Please briefly introduce the book Wang Zhennong Shu and its author.

Introduction of the whole article

Wang Zhennong's book was completed on 13 13. The text of the book consists of 37 episodes, 37 1 article, about 1, 300 words. It is divided into three parts: Nong Sang Tong Ji, Gu Bai Pu and Nong Qi Tu. Finally, the attached miscellaneous notes include two books: Living Room of Legal System and Making Movable Type Printing Calligraphy, which have little to do with agricultural production.

main content

Wang Zhen's agricultural books play an important role in China's ancient agricultural heritage. The northern agricultural technology and south china agriculture technology are also discussed. Wang Zhen himself is from Shandong. I have worked as a local official in Anhui and Jiangxi provinces and have been to Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. Wherever he goes, he often goes deep into the countryside to observe on the spot. Therefore, whether it is about farming techniques, the use of farm tools, or planting mulberry and sericulture, agricultural books always take into account the differences between the north and the south and pay tribute to the mutual exchanges between the north and the south. For example, the book introduces the characteristics of the north and the south in detail, and says: "From north to south, customs are different and practices are different." (The fourth part of Reclamation), several farm tools with the same function and different shapes are often described together for people to compare and adopt, saying, "Put them together now, so that the north and the south can know about them, use them as appropriate, and don't neglect them." In the aspect of sericulture, the methods of sericulture in the north and south are selected and described, and their advantages and disadvantages are pointed out. The purpose is to "choose its exquisiteness and write it in a book, thinking that it will be effective." It can be said that all the comprehensive agricultural books before Wang Zhennong's books, such as Fan Sheng Zhi's Book, Qi Yaomin's Book, Nong Sang Yao Ji, etc. , only describes the agricultural technology in the north, not talking about the south, not paying attention to promoting technical exchanges between the north and the south. On the basis of predecessors' works, Wang Zhennong's book comprehensively and systematically expounded the so-called generalized agricultural production knowledge for the first time, and put forward the traditional system of agriculture in China. Lu Chunqiu, Shang Nong and other four articles are just four agricultural papers about agricultural policy, land use, land preparation and mastering agricultural time in the pre-Qin period. There are only over 3,000 words left in Fan Sheng Zhi in Han Dynasty, so we can't see the whole picture. The earliest and most complete comprehensive agricultural book is Qi Yaomin's Book, which was written in the 6th century. Compared with Wang Zhen's Agricultural Book, Qi Yaomin's Book includes food crops, vegetable and fruit tree cultivation, animal husbandry, veterinary medicine, agricultural product processing and cooking, and finally includes some cultivated plants not made in China. The scope can be described as very extensive, but cooking that occupies a large space obviously does not belong to the category of agricultural production. Wang Zhennong's Book clearly shows that agriculture in a broad sense includes food crops, sericulture, animal husbandry, horticulture, forestry and fishery, while the contents of brewing, pickling, fruit processing, cooking, cake bait, syrup drinking, sugar making, glue boiling, pen making and other agricultural products processing in Qi Yaomin's Book have been deleted. On the whole and systematically, Wang Zhennong's book is also better than Qi Yao Min's book. There is no clear general concept in Qi Yao Min Shu, only two articles, Plowing Fields and Collecting Seeds, are mainly about various theories of crop cultivation, which describe various production technologies in isolation. Wang Zhen's formula in agricultural books is equivalent to the general theory of agriculture. Firstly, the historical origins of agriculture, Niu Geng and sericulture are summarized. Secondly, the timing and suitability of agricultural production are discussed with two articles: "timing" and "geographical location". Then, from "reclamation" to "harvest", the basic principles and measures of agricultural operations such as reclamation, soil, tillage, fertilization, irrigation, field management and harvest are discussed in seven articles. "Baigupu" is very similar to the theory of self-cultivation. Divide crops into several genera (classes) first, and then list the specific crops of each genus (class) one by one. Although the classification is unscientific and cannot be compared with modern classification, it has the embryonic form of crop classification, which is better than Qi Yao Min Shu. Atlas of Agricultural Machinery is the focus of the book, with 306 illustrations, a total of 20 episodes, divided into 20 doors and 26 1 item. In addition, the trilogy of Nong Sang Tong Ji, Gu Bai Pu and Nong Qi Tu also take care of each other and pay attention to the internal relations of each part. When discussing the production procedures of various crops, Baigupu pays great attention to their internal relations. When introducing the historical form, function and efficacy of farm tools in production, the Atlas of Farm Tools often involves Nong Sang Tong Ji and Gu Bai Pu. At the same time, according to the different regions and conditions in the north and south, they are treated separately. Take care of both the general and the special. The listing of farm tools as an important part of comprehensive agricultural books began with Wang Zhen's agricultural books, which is also a major feature of the book. Traditional farm tools in China have developed to a mature stage in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, with complete types and diverse shapes. By the Song Dynasty, there had been more comprehensive books on farm tools, such as the three-volume Handbook of Farm Tools written by Zeng Zhijin, and then there were two volumes. Unfortunately, this book is dead. The number of agricultural instrument atlas in agricultural books in Wang Zhen is unprecedented. There are only more than 10 kinds of farm tools mentioned in Fan Sheng Zhi, more than 30 kinds of farm tools mentioned in Qi Yaomin's Book, but there are more than 100 kinds and 306 drawings in Farm Tools Atlas. When doing this part of the work, Wang Zhen spent the most energy, not only collecting and vividly describing the popular agricultural tools at that time, but also drawing the restoration map of agricultural tools that had been lost in ancient times after textual research. For example, in the Western Jin Dynasty (265-3 16), Liu created the "Mill", which was ingenious and unique. With a cow pulling, you can "turn the weight of eight mills". (Atlas of Agricultural Instruments in Chu Jiu Gate) Unfortunately, it has been lost for a long time. After searching for information, Wang Zhen restored it and named it "Lianmo". Poems by Du Fu in the Eastern Han Dynasty (? -38 years) invented the water row, using hydraulic blast to make iron. By the Yuan Dynasty, the legal system had been out of the question, and Wang Zhen was looking for recovery and development in many ways. In ancient times, water rafts were blown with leather, but the water rafts originally painted by Wang Zhenfu were already blown with wooden fans (simple bellows). Wang Zhen is particularly interested in axles. In the "Chu Jiu Gate", "Irrigation Gate" and "Utilization Gate", 57 kinds of production tools related to wheel shafts are concentrated. On this basis, he created "Water Tank" and "Three Things about Waterwheel". Among them, the "water wheel three things" is the most ingenious, with three functions of grinding, grinding and grinding. Atlas of Agricultural Tools shows the outstanding achievements of agricultural production tools in ancient China. Later illustrations related to agriculture in agricultural books and other books, such as "Three Tales", "Agricultural Administration Encyclopedia", "Integration of Ancient and Modern Books" and "Timing General Examination", basically originated from this book. The Map of Current Politics and Living Law and the Map of National Agricultural Situation are also the first works of Wang Zhennong's book. The original picture of the back picture has been lost, so it is impossible to know its original appearance. What I see in the book now is painted by later generations. Timing refers to the living method diagram, which is a concise summary of calendar and timing. The figure shows the direction, heavenly stems, earthly branches, four seasons, twelve months, twenty-four solar terms, seventy-two seasons and agricultural activities represented by each phenology from the inside out with a coaxial octupole turntable. Combine the stars, seasons, phenology and agricultural production procedures flexibly and compactly. This kind of "farmer's monthly order" summarizes the main contents with a small picture, which is clear, economical and convenient to use. This is an admirable idea. In the appendix of Wang Zhennong's book, "Making Movable Type Printing Calligraphy" is more than 30,000 kinds of wooden movable type carved by craftsmen in Wang Zhen and a rotary typesetting tray made by Wang Zhenfa. The successful methods and experience of trying to print "Jingde County Records" can reduce the fatigue of typesetters and improve efficiency. Although it has nothing to do with agricultural production, it is a great contribution to printing and typesetting technology.

Brief introduction of the author

Wang Zhen (127 1 year-1368) was born in Dongping (now Dongping, Shandong) in the Yuan Dynasty. China ancient agronomist and agricultural mechanic. He served as Yin in Jingde County, Xuanzhou (now Jingde County, Anhui Province) and as Yin in Yongfeng County, Xinzhou (now Guangfeng County, Jiangxi Province). During his time as an official, he lived frugally, donated money to local schools, built bridges and roads, and gave medicine, which did many good things for the people of the two places. At that time, people received rave reviews and praised him for "doing good for the people." Like many intellectuals in ancient China, Wang Zhen inherited the traditional concept of "agriculture-oriented" and thought that the primary political task of the country from the central to the local level was to grasp agricultural production. The Preface to Wang Boshan's Agricultural Books, written by Dai at the same time, said that when he worked in Jingde and Yongfeng, he was very effective in persuading farmers and made remarkable achievements. The method adopted is to stipulate that farmers should plant several mulberry trees every year; Give guidance to crops such as hemp, ramie, cereal, millet and buckwheat from sowing to harvesting; He also drew pictures of various farm tools such as "money, shovel, shovel, rake and song" for the common people to copy and try. He also "takes the lead" and "takes the lead". Finally, Wang Zhen compiled his rich experience in teaching people to farm and raise livestock, together with related works and materials collected by predecessors, into the Agricultural Book.