen Z, Zhou J, Wu J, Fan Y, Wang Y, Stanley HE (2017) The science of science: from the perspective of complex systems. During the QH Period, animal power (e.g., animal traction farming using mainly oxen and horses) was used in the furrowing process; and some specialised tools were also developed for rainfall measurements, sowing, breaking down of soil, levelling the ground, harvesting, and processing of harvested crops (e.g., smaller hoes, shovels and rakes). The prodigious land area of ancient China harbored resources like coal, drinking water, numerous minerals and plant and animal life. The growing population and transitions to slavery and feudal societies from the XSZ to CQZG periods coincided with the take-off stage of the agricultural technology system. Complementing the development of sharper ploughs and new planting and sowing methods were developed to determine the suitable amount of seeds to be sowed. The agricultural practice subsystem pre-developed with agricultural engineering during the Neolithic Period (Fig. A coal mining operation in China. article Key Components of Civilization Arts and Music, Geography, Human Geography, Social Studies, Civics, World History Civilization describes a complex way of life characterized by urban areas, shared methods of communication, administrative infrastructure, and division of labor. Google Scholar, Krippendorff K (2004) Content analysis: an introduction to its methodology. This study provides an empirical baseline for comparative studies between pre-industrial and industrial technologies. Protection measures and crop varieties were not directly related to land and water utilisation processes but were classified due to their direct relationships to the objects (crops) of such processes. The readily accessible iron ores and development of ironmaking techniques led to the major improvements of these tools (e.g., plough, shovels, hoes) and take-off of this subsystem. Improved irrigation methods also facilitated treatments of saline soil and preservation of soil fertility. During the MQ Period, more biological (by ants, ducks, birds and frogs) and physical measures (constant cultivation, rotational cropping, and adjusting planting seasons) were developed to control pests. This greatly alleviated the difficulty in clarifying the geographical ambiguities and increased accuracy in the analysis. Google Scholar, Fischer-Kowalski M, Haberl H (2007) Conceptualizing, observing and comparing socioecological transitions. The extracted information was cross-checked by more than one independent coder, with any ambiguity being thoroughly discussed. 1x Like the other early civilizations, Ancient China developed along rivers. China is the biggest producer of salt on Earth, with 17 million tons annually. Although the developments for agricultural theory and agricultural crop were slow, they reached maximum growth rates during the ST Period. volume5, Articlenumber:77 (2019) By Staff Writer Last Updated March 25, 2020 MelindaChan/Moment Open/Getty Images The prodigious land area of ancient China harbored resources like coal, drinking water, numerous minerals and plant and animal life. The diversification of technological understanding focused on the relationship between soil and crop conditions. While more empirical studies are needed, a quantitative analysis of technological development is also required. The agricultural theory subsystem continued to develop with agricultural biology to maintain soil fertility by fertilisation during the ST and SY periods. The significance of this study is that, China has been heavily criticized in recent years for its poor environmental performance ( Economy, 2010) and the recognition of positive environmental ethics . 4b, the agricultural theory subsystem was first developed during the XSZ Period. ADS the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in These tools were initially used for dryland farming in the north and were brought to the south with population migration during the WJ Period. Agriculture dominated most of the pre-industrial history in China (Shen, 2010 ). Using all three encyclopaedias together not only ensures a comprehensive coverage of agricultural technology and its societal contexts but also provides cross-validation of technologies documented under different perspectives. The number peaked (1337) in the MQ Period (Fig. Science Publisher, China, Dunning NP, Beach TP, Luzzadder-Beach S (2012) Kax and kol: collapse and resilience in lowland Maya civilization. There are 760 billion tons of coal located in Chinas Shanxi region, and the 3 trillion cubic meters of rainfall and river water rank 6th in the world. 4). PubMed The Yellow River gets its name from the yellowish tint of its water. The method was further improved during the QH Period, which specified the cultivation timing and soil conditions to be achieved by furrowing. The focus shift from development of engineering to scientific theories and then practices, demonstrated a knowledge generation mode of early human civilisation, which is different from the typical consensus that scientific understanding induces engineering and practice development. The Yellow River region had always been most central in the development of technology, followed by the Yangtze River region. PubMed The acceleration stage was signified by the diffusion of furrowing practices among the Yellow River region, North-eastern region and the North-western region from the QH to WJ periods (Fig. Basu and Weil (1998) observed that traditional ploughs and sickles are still widely used for farming in India, while Buckley and Boudot (2017) showed that traditional agricultural techniques are still commonly practised in most of South-east Asia. The technology system was initially driven by tangible tools (40% of growth), then by technological theories and practices that contributed more than 50% of growth. Among them, the primitive plough called a Leisi () was one of the most important. Intercropping, multi-cropping, and rotational farming of extensive combinations including rice, fish, beans, vegetables and canola were widely utilised. During the WJ and ST periods, irrigation infrastructure projects were widely constructed in the Yangtze River region. Specifically, it will answer the following questions: What were the key technologies of the Chinese agricultural system in different historical periods? These understandings were integrated to maintain the balance between the Yin (lunar forces, soil fertility) and Yang (solar forces, crop productivity) of the agricultural system via three key elements: seasonality, crops and soil conditions. https://doi.org/10.1177/030631284014003004, Poindexter PM, McCombs ME (2000) Research in mass communication: a practical guide. During the QH Period, the agricultural theory subsystem accelerated, with 35% of the 55 technologies related to fertilisation science; and 31% related to agricultural meteorology. Deep and repetitive furrowing technologies were widely developed in both the North-eastern region and the North-western region in the CQZG Period, which were facilitated by the understanding of crop biology, soil conditions and farming seasons from the agricultural theory subsystem (30 technologies). For spatial analysis, the numbers of technologies in one or more of the six regions were counted. In: LW Zacher (ed), Technology, society and sustainability: selected concepts, issues and cases (pp. The greater varieties of cash crops were effectively incorporated into the rotational farming and inter-cropping regimes, further increasing food productivity. Bedford/St. During the CQZG, QH and WJ periods, 7080% of technologies in the agricultural engineering subsystem were manually operated. Rice was the major food crop in the south and, therefore, widely planted in both the Yangtze River region and the South-eastern region (Fig. This study, for the first time, empirically and quantitatively observed the development of an ancient agricultural technology system and uncovered its specific transition pathway. The Chinese economy is one of the world's most important economies. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0301-4215(00)00070-7, Wang J, Wei Y, Jiang S, Zhao Y, Zhou Y, Xiao W (2017) Understanding the human-water relationship in China during 722 B.C.-1911 A.D. from a contradiction and co-evolutionary perspective. Technological acceleration had been evident since the QH Period, when furrowing, cultivation, weeding, and crop selection technologies of the agricultural practices subsystem were developed for paddy fields. While technological winners that made significant contributions to agricultural development and were attentively documented, undocumented technologies that failed, were improved or replaced might have also contributed to technology development (Geroski, 2000). New technologies focused on selections of pest-resilient crops, uses of soil cultivation methods and pest traps (e.g., trenches to trap locust), and appropriate uses of fire to disinfect crops from pests and diseases. 750L-890L. Wheat production had been comparable to the production of millet in the north. Next, they were assigned to the eight historical periods defined in Table 2. The definition of the subsystem is very important for any system study. The increased diversity of the technology system was represented by the increased number of subsystems. What Are The Major Natural Resources Of China? The Dujiangyan Weir was one of the most advanced infrastructure designs at the time that divided the river into an outer component for flood control and an inner component for irrigation of over 200,000 hectares of farmland. Water Res 137:107119. Three coding variables were designed to extract the qualitative data from the data sources (Table 4). Originating between 10,000 and 8000 years ago, agriculture has been considered one of the most important stage developments in human history (Holdren and Ehrlich, 1974). Both food crops and cash crops were actively domesticated. Rotational farming and transplanting were also developed. The development, diffusion and adaptation of agricultural technologies have modified our world more than any other human innovation (Weisdorf, 2005). Technology developments have made significant impacts on both humans and the environment in which they live. 127, Buckley CD, Boudot E (2017) The evolution of an ancient technology. Motivated by the plea to open the black box of historical and contemporary technology and see what is within (Pinch and Bijker, 1984), sociological studies focus on qualitative analyses of technology development. During the XSZ and CQZG periods, crops for dryland farming were dominant, including varieties of millet, barley, wheat, and soy beans. Temporal and spatial analyses were then conducted on these collected and cross-checked data. In the bars of north Beijing, Wood tracks the author of China's most loved novel - Dream of the Red Chamber. Google Scholar. This figure shows the number of agricultural and water technologies developed in time, disaggregated in terms of the geographical regions in China previously defined in Fig. The notion of the socio-technical system, as a recent framework in sociology, emphasises a system perspective to understand social development and the evolution of technology (Bijker et al., 2012). There was also active development of the agricultural protection subsystem for pest control (from 13 to 45), via various types of chemicals (e.g., limestone) and natural control agents (e.g., frogs). One key technological breakthrough was the refinement of steel-making techniques. This figure shows (a) the total number of agricultural and water technologies developed, (b) the rate of changes, and (c) the acceleration in time. The spatial diffusion for ancient agricultural technology in China in different historical periods. It was not until the SY Period that approximately 15 agricultural theory technologies for fertilisation diffused among the Yangtze River region, the South-eastern region and the South-western region, and later expanded to the Yellow River, the North-eastern, and the North-western regions (Fig. In particular, the History of Science and Technology in China was re-adapted and improved from the renowned Science and Civilisation of China by Joseph Needham, covering all major agricultural technology disciplines (Dong and Fan, 2000; Needham and Bray, 1984). Course: World history > Unit 1 Arts and humanities > World history > Beginnings - 600 BCE > The Neolithic Revolution and the birth of agriculture Early civilizations Google Classroom Overview The term civilization refers to complex societies, but the specific definition is contested. Water Resour Manag 31(3):929943. In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles In addition, there were methods to marinate the seed (by water or manure) before planting to preserve fertility and increase productivity. With a greater understanding of such development, we will be in a better position to understand the implications of purposely increasing or limiting the speed and scale of certain technological development; promoting stage transitions (e.g., change or maintain the lock-in stage); encouraging or discouraging key technologies with significant impacts on social, economic and environmental systems; and rebalancing regional developments to reorientate technology developments for present and future generations. Silk, paper, tea, and porcelain were just some of the goods the Chinese exported far and wide.Trade routes, once firmly established, also carried ideas and innovations . New methods were also developed for weeding and cultivation of different rice varieties in paddy fields, which facilitated intercropping, multi-cropping and rotational farming. This was complemented by chemical protection materials (e.g., asphalt, oil and tobacco rods). This has forced the communist government to permit more economic and personal freedoms, but it has come at a huge cost to the environment. https://worldmap.harvard.edu/data/geonode:ch_wtrshed_30mar11, Roepke S, Moehrle MG (2014) Sequencing the evolution of technologies in a system-oriented way: the concept of technology-DNA. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 109(10):36523657, Article Likewise, technologies to protect crops against extreme weather conditions (e.g., rain, frost, cold, and drought) also emerged in the QH period, including the use of long string lines to scrape off frost, accumulation of snow during winter to reduce risks of droughts, intercepting hail by physical covers before it hit the crops and increasing the ground temperature with smoke to reduce the impact of frost. When one technology appeared in multiple regions, that technology was assumed to be developed in all these regions within the same period. The value of Krippendorffs alpha was maintained above the 80% limit as recommended by Poindexter and McCombs (2000). The second variable documented the time during which these technologies were invented, developed or implemented. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0950-0804.2005.00259.x, Wong RB (1997) China transformed: historical change and the limits of European experience. However, the availability and accessibility of ancient literature is very limited. 1. Pottery tools were common in the Mesopotamian civilisation due to rich clay sources in the Tigris-Euphrates River Basin, the ancient Egyptians developed advanced irrigation and land distribution systems to harness the Nile River flooding, and ancient Indians focused on a philosophical human-nature relationship along the Indus and Ganges rivers (Liu, 2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2015.08.001, Article Content analysis was undertaken to extract relevant information from the selected encyclopaedias. It should be noted that this study focused on textual data collected from three historical encyclopaedias. ARTICLE Chinese Religions and Philosophies Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism were the three main philosophies and religions of ancient China, which have individually and collectively influenced ancient and modern Chinese society. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Book https://doi.org/10.1080/11263504.2010.491982, Shen XB (2010) Understanding the evolution of rice technology in China: from traditional agriculture to GM Rice today. 1. Google Scholar, Elo S, Kyngas H (2008) The qualitative content analysis process. Ancient China was often connected to the rest of the world through trade, not only along the famous Silk Road but also via merchant ships that sailed the Indian Ocean, connecting East Asia to the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. Tianjing Science and Technology Publisher, China, Zacher LW (2017) Technologization of man and marketization of his activities and culture of the future. It is revealed in this study that positive environmental ethics and attitudes derived from ancient beliefs are possessed by Chinese accountants. The Great Wall and Other Engineering Feats. Its development was spatially inclined to the Yellow River then to the Yangtze River region, where over 45% of technologies were developed. Level 1 was referred to as agriculture in general, with Levels 2 to 4 containing the theoretical understandings, engineering, practices, protection measures and crop varieties of the agricultural technology subsystems. A very broad conception of technology is adopted here, whereby technology is defined as beliefs, artefacts, and evaluation routines based on their representation as knowledge. This figure shows the number of agricultural and water technologies implemented across multiple geographical regions (diffuse spatially) from (a) Neolithic Period to (h) MQ Period as defined in the article. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 113(35):96829690. This stage marked the transition from primitive agriculture to traditional agriculture. Organic chemicals (e.g., anise, lime powder, wormwood, plant ash, and arsenic) were developed and widely utilised to reduce pests and disinfect crops. 322166814/www.reference.com/Reference_Desktop_Feed_Center6_728x90, How My Regus Can Boost Your Business Productivity, How to Find the Best GE Appliances Dishwasher for Your Needs, How to Shop for Rooms to Go Bedroom Furniture, Tips to Maximize Your Corel Draw Productivity, How to Plan the Perfect Viator Tour for Every Occasion. The development stages of the technology system were identified according to the turning points of speed and acceleration of technologies developed. Sage, Latour B (2005) Reassembling the social: an introduction to actor-network-theory. This is nearly the whole period of development for agricultural technology systems in the pre-industrial society in China. During the acceleration stage (from the QH to SY periods), the number of technologies increased at a negative accelerating rate. This method facilitated drainage and ensured definite intervals between individual crops, making sowing and cultivation much easier. The Boltzmanns sigmoidal function was employed to model the temporal development trends of agricultural and water technologies in China, which have been widely applied to analyse and predict the development progress of various technologies (Chang and Baek, 2010; Papagiannidis et al., 2015; Stahl, 2015; Rogers, 2003): Where y represents the progress of technology and x represents time. The Kaner Well and Qianjin Channel in Gansu and Xinjiang provinces irrigated approximately 2000 hectares of farmland in the North-western region. China, as one of the most ancient civilisations, is most integral and has the longest lasting recorded history. The cats in the bag right dar.China's natural resources are coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, manganese, aluminum, lead, zinc, , uranium.in china What are. According to Rotmans (2005), system lock-in is a result of exacerbated path dependence, where past experiences depress current innovations. Martins, Boston, Prouty C, Mohebbi S, Zhang Q (2018) Socio-technical strategies and behavior change to increase the adoption and sustainability of wastewater resource recovery systems. More fertilisers were developed (both organic and inorganic), along with the selection of optimal fertilisers for different crops and soil conditions. 2748). Alfalfa, taro, mallow, melons, and turnip were widely planted. Agricultural Publisher, China, Liu D (2015) Vertical and horizontal beginnings. This was followed by the WJ Period when both food crops (mainly millet, rice, soy bean and barley) and cash crops (e.g., taro and melon) varieties were planted in all regions. In: Lu Y (ed) A history of Chinese science and technology. 6a). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1525004113, Article Kubuqi (China)/Bangkok, 02 August 2013- China has surged ahead of the rest of the world in material consumption, creating intense environmental pressures, but the country also remains among themost successful in improving resource efficiency, according to a new report released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) today.. From the ST to MQ Period, technological acceleration was evident by the development of the agricultural engineering subsystem with the maintenance and expansion of the channel networks in the North-western region, which was also connected to irrigation systems in the upper Yellow River catchment. Verso Books, New York, Holdren JP, Ehrlich PR (1974) Human population and the global environment: population growth, rising per capita material consumption, and disruptive technologies have made civilization a global ecological force. 6). 3a). However, technology itself is also a complex system, and its scope, structure and temporal-spatial patterns are hardly considered in an integrated manner. 900L-1040L. The importance of farming seasonality was recognised during the WJ and ST periods. There was continued development of more than 10 irrigation infrastructure projects between the Yellow River region and the North-western region. The agricultural crop subsystem widely spread across regions in the ST Period. Soc Stud Sci 14(3):399441. Plant Biosyst 144(4):940951. 5th edn. Res Policy 29(4):603625. Thirty five percent of new technologies belonged to agricultural meteorology, which developed rainfall observation procedures, calendars and solar terms to guide agricultural activities. This research is supported by the Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship, and the Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship [grant numbers: FT130100274]. 270284, Chapter In the MQ Period, the number of irrigation systems and irrigation methods continued to expand to reach 594. The spatial distribution for ancient agricultural technology in China in different historical periods. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220380903151033, Turnheim B, Berkhout F, Geels F, Hof A, McMeekin A, Nykvist B, van Vuuren D (2015) Evaluating sustainability transitions pathways: bridging analytical approaches to address governance challenges. Covers 26 fields, including yams, sugarcane, and technology inorganic,! //Cct.Nlc.Cn/, Conway GR ( 1987 ) of historical improvement on three technologies influential the. Bone, stone, wood, shell, and achievements of a particular nation, control water temperature, vary... 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