Study On Nongjia's Culture Of Ancient China

Ancient China, Nongjia①debated with the Confucian school and formed distinctive thought in contention of numerous schools of though during the Period of Warring States (475-221 B.C.), attracting scholars' attention and becoming one of important schools then. After Qin Dynasty, scholars determining to study agriculture carried forward good traditions of Nongjia in the Period of Warring States, enriched researching contents and fields, and enabled Nongjia to develop in depth. In finial, those determining to study agriculture formed a group with researching agriculture as its distinguishing feature. What the group researched included agricultural ideologies, techniques of farming and cropping, methods of operation and management, measures of fighting and preventing agricultural calamities. The whole group showed its own styles in valuing agriculture and concerning people's livelihood. And those agricultural ideologies, science and technology, methods and spirits composed Nongjia's culture, the cream of which can afford us lessons to solve today's new problems.Among historical records, Han Shu discussed Nongjia at first, and arranged Nongjia's category to include Nongjia's works in and before Han Dynasty. Since then, most later historical documents adopted or devolped such a category till The Si Ku Quan Shu. Scholars of successive dynasties defined Nongjia as a group researching agriculture, and some scholars being expert in agriculture also called themselves Nongjia. Therefore, Nongjia not only existed before Qin Dynasty, but extended to the Middle of Qing Dynasty. Nongjia originated very early and developed rapidly during the Period of Warring States. Xu Xing, Nongjia's representative figure, organized his own school, and his follower participated in a debate with Confucianist. Nongjia had also travelled to sevral states as following route:Chu→Song→Lu→Qi→Qin.②From the Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C.) to the Eastern Han Dynasty (A.D.220), many Nongjia's scholars emerged concentratedly. They carried forward and continued to deveop Nongjia's culture of the Period of Warring States, and scored great successes in agricltural research. There were only a few Nongjia's scholars from the Kingdom of Wei to Tang Dynasty, but Jia Sixie, an epoch-making figure of Nongjia, turned up during this period, who served as a link between past and future in Nongjia's deveopment. And in such a period, hermits began to join Nongjia. During Song and Yuan Dynasties, Nongjia's scholars emerged concentratedly again, and agricultural science and technology of South China was summarized systematicly. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, identities of Nongjia's scholars were various, achievements in agricultural research were abundant, and the contents of research were extensive and further. Nongjia developed to such a height as never previously existed.Nongjia wrote many agricultural books while researching agriculture. Identities of Nongjia's scholars were various, and they were officials, hermits or common people. Various identities made different conditions, methods and purposes of researching agriculture, thus, agricultural books also can be classified according to authors' identities as follows:agricultural books by common people, by officials of local governments and by high officials. Various as identities were, Nongjia's scholars had something in common in the purpose of writing agricultural books:giving propose to govern, valuing agriculture, summarizing argricultural science & technology, and guiding agricultural production. Sources of Nongjia's writing materials were also similar, mainly including historical documents, experiences from their own practice, as well as rural survey and interview. Comparatively, the officials were good at gathering historical documents, while common people and hermits paid more attention to experiences of their own. As the development of Nongjia, agricultural books' contents got more and more substantial, and the structures were also improving gradually. Among agricultural books, those excellent ones were handed down in various ways.Nongjia researched agricultural ideologies deeply and had the three-element theory of Heaven, Earth and Human being as the guideline of agricultural technology. Between the three elements existed tree relations:relations between Heaven and Earth, Human being and Earth, Human being and Heaven; and the position of the last two relations changed as Nongjia's deveopment, the relation between Human being and Heaven was gradually strengthened, it underwent the following process:Human being:being restricted by the heaven→knowing the heaven→following the heaven→utilizing the heaven→uniting the heaven→defeating the heaven. Nongjia formed systematic connotation of farming seasons. Besides uesing common ways, Nongjia also refered to farming seasons according to appearance of crops and soil. What Nongjia called farming seasons contained both busy and slack seasons, which could be divided into five seasons:the season of ploughing, sowing, intertilling, harvesting and storing, each of which was made up of best, medium and worst time. Furthermore, Nongjia also revealed that missing farming seasons could seriously affect crops' growing, yield and quality etc.. Nongjia also developed, enriched and improved system of soil's utilization combined with maintenance, and principles of farming in the light of conditions of soil, seasons and crops. What Nongjia mainly concerned were agricultural techniques, mainly including utilizing lands, cultivating soil, growing crops, planting trees and garden crops, rearing of silkworms, raising livestock and poultry, processing food, and improving farm implements etc., which were reflected concentratedly in agricultural books. Nongjia's contribution to agricultural techniques was highly appraised by modern scholars.Nongjia summarized rich experiences and ideas in operating and managing. They emphasized to value agriculture, because agriculture was the most important source of food, clothing and wealth, and it could influence a country's safety, steady, rise and decline, even the social morals. In view of the above-mentioned facts, Nongjia proposed that states should formulate relevance policies to guide agricultural production, local governments should guarantee and supervise agricultural production. Nongjia valued household management of production especially, and they advocated intensive and diversified farming through arranging farm work and labours on limited land area. What's more, Nongjia summarized many accounting methods for family to increase economic benefit. Various natural calamities affected agricultural production seriously. Nongjia were always integrating research with agricultural practice, and they understood the concept and variety of agricultural calamities based on the law of nature, so they revealed causes of agricultural calamities more correctly than other ancient schools. Furthermore, Nongjia related and analyzed clearly calamities' harm to agricultural production and peasants' lives. Based on correct understanding, Nongjia summarized many measures of fighting and preventing agricultural calamities. Nongjia stressed that water conservancy had an advantage in fighting agricultural calamities, so they summed up techniques of building irrigation works and skills of irrigating. Nongjia also summarized many other measures against various agricultural calamities, such as floods, drought, insects, microthermal and wind damage. Besides, facing reality that various calamities happened frequently, Nongjia developed diversified agriculture, suggested storing up grain and economizing on expenses, and sought replacement of food in case of famine.Nongjia paid close attention to people's livelihood while researching agriculture. Zhu Kezhen, a great meteorologist of China, had pointed there were four periods of cold climate in 5000-year-long history, and during the last three periods, natural calamities happened frequently, society bogged down in crisis, and people were living in misery. Correspondingly, three peaks of Nongjia's development appeared in the last three cold periods. It was not a coincidence. Most Nongjia's scholars had lived difficult lives and had background of Confucianism. Environmental and personal factors aroused Nongjia's conscience of concerning people's livelihood, in agricultural books and other concerned collected works, Nongjia's scholars recorded people's hard livelihood in form of essay, prose, verse and picture etc.. And they cared for populace's lives, deplored their heavy burden with sighs, sympathized their hardness and tiredness. In practice, officials of Nongjia's scholars administrated for populace, helped them solve problems in production and lives, and ensured normal production and lives of populace. Limited by social position, the common people of Nongjia's scholars had nothing to do but write books to propagate agricultural science and technology, they appealed to rulers to concern populace's hardness and put forward proposals of improving people's livelihood. The consciousness and practice of Nongjia's concerning people's livelihood were affirmed by ancient populace and modern scholars. Meanwhile, Nongjia also formed ideology of concerning people's livelihood, which focused on populace's food, profit, life and property etc..As the changes of the times, Nongjia appraised by ancient scholars underwent the following process:rated negativly→approved gradually→appraised highly; Nongjia category's position climbed in historical records gradually, which reflected that Nongjia's historical role was promoted. However, modern scholars cognized Nongjia with limitations to a certain degree, and they haven't appraised Nongjia objectively. As a matter of fact, Nongjia and its culture had a distant origin and a long development. Nongjia, Confucianists, and Taoists influenced and blended mutually, which jointly constituted the basis of Chinese traditional cultures. Valuing agriculture, considering both methods and techniques, and concerning people's livelihood were distinguishing academic features of Nongjia. Essences of agricutural science and technology summarized by Nongjia can afford us lessons that merit attention in developing sustainable agriculture, organic farming and ecological agriculture; Nongjia's ideologies on agricultural science, intensive farming and valuing agriculture can offer inspiration to implement scientific development view, construct new countryside and build a harmonious society; purpose, means and spirit of Nongjia's doing scholarly research can give enlightenment in improving today's academic research and academic morals.