DOI Heft:
Vol. VI : 2 1989
DOI Artikel:Xing-guang, Wang: On the Chinese plough
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49003#0069
ON THE CHINESE PLOUGH
By
Wang Xing-guang*
China is one of the countries to have prac-
tised agriculture very early in the world, and
it has been the basis of the country’s econo-
my from ancient times. The ploughing imple-
ment is one of the most important basic tools
in agricultural activities. Research into the
long history of the ploughs is important
when trying to understand the course of Chi-
nese agricultural and social economic history.
I. Problems concerning the Origin of the
Chinese Ploughing implements
The problem of the origin of the Chinese
plough is complicated and interesting. Some
experts have insisted that the animal-drawn
ploughs in China came from the Near East
(Goodrich; Lu 1950 April 2). Although this
viewpoint has not been accepted generally,
clarification of the problem is still necessary.
Some scholars have confused ard-or-plough
tillage with ox-tillage and denied the exist-
ence of the ard with a stone share. They as-
sumed that ards did not appear until oxen
were used for tilling (Bi 1981), and considered
it impossible for ards to have appeared before
the use of iron (Fu 1981, 216). I think that
ard-or-plough tillage and tillage with oxen
are two different concepts. Ard-or-plough
tillage is bigger in scale and it has many dif-
ferent forms, including tillage using animals,
people and machines as power to draw ards
or ploughs. Tillage with oxen was just one
*An instructor in Zhengzhou University, P.R.C.
kind of draught. Before oxen were used for
tillage, there must have been a long period
when ards were drawn by man. Distinguish-
ing the two forms of tillage is helpful to the
study of the origin of the Chinese plough.
Discussions about the origin of the Chi-
nese plough should be based on research into
the agricultural history of mankind. By 3000
BC, animal-drawn ards had been used in Iraq
and Egypt. China is one of the cradles of
mankind and of agriculture. The flaked
stones and the stone tools found in the an-
cient site of Xihoudu, which has a 1.7 million
year history, are the oldest flaked stones
artifacts so far discovered in the world (Jia
1978). Prof. Jia Lan-po pointed out that the
major characteristic of the Chinese Palaeo-
lithic Culture was the making of artifacts
with flaked stones. This was different from
Europe, where stone artifacts were made
from both stone-cores and flaked stones.1 In
China, there were far more stone-flakes used
to make artifacts than stone-cores. In the Ne-
olithic, carrying on the traditions of the Pa-
laeolithic Culture, more polished stone arti-
facts were made from flaked stones. They in-
cluded stone knives, stone hoes, stone spades
and stone sickles etc. It was natural that ards
furnished with flaked stones would be in-
vented at this period in China. In fact many
stone ards have been found to prove this
point, though there is some confusion con-
cerning their names. The existence of stone
By
Wang Xing-guang*
China is one of the countries to have prac-
tised agriculture very early in the world, and
it has been the basis of the country’s econo-
my from ancient times. The ploughing imple-
ment is one of the most important basic tools
in agricultural activities. Research into the
long history of the ploughs is important
when trying to understand the course of Chi-
nese agricultural and social economic history.
I. Problems concerning the Origin of the
Chinese Ploughing implements
The problem of the origin of the Chinese
plough is complicated and interesting. Some
experts have insisted that the animal-drawn
ploughs in China came from the Near East
(Goodrich; Lu 1950 April 2). Although this
viewpoint has not been accepted generally,
clarification of the problem is still necessary.
Some scholars have confused ard-or-plough
tillage with ox-tillage and denied the exist-
ence of the ard with a stone share. They as-
sumed that ards did not appear until oxen
were used for tilling (Bi 1981), and considered
it impossible for ards to have appeared before
the use of iron (Fu 1981, 216). I think that
ard-or-plough tillage and tillage with oxen
are two different concepts. Ard-or-plough
tillage is bigger in scale and it has many dif-
ferent forms, including tillage using animals,
people and machines as power to draw ards
or ploughs. Tillage with oxen was just one
*An instructor in Zhengzhou University, P.R.C.
kind of draught. Before oxen were used for
tillage, there must have been a long period
when ards were drawn by man. Distinguish-
ing the two forms of tillage is helpful to the
study of the origin of the Chinese plough.
Discussions about the origin of the Chi-
nese plough should be based on research into
the agricultural history of mankind. By 3000
BC, animal-drawn ards had been used in Iraq
and Egypt. China is one of the cradles of
mankind and of agriculture. The flaked
stones and the stone tools found in the an-
cient site of Xihoudu, which has a 1.7 million
year history, are the oldest flaked stones
artifacts so far discovered in the world (Jia
1978). Prof. Jia Lan-po pointed out that the
major characteristic of the Chinese Palaeo-
lithic Culture was the making of artifacts
with flaked stones. This was different from
Europe, where stone artifacts were made
from both stone-cores and flaked stones.1 In
China, there were far more stone-flakes used
to make artifacts than stone-cores. In the Ne-
olithic, carrying on the traditions of the Pa-
laeolithic Culture, more polished stone arti-
facts were made from flaked stones. They in-
cluded stone knives, stone hoes, stone spades
and stone sickles etc. It was natural that ards
furnished with flaked stones would be in-
vented at this period in China. In fact many
stone ards have been found to prove this
point, though there is some confusion con-
cerning their names. The existence of stone