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Whereas bronze was used mainly in weapons and decorative objects – that is, used only by kings and priests, lords, priests and high officials – iron could be used much more widely. Iron objects are much easier and cheaper to produce than bronze ones, because whereas iron is found in many places in the earth, copper and tin are not nearly so widespread, and also have to be carefully alloyed together to make bronze. The introduction of the use of iron was a major step forward for manufacturing.
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It was here that food was processed, textiles were spun and woven, clothes sown, silk was produced, butter, cheeses and other dairy products were IndustryĪs in all other societies of the time, the vast bulk of manufacturing activity took place in small units, the homes of craftsmen and farmers. The spread of iron tools was stepped up, and during this period the seed drill and the wheelbarrow were developed. The Han also sponsored the dissemination of new farming techniques and inventions. The political stability of the Han dynasty allowed farming to expand into new lands, notably with the settlement of regions near the northern frontiers, to help supply the Han armies there. These policies were carried over into the early imperial period. The most famous example is in the state of Qin, which in the fourth century ordered the clearing of new land for farming on a huge scale, and inaugurated drainage and irrigation projects to increase agricultural productivity. The need for taxes encouraged princes and their advisors to pay attention to their states’ resources. The great hunting expeditions became a thing of the past. The main animals still to be found on the farms were oxen (used for ploughing and transport), pigs (which were efficient scavengers and could largely look after themselves) and chickens. They were literally crowded out as farmers focussed more on the intensive cultivation of crops, the better to feed their growing numbers. Animals crowded outĪs population densities increased, animals became less important. Iron axes and hoes helped the clearing of new ground for cultivation. Animal-drawn ploughs allowed soil to be turned more quickly, and the wider use of iron ploughs from the 5th century BCE onwards allowed the soil to be turned more deeply. Human waste began to be used as a fertilizer.įield rotation also came into use, to keep the soil productive. Large-scale irrigation schemes brought more land under cultivation. Agricultural Intensificationįrom mid-Zhou times, there was an intensification of agriculture in northern China. In the late Shang period (late second millennium BCE) soya beans spread to northern China, adding a valuable source of nutrition in the the diet. In Shang and early Zhou times, cattle, sheep and goats were important in the economy the aristocracy also indulged in great hunting expeditions, for both food, enjoyment and as practice for war. The Yangtze basin was the earliest home of domesticated rice, and it was here that wet-rice cultivation in flooded paddy fields was pioneered. In northern China, its was millet, and in the Yangtze basin and southern China it was rice. There were two staple crops in Ancient China. They also were regularly called upon to undertake communal tasks such as constructing terraces and dykes, digging water channels, and as corvée labor, working on major public works such as city walls and royal palaces. The great majority of the people of Ancient China lived in farming villages, carrying out a host of tasks to grow their crops – sowing, ploughing, weeding, harvesting, storing – and keeping themselves fed, clothed and housed – milling and baking bread, fermenting wine, processing silk, spinning and cloth, and so on. However, agriculture remained at the root of Chinese civilization. Up to the late 20th century, the vast majority of the people gained their livelihood from farming.
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Out of this complex mix of elements would come some of the most important technological advances in world history. The increasingly productive farming economy of China provided the foundations for the development of one of the great civilizations of world history: trade and industry expanded, new social classes emerged, political institutions became more complex, culture grew in sophistication. The vast majority of Chinese families lived in small farming villages, of a dozen or so families. Ancient China‘s economy, like all economies at that time (which had advanced beyond the hunter-gatherer stage), were based on agriculture.