Psychologists from China and America published the results of studies that compared the properties of the mentality of the inhabitants of the "wheat" and "rice" regions of the Celestial Empire. Scientists have concluded that the agro-cultural traditions of the population affect the mentality of the population and its ability for an analytical way of thinking and individualism. Scientists published their research results in Science.
Many people mistakenly believe that China is a unified cultural space. However, studies have shown that in the Celestial Empire there are two distinct groups of people - "southerners" and "northerners". And the “southern” mindset is shaped by centuries of rice cultivation traditions that make people more dependent on each other. Differences in thinking between East and West were formed in a similar way.
Scientists conducted several sociological surveys among several thousand students from different cities of the PRC, according to which assessments of the propensity of young people to individualism or collectivism were given and analytical abilities were analyzed.
The study revealed a clear division of China in terms of mentality into two territories - south and north, with a border along the Yangtze River. The northerners turned out to be more inclined towards individualism and analytical thinking. And the southerners showed a greater desire for collectivism.
The identified zones exactly repeat the wheat and rice growing zones in the ancient Chinese Empire and in the modern PRC. This is because rice cultivation requires the collective efforts of many people, and each new farmer increases the chances of a large harvest. But the cultivation of wheat does not require special collective work and allows the peasants of the north to manage the farm separately.
This theory also explains why China did not have an industrial breakthrough in the Middle Ages. As a result of wars and climate change, the administrative and political center of the empire was shifted to the south, and as a result, all technical innovations in the country came to naught.
As you can see, the current state of science and culture in modern times depends on the development of agriculture in antiquity. This is especially evident in agrarian China, because the traditions of agriculture in the country have many thousands of years of history. Below we will introduce readers to the three main agricultural crops in China.
1. Fig.
The cultivation of rice fields in the Celestial Empire has been practiced since ancient times. Numerous archaeological finds made in the territory of Zhejiang province have shown that rice was cultivated in China as early as 7 thousand years ago. And the first written mention of rice refers to the "Book of Songs", written in 7 centuries BC. Later, huge irrigation structures were built on the territory of southern China. Over the entire period of rice cultivation in the Celestial Empire, more than 10 thousand varieties of this crop have been bred, many of which are cultivated to this day. In total, over 40 thousand varieties and varieties of rice have been registered in China today. China ranks 2nd after India in terms of rice cultivation area, in terms of production - 1st. The main "rice" regions of China are located in the south of the country. Many popular dishes in China are made from rice. For example, Mifeen rice noodles are very popular. Another popular product is rice vodka and yellow wine. In addition, rice is considered a medicinal product that is useful for digestion; baskets, mats, rice paper and colorful fans and umbrellas are made from rice straw.
2. Wheat.
Wheat is the second most important agricultural crop in China. In the Middle Kingdom, both spring and winter wheat are widespread. Winter climatic conditions are the main factor in the distribution of wheat varieties. The main sown area for wheat is located in the northern part of the country. And in Tibet, there are the highest mountain crops of spring wheat in the world - they grow at an altitude of more than 4 kilometers. Winter wheat is mainly grown in the Yellow River region, where cold weather lasts more than 200 days a year. But in the Yangtze region, winter crops of wheat are extremely important, although they play a secondary role.
3. Tea.
It is impossible to imagine the culture of China without tea. Today, the PRC produces more than 700 thousand tons of tea, a third of which is exported. The area of land occupied by tea plantations exceeds 1 million hectares. Over the centuries of growing tea, the Chinese have developed a huge number of varieties of this drink. According to the latest data, the number of varieties of Chinese tea has exceeded 8 thousand items. All these types of tea are divided into 5 types according to the production method, 2 types according to quality, 4 types according to leaf size and 200 types according to the place of cultivation. Modern tea production in the Middle Kingdom is controlled by the Chinese National Natural Products Corporation. Several dozen standard varieties of this drink are allowed for export under certain names. But most of the tea grown - 80%, is consumed by the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire. The majority of exports are green and black teas, with a small amount of red teas. Each tea-producing province in China prides itself on its own assortment of farmed teas with an original name. Therefore, the names of one type of tea can sound differently in different parts of China. In addition, certain varieties of green teas have several old names. Therefore, only a specialist can understand the issue of classifying various Chinese teas.
Source of this material
It is customary in China to grow agricultural plants, and this is the main component of the country's crop production. Arable land occupies more than one hundred million hectares, although this figure is gradually decreasing. Developed irrigation systems make it possible to successfully develop agriculture in China. Already at the end of the last century, two crops were harvested annually on farms in the Yandza River basin. In most regions of the vast country, the same thing happens.
Why is China's agriculture so successful? It's all about the climate, landscape and soil diversity. Agroecosystems have adapted to different conditions. In the highlands and in Tibet, it is good to breed cattle and animals for work in the field. The wide northern fields are ideal for growing cereals and legumes that are exported around the world. Where there is not enough water (Shanxi, Gansu), drought-resistant crops are popular, the varieties of which are constantly being developed by agronomists. On the plains (Shandong, Hebei), you can safely get more than two harvests, the fertile soil easily feeds grain and oilseeds.
The Yangtze River area is recognized as the most efficient place for agriculture and animal husbandry. It is this place that annually gives most of the gross production volume. Sichuan Province, Guadong also has a climate suitable for active farming. Even citrus fruits and pineapples can grow in the subtropics. These products are mainly exported.
History of development
In the second half of the twentieth century, agriculture in China begins to actively develop. The loss of land for plowing began to be compensated by the fact that it was possible to harvest several crops a year from them. In 50 years, the yield of wheat has increased 5 times, corn - 4 times, and traditionally cultivated rice has increased its indicators three times.
In 1976, the use of nitrogen fertilizers began, which became available to the general population.They are still popular in China: 250 kg of fertilizer are used per hectare of crops. At the same time, the purchase of urea plants abroad begins. Gradually, the country became a giant in the field of chemical fertilizers for agriculture.
After privatization, the land was given to families and was cultivated on a family contract basis. The target figures were gradually lowered and the lease period increased.
Plant growing
As for the crops grown, here the Chinese are striving to bring field, vegetable and horticultural crops to the first positions, the variety of varieties of which reaches dozens of names.
The most common seed crop is rice. It can be cultivated in all areas of the vast area of China, its provinces and regions. Sometimes the crop is harvested two or three times. Wheat is in second place; it is sown with winter and spring crops. It can also be grown throughout the country.
In addition to these crops, China's agriculture is engaged in the cultivation of corn, barley, and millet. A popular variety of sorghum is gaoliang. Among the oilseeds, the Chinese chose peanuts, which have taken root well on the eastern side. Legumes are widely represented by soybeans, peas and forage varieties. Soy is extremely popular with the Chinese, they have developed 1200 varieties of this crop. Sweet potatoes, yams and cassava are also bred.
Chinese agriculture is not complete without cotton, sugarcane and beets. A lot of tea is produced - the favorite drink of the country's population.
Livestock
In this area of agriculture, China is not doing well. Meat and milk production accounts for only 20% of the total. Despite the fact that a lot of animals are raised (for example, almost half of the world's pig population), there is not enough production per capita.
Pig rearing is the dominant animal husbandry in China. Among all meat, the local population chooses pork in 9 out of 10 cases. Each peasant has a small subsidiary farm. However, more often than not, the Chinese raise livestock for work in the field. These are horses, donkeys, oxen.
Dairy products are produced on suburban farms. Goats and sheep are widespread in the farms of the northern regions of the country, their cultivation is aimed at providing China's light industry.
Unlike animals, birds are bred more readily. In personal household plots, chickens, geese, and turkeys are raised. The suburbs are provided with poultry meat.
Other agricultural sectors in China
Beekeeping and silkworm breeding are very widespread in China. Apiaries can be found in every corner of this large country, but most of all in the north and east. The second place in the world for the supply of beekeeping products went to China. Mulberry and oak silkworms are grown in the south and north, respectively. This is a traditional type of economy dating back more than 4 thousand years.
Fishing in China is very popular. Fish are farmed right in the rice fields, shrimps, algae and various shellfish are grown near the seas.
57. Agricultural regions of China
China is known as one of the world's major agricultural producers (Table 37). For geography, the study of this industry on the example of such a huge country as China is especially interesting from the standpoint of highlighting internal differences and agricultural zoning. Acquaintance with the relevant sources shows that such zoning can be more fractional and more generalized. In the second case, they usually allocate six agricultural areas.
The first region can be called mainly grain-growing. It covers almost the entire Northeast and geographically corresponds primarily to the vast Songliao (Manchurian) plain with fertile chernozem-like soils and forest-steppe landscapes.This is one of the main granaries of the country with crops of spring wheat and gaoliang - a variety of sorghum, which was known in China back in the 12th century. This region also includes a part of Northern China.
The second region has grain-growing-cotton-growing specialization. Its core is the Great Plain of China (North China Lowland). The ideally flat surface of this plain, formed by the sediments of the Yellow River and other rivers, which now flow above its level in bunded beds, is a typical anthropogenic agricultural landscape, almost completely cultivated. It is the country's main cultivation area for winter wheat and cotton, the second after the northeastern soybean cultivation area, which has been cultivated here for millennia. Agriculture on the Great Plain of China, with its subtropical monsoon climate, characterized by rather cold and dry winters, is carried out under artificial irrigation. Therefore, the waters of the Yellow River, Huai He, the Great Canal, which crosses the plain in the meridional direction, are widely used for this purpose. Its entire surface is literally dotted with large and small irrigation canals.
Rice. 104. Agricultural areas of China
In the west, the Great Plain of China is also adjoined by the Loess Plateau, which is part of this region, located in the middle reaches of the Yellow River; the thickness of loess covers here reaches 600 m. Its area exceeds 600 thousand km2, and 80 million people live on this territory. The main grain crop here is also winter wheat, but there are also cotton crops. The spread of loesses and yellow soils led to the fact that this entire vast area was often called yellow China.
The third region has a distinct rice-growing specialization. It occupies mainly that part of East China, which is located in the Yangtze basin. Its northern border is usually drawn along the Qinling Ridge, which rises to an altitude of 4000 m and is an important climatic division, and further to the east along the river. Huaihe. Its southern border is formed by the Nanling Ridge, which separates the Yangtze and Xijiang basins. The climate in the region is subtropical, monsoon. Due to the prevalence of hilly terrain, the area of plowed land here is generally not as large as in the North China Plain, but the land adjacent to the Yangtze Valley is almost completely plowed up.
The main area for irrigated rice cultivation is the alluvial lowlands along the lower and middle reaches of the Yangtze. In various directions, they are plowed by canals that are used for navigation, irrigation, fishing and serve as reservoirs during flood waters. The real "rice bowls" are the basins of Dongting Lake and Poyang Lake. South of the Yangtze, two rice crops are usually harvested per year. In addition to rice, wheat, cotton, various legumes and oilseeds are also cultivated here. And the famous tea plantations are located on the hillsides, mainly south of the Yangtze Valley.
A special role in the west of this region is played by the Sichuan province with its center in Chengdu. And not only because it is one of the largest provinces in China in terms of population. But also because it occupies a rather isolated Sichuan Basin fenced off by mountains, also called the Red Basin due to the spread of red earths. Hot, humid summers and warm winters ensure year-round vegetation of plants here. Almost all agricultural crops known in China are grown in Sichuan (this word in translation means "four-flux"), and it is no coincidence that the figurative name Tianfu zhi go - the Land of Heavenly Abundance - has long been assigned to it. The most notable feature of its cultural landscape is the artificial terraces that line the slopes of hills and mountains in narrow ribbons. This is one of the granaries of the country, where, with artificial irrigation, two or three crops of rice, wheat, and vegetables are harvested per year. Sugarcane, tea, tobacco, citrus fruits are also cultivated here.For the entire area of the Yangtze and Sichuan Basin, the name green China was established.
The fourth region covers the tropical part of southern China, located south of the Nanling Ridge. This is an area of a typical monsoon climate, distribution of yellow soils and red soils. For the pool r. Xijiang, the coast of the South China Sea and about. Hainan is characterized by landscapes of the humid tropics. The main grain crop here is rice, which gives two or even three harvests a year. The area also supplies a variety of tropical and subtropical fruits. The main industrial crop is sugar cane.
The fifth region specializes in pastoralism and covers the steppe, desert and semi-desert zone of Northwest China and Inner Mongolia. Agriculture is carried out here only in oases located in the Dzhungar and Kashgar basins. This is the so-called dry China.
Finally, the sixth region specializes in distant-pasture cattle breeding, in which cattle graze in high-mountain pastures in summer and in valleys in winter. Geographically, it basically coincides with the world's most extensive Tibetan plateau, the surface of which is formed by high-mountainous, mainly rubble deserts and semi-deserts. It is no coincidence that this region is called High China or Cold China. The main food crop here is the local frost-resistant barley, Zinke. And the crops of spring wheat reach an altitude of 4000 m.
Recently, in the PRC, much attention has been paid to forecasts of the possible consequences of global warming for the country's agriculture. According to the conducted climatic modeling, by 2030 the average annual temperatures will increase by 0.88 ° C compared to modern ones, by 2050 - by 1.4, and in 2100 - by 2.9 ° C. These climatic changes will have their own regional features. Benefit the most from warming
North-East, where the growing season and crop yields will increase. The amount of precipitation will increase slightly in the arid Northwest. The northern border of three harvests will move further north - from the Yangtze Valley to the Yellow River. But at the same time, in many regions of the country, the shortage of water resources will increase, which will only partially be compensated for by the melting of glaciers in Tibet, which feed many rivers.
China is known as one of the world's major agricultural producers (Table 37). For geography, the study of this industry on the example of such a huge country as China is especially interesting from the standpoint of highlighting internal differences and agricultural zoning. Acquaintance with the relevant sources shows that such zoning can be more fractional and more generalized. In the second case, they usually allocate six agricultural areas.
First district can be called mainly grain-growing. It covers almost the entire Northeast and geographically corresponds primarily to the vast Songliao (Manchurian) plain with fertile chernozem-like soils and forest-steppe landscapes. This is one of the main granaries of the country with crops of spring wheat and gaoliang - a variety of sorghum, which was known in China back in the 12th century. This region also includes a part of Northern China.
Second district has grain-growing-cotton-growing specialization. Its core is the Great Plain of China (North China Lowland). The ideally flat surface of this plain, formed by the sediments of the Yellow River and other rivers, which now flow above its level in bunded beds, is a typical anthropogenic agricultural landscape, almost completely cultivated. It is the country's main cultivation area for winter wheat and cotton, the second after the northeastern soybean cultivation area, which has been cultivated here for millennia.Agriculture on the Great Plain of China, with its subtropical monsoon climate, characterized by rather cold and dry winters, is carried out under artificial irrigation. Therefore, the waters of the Yellow River, Huai He, the Great Canal, which crosses the plain in the meridional direction, are widely used for this purpose. Its entire surface is literally dotted with large and small irrigation canals.
Rice. 104. Agricultural areas of China
In the west, the Great Plain of China is also adjoined by the Loess Plateau, which is part of this region, located in the middle reaches of the Yellow River; the thickness of loess covers here reaches 600 m. Its area exceeds 600 thousand km2, and 80 million people live on this territory. The main grain crop here is also winter wheat, but there are also cotton crops. The spread of loesses and yellow soils led to the fact that this entire vast area was often called yellow China.
Third district has a distinct rice-growing specialization. It occupies mainly that part of East China, which is located in the Yangtze basin. Its northern border is usually drawn along the Qinling Ridge, which rises to an altitude of 4000 m and is an important climatic division, and further to the east along the river. Huaihe. Its southern border is formed by the Nanling Ridge, which separates the Yangtze and Xijiang basins. The climate in the region is subtropical, monsoon. Due to the prevalence of hilly terrain, the area of plowed land here is generally not as large as in the North China Plain, but the land adjacent to the Yangtze Valley is almost completely plowed up.
The main area for irrigated rice cultivation is the alluvial lowlands along the lower and middle reaches of the Yangtze. In various directions, they are plowed by canals that are used for shipping, irrigation, fishing and serve as reservoirs during flood waters. The real "rice bowls" are the basins of Dongting Lake and Poyang Lake. South of the Yangtze, two rice crops are usually harvested per year. In addition to rice, wheat, cotton, various legumes and oilseeds are also cultivated here. And the famous tea plantations are located on the hillsides, mainly south of the Yangtze Valley.
A special role in the west of this region is played by the Sichuan province with its center in Chengdu. And not only because it is one of the largest provinces in China in terms of population. But also because it occupies a rather isolated Sichuan Basin fenced off by mountains, also called the Red Basin due to the spread of red earths. Hot, humid summers and warm winters ensure year-round vegetation of plants here. Almost all agricultural crops known in China are grown in Sichuan (this word in translation means "four-flux"), and it is no coincidence that the figurative name Tianfu zhi go - the Land of Heavenly Abundance - has long been assigned to it. The most notable feature of its cultural landscape is the artificial terraces that line the slopes of hills and mountains in narrow ribbons. This is one of the country's granaries, where two or three crops of rice, wheat and vegetables are harvested per year under artificial irrigation. Sugarcane, tea, tobacco, citrus fruits are also cultivated here. The whole area of the Yangtze and Sichuan Basin has a name green China.
Fourth district covers the tropical part of southern China, located south of the Nanling Ridge. This is an area of a typical monsoon climate, distribution of yellow soils and red soils. For the pool r. Xijiang, the coast of the South China Sea and about. Hainan is characterized by landscapes of the humid tropics. The main grain crop here is rice, which gives two or even three harvests a year. The area also supplies a variety of tropical and subtropical fruits. The main industrial crop is sugar cane.
Fifth district specializes in pastoralism and covers the area of steppes, deserts and semi-deserts of Northwest China and Inner Mongolia.Farming is carried out here only in oases located in the Dzungar and Kashgar basins. This is the so-called dry China.
Finally, sixth district specializes in distant pasture farming, in which cattle graze in high-mountain pastures in summer and in valleys in winter. Geographically, it basically coincides with the world's most extensive Tibetan plateau, the surface of which is formed by high-mountainous, mainly rubble deserts and semi-deserts. It is no coincidence that this area is called high China or cold China. The main food crop here is the local frost-resistant barley, Zinke. And the crops of spring wheat reach an altitude of 4000 m.
Recently, much attention has been paid in the PRC to forecasts of the possible consequences of global warming for the country's agriculture. According to the conducted climatic modeling, by 2030 the average annual temperatures will increase by 0.88 ° C compared to modern ones, by 2050 - by 1.4, and in 2100 - by 2.9 ° C. These climatic changes will have their own regional features. Benefit the most from warming
North-East, where the growing season and crop yields will increase. The amount of precipitation will increase slightly in the arid Northwest. The northern border of three harvests will move further north - from the Yangtze Valley to the Yellow River. But at the same time, in many regions of the country, the shortage of water resources will increase, which will only partially be compensated for by the melting of glaciers in Tibet, which feed many rivers.
