Research On The Main Grain In Zhengzhou During The Han And Tang Dynasties

As early as in the Neolithic age,millet,rice,wheat,beans,and other crops were planted in the Zhengzhou area,and the staple grain was millet.Today,millet,rice,wheat,beans,and other crops continue to be planted in the Zhengzhou area,but the staple grain has changed from millet to wheat.The Han and Tang dynasties were the key period for the transition of staple grain from millet to wheat in this area.This paper comprehensively collected and sorted out the documents related to wheat and millet in the Han and Tang Dynasties,and combined with the human bone isotope data to discuss the change of the proportion of millet and wheat in the staple grains in Zhengzhou during this period.The full text is divided into four chapters:The first chapter reviewed the main grain in Zhengzhou before the Han Dynasty.Combined with the literature,unearthed materials and related isotopes,starch grain,silicon implant and plant flotation data,the development and evolution of the staple grain in Zhengzhou before the Han Dynasty was divided into two stages.The first stage was the prehistoric period,during which agricultural civilization had emerged in Zhengzhou,and people began to plant millet,beans,rice,wheat,and other crops,but the staple grain at this time was only millet.The second stage was the Xia,Shang and Zhou dynasties.Zhengzhou area still continued cultivate the crops similar as the previous period,and the staple grain remained as millet,but the status of wheat began to be improved,and might have become the staple grain for some people in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.The second chapter discussed the staple grain in Zhengzhou in the Han and Tang dynasties.It was also divided into three stages.The first stage was the Han Dynasty,during which winter wheat was vigorously promoted by the government.In the literature,a season was named after wheat.Millet still occupied a dominant position as the staple grain,and wheat was regarded as"rough food".The second stage was the Wei,Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties.The development of wheat cultivation was slow,and the proportion of wheat in the staple grains was not significantly increased.The third stage was the Sui and Tang Dynasties,during which wheat got rid of the label of"rough food"and gradually gained a status comparable to millet as the staple.Although rice cultivation was developed in the Sui and Tang Dynasties,rice was not the main grain for the ancestors in this area due to the natural environment and climate conditions.The third chapter mainly analyzed the staple isotope data of human remains of the Han and Tang dynasties.Carbon isotope data of the Han dynasty reflected that people of this period mainly ate millet as staple food.When compared to contemporary people from Xi’an and Changzhi,Zhengzhou people ate more C₃grain wheat,but less when compared to the people from Xuchang.This demonstrates the regional variation in the consumption of wheat.The stable carbon isotope data of human bones of the Tang Dynasty indicated that the staple grains of the Zhengzhou people at this period were mixed with millet and wheat.Temporal comparison of the stable carbon isotope data from the Han to the Ming dynasties in this area reflected that the status of wheat in the Han Dynasty did not equal that of millet.Wheat in the Tang Dynasty might have achieved the same status as that of millet,and surpassed millet in the Ming Dynasty,which is generally consistent with the changes reflected in the literature.The fourth chapter analyzed the factors that potentially caused the rise of wheat in the Han and Tang dynasties.It is believed that the continuous improvement of the status of wheat was firstly due to the change of wheat processing method,followed by the rapid improvement of cultivating technology and iron smelting technology.The wide application of iron farming tools and the continuous development of irrigation technology also contributed to the development of wheat agriculture.