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within the category of farmland are given with a list of characteristics: chhi lu is said
to be reddish, crumbly, hard and fertile, particularly suited for hemp cultivation,
huang huang is yellowish, brittle, salty and alkaline soil, occurring on land liable to
ooding, useful only for the cultivation of millet. Chhih chih soils are argillaceous
and rather saline, with a much higher groundwater table of ca. 4 m, but apparently,
the author is convinced that wheat and soybean can be grown there. The hei chih
soils, dark, sticky, saline clay soils with groundwater at 2 m, can support the growth
of rice and wheat. The Kuan Tzu is not a stand-alone contribution. Even earlier than
this work, in the 5th century BCE, the Y
Kung, a geographical treatise, detailed the
soils of the ancient Nine Provinces of China. The Chou Li, a collection of texts
about the administration of the country, probably from the 3rd century BCE, dis-
cussed taxation in relation to soil type and hence, quality. 33
Apart from naming soils, one needs also to test them for quality, as looks can be
deceptive. There is only scant evidence on soil testing in that part of the Chinese
literature which is available for the non-specialist. Needham speculates that the
terminology itself, hsi thu soils as opposed to hao thu soils bears witness of Chinese
knowledge about a test of soil quality which has also been described by Roman
agricultural writers (see below). The quality of the soil can be determined by
digging a pit and re
ΓΌ
'
'
lling the pit with the excavated earth. Hsi means
much
or
'
'
'
'
'
'
. This way, they describe soil quality according
to the pit-test. If the material proved to be too much for the pit (as hsi thu denotes),
the soil would have been fertile, whereas in the opposite case, soil not
full
, hao means
little
or
lacking
lling the pit
would be infertile. 34
Over
ve-hundred agricultural works are known for China before the end of
imperial rule (1912), with an outstanding contribution to agricultural science dating
as early as the 6th century CE. The Chhi Min Yao Shu (Essential Techniques for the
Peasantry) starts with a section on clearing and tilling the land, documenting the
importance of soil matters in agriculture. Like some other topics of the genre, it was
obviously written by a practitioner who combined his own experience with the
wisdom of the already existing works. It is a main source for details about agri-
culture in the north of China. Together with several extant overviews and con-
centrating on particular topics, the Chhi Min Yao Shu allows us to reconstruct soil
management practices in detail. This 6th century manual is the oldest proof of green
manuring, of the use of the nitrogen
xating power of legumes to boost the growth
of subsequently planted other crops; the manual recommends particularly melons,
mallows and other vegetables. Manures comprised animal droppings collected with
the bedding straw of their stables; nitrogen-rich silkworm excrement was valued
highly, as was human excrement (nightsoil). Diligently prepared hemp waste, oil-
cake, or the cake left over from bean-curd making were added to the Chinese
fertilizer repertoire during the Sung and Ming dynasties (from the 10th century
onwards). The fertilizer repertoire was regionally differentiated, including animal
33 Needham et al. ( 1984 ).
34 Needham et al. ( 1986 ).
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