Agricultural Heritage: A new growth point for Beijing's agriculture

Source: Guangming Daily

Agricultural Heritage: A new growth point for Beijing's agriculture

Editor's Note

Intangible cultural heritage, agricultural development, leisure industry, seemingly unrelated things, are inextricably linked.

As an international metropolis, beijing's agriculture is shrinking, which is an indisputable fact. Is Beijing's agriculture really going to be eliminated? Does it still have a chance to recover?

In a modern society, is the emphasis on protecting and using intangible cultural heritage a step back to the original state of life in the past? As the bearer of agricultural civilization, can intangible cultural heritage meet people's needs for a better life?

This edition invites three scholars to interpret the "productive forces" of intangible cultural heritage from the perspective of protection and utilization, and to explain what kind of impetus intangible cultural heritage can provide for the current social and economic development, in order to provide readers with a new way of thinking.

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With the development of the city, the area of agricultural land in Beijing has shrunk year by year, and the agricultural output has declined year by year, and agriculture as the primary industry has not found a suitable growth point. As the first good district, especially as the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, has its primary industry really come to an end? Should it really be replaced by other emerging industries? Or after the peak circuit turns, there is still a chance to willow dark flowers?

Beijing, which has a history of more than 800 years of capital construction, in its long development process, has gradually formed a set of farming culture with royal characteristics because it has to continuously provide special services to the court. This rich agricultural cultural heritage is the new growth point of Beijing's agriculture. There are 50 agricultural heritage sites in Beijing, mainly distributed in remote suburban counties and deep mountainous areas that are far from urban centers, relatively underdeveloped industries and low population density. Among them, Daxing, Fangshan, Mentougou, Changping, Yanqing and other 5 districts and counties, a total of 33 agricultural heritage, accounting for 66% of the total; suburban counties and shallow mountainous areas, including Chaoyang, Fengtai, Haidian, Shunyi, Tongzhou, Pinggu, Miyun, Huairou and other 8 districts and counties, a total of 17 agricultural heritage, accounting for 34% of the total; the central urban area and industrial zone, including Dongcheng, Xicheng, Shijingshan 3 districts, due to the rapid development of urbanization and industrialization here, there is no agricultural cultural heritage.

1. The main category is food

Among the agricultural cultural heritage of Beijing, there are 3 agricultural heritages of vegetable planting, accounting for 6% of the total agricultural cultural heritage of Beijing. They are: Mentougou Sijiashui Red Head Toon Cultivation System, Fangshan Mountain Toon Culture System and Daxing Royal Vegetable Cultivation System. Among the three agricultural cultural heritages, the first two are located in deep mountainous areas and belong to harvest agriculture. The latter item belonged to the grown-up agriculture that specialized in providing vegetables for the imperial family.

At present, the national vegetable planting agricultural heritage accounts for only 8% of China's total important agricultural cultural heritage, compared with Beijing's slightly lower than the national average. This is due to the fact that the agricultural heritage of vegetable cultivation in Beijing is mainly in the service of the court. This has been determined since the day he was the supplier of goods for the court of the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties.

Among the agricultural heritage of Beijing, there are only 3 agricultural heritages of flower planting, accounting for 6% of the total agricultural heritage in Beijing. They are: Fengtai Huaxiang Peony Compound Planting System, Fangshan Skullcap Culture System, Mentougou Miaofeng Mountain Rose Cultivation System. Although all three are flowers, their functions are not exactly the same - the Fengtai Huaxiang Peony Compound Planting System mainly provides ornamental flowers, the Fangshan Skullcap Culture System mainly provides medicinal materials, and the Mentougou Miaofeng mountain rose cultivation system mainly provides spices. Compared with the proportion of the national flower planting agricultural heritage accounting for only 7% of China's total important agricultural cultural heritage, the proportion of such heritage in Beijing is slightly lower than the national average.

Among the agricultural cultural heritage of Beijing, the proportion of grain crop planting heritage is not large, a total of 4 items, accounting for 8% of the total agricultural heritage of Beijing. Compared with the proportion of 30% of such heritage in the country, the total amount of such heritage in Beijing is too low, and its proportion is even less than 27% of the national average, indicating that Beijing has been a typical consumption city since ancient times, and its food consumption mainly relies on foreign aid. Among the four agricultural heritages, 3 are rice cultivation, which represents the highest level of rice culture in the south after entering the north, while the Fangshan dry farming terrace system represents the highest level of dry farming in Beijing. They are the Beijing Jingxi Rice Culture System (Haidian Jingxigong Rice Conservation Area, Fangshan Jingxigong Rice Conservation Area), the Shunyi Rice Cultivation System and the Fangshan Dry Farming Terrace System.

Among the agricultural cultural heritage of Beijing, there are only 4 agricultural heritages of aquaculture, accounting for 8% of the total agricultural heritage of Beijing, and the total amount of aquaculture heritage in Beijing is significantly less than that of 11% of the national aquaculture heritage. In these four projects, the Chaoyang Wali oil chicken breeding system, the Daxing Beijing duck breeding system, the Fangshan Chinese honeybee breeding system and other projects have specially provided high-quality ingredients for the court in history, and the palace goldfish breeding system is mainly used for goldfish breeding and ornamentation inside the palace. It is not difficult to see that beijing's aquaculture industry, as an agricultural heritage, is also in the service of the royal family, basically representing the highest level of beijing's aquaculture industry since the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Among the agricultural cultural heritage of Beijing, there are 37 agricultural heritages of fruit planting, accounting for 74% of the total agricultural heritage of Beijing. Compared with the national fruit planting agricultural heritage, which accounts for only 32%, its total amount is more than 1 times higher than the national average, which is a prominent feature of Beijing's agricultural cultural heritage. It can be said that the agricultural heritage of Beijing is basically constructed with the fruit planting heritage as the main body.

Among the agricultural heritage of fruit planting, pears account for the largest proportion, a total of 8 items, which are distributed in Mentougou, Fangshan, Daxing, Changping, Pinggu, Huairou, Miyun and other northern and northwest counties. Among the major categories of pears, Jingbai pears account for the highest proportion, in addition, there are golden yellow duck pears, Buddha's see pears, honey pears, red shaw pears, duck pears and so on. Jujube cultivation is more common in Beijing, a total of 5 items, mainly distributed in Chaoyang, Fengtai, Fangshan, Changping, Huairou and other places. Almond tree cultivation ranked 3rd, a total of 4 items, a variety of varieties, both traditional almond trees, but also Yubada apricot, iron bar da apricot, as well as kernel apricot. Walnut cultivation tied for 4th place, with a total of 3 items. It is mainly distributed in Mentougou, Changping and Pinggu districts. Persimmon tied for 4th place in 3 items. Mainly distributed in Mentougou, Fangshan, Changping 3 districts, the varieties are mainly milled persimmons. Chestnuts are tied for 4th place, a total of 3 items, mainly distributed in the northwest of Fangshan, Changping, Huairou line. Grapes also tied for 4th place, a total of 3 items, mainly distributed in Tongzhou, Daxing, Yanqing and other areas of the land is relatively flat. Plums ranked 5th in total, with 2 items. One in Miyun and one in Yanqing. In addition, ranking 6th, there is also a champagne fruit in Yanqing, a begonia, hawthorn in Fangshan, a begonia in Changping, a watermelon in Daxing, a peach in Fengtai and so on. As a rule, drought-tolerant champagne fruits, begonias, hawthorns, etc., are mainly distributed in cold high-altitude mountains, while water-loving watermelons and peaches are mainly distributed in plains with lower altitudes.

2. Quality assurance is royal tribute

The vast majority of Beijing's agricultural heritage is related to court specialties. Of the 50 projects, at least 38 were specially provided by the royal family. These tributes can account for 76% of beijing's total agricultural heritage.

For example, the jujube of Langjiayuan, the fragrant white apricot and camel yellow apricot of Mentougou Longquan Mist, the Beijing white pear of Mentougou, the mill persimmon of Fangshan, the rice of Jingxi and Shunyi. Some not only entered the palace, but also received praise from the emperor, such as the oil chicken in the depression and the goldfish in the court. The emperors of the Qing Dynasty often personally participated in agricultural production -- for example, the Kangxi Emperor personally participated in the cultivation of "imperial rice", which enabled the wide dissemination of fine varieties, including Jingxi rice; the Qianlong Emperor not only introduced the "purple gold hoop" rice seeds from the south, but also personally organized the forces to greatly promote water conservancy and reclaim the land, and opened up more than 10,000 mu of imperial rice fields in the area of the Three Mountains and Five Gardens alone. In order to ensure the quality of the tribute, the royal family also set up a special agency to supervise the production of rice in Western Beijing. For example, the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty set up rice field factories in the court, which was specifically responsible for the supervision of the royal rice fields in the Gyeonggi area.

Among the agricultural heritage in Beijing, there are many projects that have been closely related to the lives of emperors, dozens of times more than the agricultural heritage projects of other provinces and regions. There are two reasons for this:

First, Beijing is the "ancient capital of the Six Dynasties" in China's history. No matter which dynasty or generation of emperors, they need to enjoy the best service. As a result, there have been generations of agricultural planters and farmers who specialize in serving the royal family, providing special tribute services for the royal family. In this process, a series of agricultural varieties of high quality were naturally cultivated, and a set of strict and complete agricultural production techniques that met the requirements of imperial tribute were also accumulated. It is for this reason that the quality of agricultural products in Beijing tends to be superior to that of other provinces and regions.

Second, these agricultural heritage sites are close to the imperial city and can provide fresh ingredients, especially fresh fruits, to the court in a timely manner. "Red dust rode a concubine and laughed, no one knew that it was a lychee coming." From the famous sentences of the late Tang Dynasty poet Du Mu, it is not difficult for us to imagine that in history, in order to satisfy the appetite of the royal family, farmers and tolerances have paid various hardships. As an agricultural heritage site in Beijing, this innate geographical advantage also provides unique conditions for Beijing's agricultural products, especially those fruits and vegetables that are not suitable for long-distance transportation, to enter the palace.

It is this characteristic of imperial tribute that guarantees the high quality of Beijing's agricultural heritage.

3. The value of the times is the kinetic energy

Beijing is a pioneer in China's urban development and technological upgrading, and the problems it faces are mainly the sharp decline in arable land area brought about by urban expansion and the rapid demise of traditional varieties. In the past three decades, Beijing has developed rapidly, and the land in the suburbs has decreased sharply. Some of the agricultural heritage that originally lived in the city center has disappeared, some have been severely reduced, and some have been forced to move out. The basic law is that the planting area will be significantly compressed if it has the nature of real estate; for example, The Jingxi rice has been sharply reduced from the original 10,000 mu to the current 2,000 mu. In the nature of movable property, there was a significant relocation; for example, projects such as Beijing duck and Wali oil chicken were mostly relocated to surrounding districts and counties.

Protecting Beijing's agricultural heritage is not simply "to protect for the sake of protection", but to be understood and considered in the context of helping social and economic development.

First, as long as the agricultural heritage of Beijing is well protected, China's best royal planting and breeding technology will be protected, and the best royal crop varieties and fruit varieties in Beijing will be protected. If the above work goes well, we will have the opportunity to build the heritage site into a planting base and sales base for beijing royal tributes; we can also completely solve a series of problems such as insufficient souvenirs and insufficient upgrading in Beijing by launching the "Royal Souvenirs" project.

Second, as long as the agricultural heritage of Beijing is well protected, we can build these agricultural heritage sites into breeding bases and promotion bases for royal agricultural product varieties, and Beijing agriculture can find new economic growth points on the basis of traditional agriculture.

Third, as long as we protect beijing's agricultural cultural heritage, we have the opportunity to combine it with tourism and build it into a unique tourism distribution center and a study tour base, so that people can feel the coolness of nature here, understand the charm of traditional culture and the cultural creativity of ancestors.

In short, agricultural heritage is a good medicine for Beijing's agricultural recovery. Protecting them is to find a new path for the future development of Beijing's agriculture, and at the same time to provide a completely different set of ideas for the development and revitalization of Beijing's tourism industry.

(Author: Yuan Li, PhD supervisor of China Academy of Arts, Gu Jun, Director of Beijing Intangible Cultural Heritage Research Base)