Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Plant
Aboveground part of a plant
Topsoil
Underground part of a plant
Subsoil
Figure 10.3
Interpretation of Chinese character ± (i.e., soil). (From Wang, 1980. With permission.)
the Yellow River Valley has developed gradually toward traditional agriculture with plowing,
harrowing, and hoeing as the main cultivation techniques, applying huge amounts of farmyard
manure, conserving soil and water, planting green-manure crops, carrying out the rotation system,
and combining land use with land maintenance. Ancient people also created terraces to take full
advantage of mountainous lands. In the aridic region, our ancestors built the Kanerjing wells for
the development of irrigation agriculture. Ancient people also introduced the planting and use of
green manure, improving cultivation measures and renewing soil fertility, which greatly increased
agricultural productivity (Gong et al., 2000).
The Earliest Records of Soil Knowledge
) pointed out that Ñthe soil is that part of the land bearing living things.Ò
In the Chinese character
Xushen (58Ï147
AD
(i.e., soil), the upper horizontal stroke refers to the topsoil, the lower
horizontal stroke to the subsoil, and vertical stroke to both aboveground and underground parts of
plants (Figure 10.3). It illustrates that the soil nurtures and supports plant growth, revealing the
close relationship between the soil and plant, and shares the same meaning with the soil deÝnition
in modern pedology. This is probably regarded as the earliest scientiÝc interpretation of soil and
its integral function.
±
The Earliest Soil Classification
In Yugong, a topic appeared about 2500 years ago in which soil fertility, soil color, soil texture,
soil moisture regime and salinity were used as the criteria of soil classiÝcation. Based on these
criteria, the soil distribution of soils in ancient China was described and is reproduced in Figure
10.4 and Table 10.1 (Lin, 1996).
The Earliest Soil Exhibition
Chinese emperors in many dynasties established Ñthe land and grains altarÒ in order to show
their reverence to the Land God and Grain God, for a good harvest and the security of the country.
The altar was Ýrst established in the Zhou Dynasty (1000Ï771
). The Ýve-color ÑsacriÝcial altarÒ
established in 1421 of the Ming Dynasty has been preserved at Zhongshan Park, Beijing. Its highest
layer is 15.8 m
BC
in area, paved with Ýve types of soils with different colors: soils in the east are
blue, southÐred, westÐwhite, northÐblack, and centerÐyellow (Figure 10.5). It is consistent
with the general soil distribution of the country: in the east of the country, most soils are blue
because of gleization; in the south, the dominant soils, Ferrosols, are red; in the northwest, Aridosols
and saline soils are white; and in the center, Cambosols in the Loess Plateau are yellow. Therefore,
this is the preliminary, but scientiÝc, knowledge of the soil classiÝcation and distribution in the
country, and is also the earliest public portrayal of the nationÔs soil resources.
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