The concept of food security in Chen Yang's Agricultural Book

Chen Yang was born in the ninth year of Xining (1076) in the late Northern Song Dynasty. As a reclusive Taoist of the Quanzhen School, Chen Yang studied all his life, did not seek advancement, "planted medicine to cure the garden to self-sufficiency", participated in agricultural activities for many years, and wrote "Chen Yang's Agricultural Book" at the age of 74. The agricultural book is relatively small, with a total of about 12,500 words, but it shows many new developments in ancient agriculture on the mainland. As the earliest surviving work on the mainland to record the agricultural situation in the south of the Yangtze River, Chen Yang's Agricultural Book gave guidance to the development of agricultural activities in the southern region at that time, which not only responded to the social needs of the agricultural civilization moving from the north to the south during the Song and Song dynasties, but also had a very profound impact on the formation and development of the ideological system of agricultural books after the Song Dynasty, and became the theoretical source of many agricultural books such as the Map of the Convenience of the People. "Chen Yang Nongshu" has a unique documentary value and historical value, has been printed many times and circulated in the world, the Ming Dynasty included in the "Yongle Canon", the Qing Dynasty included a variety of book series, the 18th century into Japan. Agricultural historian Wan Guoding commented that it can be listed as the first-rate ancient agricultural book in the mainland along with "The Book of Pan Sheng", "Qi Min's Technique", "Wang Zhen's Agricultural Book" and "The Complete Book of Agricultural Administration".

The book was written at the turn of the two Song Dynasty when the food crisis was deep. In terms of social conditions, the continuous wars in the north, the shift of the political and economic center to the south, and the migration of a large number of people to the south have led to a sharp increase in the consumption and demand for material materials, including food, in the south. In terms of the natural environment, natural disasters such as floods, droughts, rain and hail, and even rain occur frequently, endangering agricultural production. According to the statistics of the historian Deng Tuo in "The History of China's Famine Relief": "In the four hundred and eighty-seven years before and after the Two Song Dynasty, various disasters were suffered, a total of 874 times. "The complex social environment and severe climatic conditions are intertwined, which can easily breed food crises, and maintaining food security is a real need. In line with the trend of the times, the book contains a wealth of food security ideas, which not only provides theoretical and practical guidance for grain production at that time, but also "complements the afterlife", providing experience and reference for future generations to maintain food security.

Prepare for a rainy day – make reasonable plans to prevent food crises

"Chen Yang's Agricultural Book" fully reflects the author's sense of taking precautions in the agricultural field and preventing the slightest problem, and advocates preventing food crises through reasonable planning. Chen Yang pointed out that "everything is prepared, and if it is not prepared, it will be abolished...... It is pointed out that in agricultural production, it is necessary to think carefully in advance, make ideological and material preparations, and try to nip food safety hazards in the bud before the start of farming.

First of all, it is necessary to adapt measures to the time and plan the planting of crops by skillfully using the time to avoid the adverse consequences of "four disorders and failure to produce all things". Chen Yang pointed out that "agricultural affairs should be prepared by prophets for good", and believed that if we want to obtain a bumper harvest in agriculture, we must "steal the time and advantage of heaven and earth", understand the principle of yin and yang, and reasonably plan agricultural activities in accordance with the laws of nature.

Secondly, it is necessary to adapt measures to local conditions, through the rational allocation of mountain slope fields and buffer wetlands, etc., to build water storage ponds, reserve flood storage buffer depressions, and prevent flood disasters. Chen Yang is the first agronomist to systematically study land planning under the influence of complex geographical environment, and according to the characteristics of land, he proposed five land planning methods: highland, lower land, slope land, leaf field, and lake field. It is proposed to build a pond on the top of the mountain, a polder on the lower ground, a field on the water surface, a dryland crop on the slope, and a short-growing crop on the edge of the lake, so as to solve specific problems such as drought, flooding, and soil erosion.

Finally, it is necessary to take measures according to the conditions of the people, rationally plan the scale of agricultural operations through accurate assessment of the people's wealth and strength, and ensure that agricultural production enters a benign track. Chen Yang opposes the business mode of "not supporting money, not giving strength, but greedy for more and getting more and earning less", and agrees with the proverb that "more is better than less reality, and more is better than narrow harvest". It is believed that peasants administering the fields do not lie in the number of acres of land, but in proportion to their financial resources, and only when the scale of agricultural production and operation matches their financial resources and labor resources, and when they carry out deep cultivation and easy cultivation under the conditions of abundant financial resources, can they "keep their crops old and do not lose everything" and ensure food security.

Intensive cultivation -- Intensive technology to strengthen grain production

The idea of promoting grain production through intensive cultivation was germinated as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, for example, the most advanced ridge cultivation method in the world appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period, and Li Kui put forward the idea of "teaching the best of the land" in the early years of the Warring States Period. Inheriting and developing this tradition of agronomy, Chen Yang's Book of Agriculture advocates fine calculations and meticulous cultivation in various aspects such as cultivated land, fertilizers, and agricultural tools, and strengthens grain production through sophisticated agricultural production techniques.

Diversified operations are used at the same time to improve the multiple cropping index. Multiple cropping refers to the planting method of planting and harvesting more than one crop per year on the same cultivated land, which is one of the important contents of traditional intensive and intensive cultivation in China. Chen Yang's Book of Agriculture advocates increasing grain production by increasing the multiple cropping index and developing multi-cropping cropping. Although the farmer's business in the agricultural book is centered on rice farming, the cultivation of various crops such as millet, wheat, beans, sesame oil, and vegetables is also encouraged. It is believed that arranging the planting sequence of crops according to the different growth periods can "plant without a void of days and harvest without a void of months", increase the income of peasants, and make them worry about food and clothing. This concept of food security that "there must be five kinds of grain to prepare for disasters" was the consensus of the whole country at that time, and it was in line with the relevant edicts of the government and the letters of some local officials to advise farmers.

Advocate manure to cultivate land and maintain soil fertility. Manure treatment is the treatment of land by fertilization. Chen Yang popularized the theories and methods of traditional Chinese medicine to agricultural production and put forward the "dung medicine theory", which made an important contribution to the development of ancient Chinese fertilization technology theory. He believes that using feces is like using medicine, and he pays attention to "prescribing the right medicine". The condition of the soil is different, the type of fertilizer used and the way of fertilization are also different, so it is necessary to "treat the soil with manure". In addition to the special article on fertilizers in the "Suitability of Manure Fields" in the "Chen Yang Agricultural Book", there is also a specific and detailed description of fertilizers in other chapters. Among them, the theory of making fire manure, manure house manure, and pond manure is not recorded in the previous ancient agricultural books, which is its new development in fertilizer sources, and the fertilization concept of many times topdressing is to make up for the theoretical defects of the previous agricultural books that only pay attention to base fertilizer and seed fertilizer, and rarely mention top dressing.

In addition, the agricultural book also covers the fine land cultivation technology, the unique rice field management technology, the systematic buffalo breeding technology in the southern region, and the detailed pest control technology. Most of these techniques are based on Chen Yang's years of experience in farming, and they are not "empty words, exaggerated and famous", and have strong practicality.

Be prepared for any danger -- save money and store to replenish grain reserves

The "Chen Yang Nongshu" advocates that rulers should take the lead in frugality, and urge the people to save and prepare for famine from top to bottom, so as to create a good atmosphere of saving money and storing money in the whole society. The book has a special chapter entitled "The Appropriateness of Economy", which describes the concept of economy and storage, and replenishes grain reserves to prevent disasters and prepare for famines, which is a major contribution of Chen Yang to the theory of food security.

Traditional agricultural production is greatly affected by natural disasters, and sufficient food reserves are a necessary foundation for coping with natural disasters. "Chen Yang's Agricultural Book" emphasizes the importance of grain reserves, from the national level, "the country has no nine years of accumulation, no six years of accumulation, no three years of storage, the country is not its own country", grain storage is a major event related to the survival of the country; From the perspective of the family, "this year's plan is commonly used, and the husband is prepared for extraordinary use, and every time it is calculated, in case of an accident, it is also prepared, so as not to invade the commonly used, so as not to be scarce", food consumption should be planned, and in addition to daily use, it must also be stored for emergencies.

In order to have sufficient food reserves, it is necessary to be frugal and avoid luxury. Only by being prepared for danger in times of peace, reining in and accumulating, can we be prepared for danger and achieve the governance goals of "heaven cannot make it poor" and "heaven cannot make it sick". "Chen Yang's Book of Agriculture" criticized the short-sighted behavior of farmers who did not worry about the long term of "having a good year, being self-sufficient, abandoning the basics, spending extravagantly, and adapting to a fast day", and pointed out that if they cannot be thrifty and prevent luxury in the harvest year, they will often face the dilemma of "not providing food and clothing, and lacking daily necessities" in the fierce year. Of course, Chen Yang's idea of thrift is not to blindly save money and reduce the quality of life, but to advocate moderate consumption. He advocated "using etiquette to control things, and using them in moderation." Extravagance is not too Thai, and thrift is not too ugly", emphasizing that thrift should also be moderate.

Food security is closely related to national security, and it is difficult for the people to "keep a normal heart and not take injustice" in the difficult life of not having enough food and clothing, and all kinds of risky events for their livelihood will eventually cause social turmoil. As the most accomplished part of the mountain dwelling agricultural book, "Chen Yang Nongshu" has the spiritual temperament of "being far away from the rivers and lakes, worrying about its king". Although Chen Yang lives in seclusion in Xishan, what he does is a big issue related to the national economy and people's livelihood. His agricultural theory is actually to allow the people to maintain regular production, and then to achieve the ultimate goal of "the people follow the common way". The book of agriculture reflects the new level of ancient Chinese agricultural science and technology in the Song Dynasty, and the famous Japanese experts who study the history of Chinese agriculture have commented that it is a work worthy of special mention among the agricultural books of the Song Dynasty. It is the first time to systematically discuss agricultural production in southern China, the first time to systematically discuss land use in a special article, and the first time in the history of Chinese agriculture to record mulberry grafting technology...... Among the many innovations and contributions, the sense of distress and the concept of food security are the most important ones in rational planning to prevent food crises, improving technology to strengthen grain production, and saving and storing to enrich grain reserves.