The Study On Huang Xingzeng's Agriculture-related Works

Wu District is around Jiangsu and part of Zhejiang.This place had advanced agriculture and prosperous culture.The scholars of Wu District had the tradition of attaching importance to agricultural science,and had a large number of agricultural books.Huang Xingzeng was one of them.He was born in Wuxian,Jiangsu Provincein the Mid-Ming dynasty and had five agricultural works.The content of his writings covered Confucian classics,publishing,history,geography,agriculture and other aspects.Shen Jian Notes is one of the most important historical works,which included "The Si Ku Quan Shu".Andthe content of Shen Jian Noterelated a wide range of important works of western geography ?Chinese and western transportation and literaturesuch as“The Indian Ocean Countries which Visited China ”? “The Custems in the Wu District”?“On Animals”?“On Poems”?“Poems”?and “All the Articals and Poems by Huang Xingzeng”?His agricultural works include“Rice Breeds”?“Techniques of Silkworms”?“On Fishes”?“Growing Chrysanthemums”?Those four books are altogether called “Four Books on Agriculture & Horticulture”.Moreover,he wrote “Methods of Growing Taros”?“Rice Breeds”,the full name of“Rice Breeds for Supporting Lives”,was the earliest and most complete varieties of rice records,existing up to now.”On Fishes”was the most complete of the earliest fish monographs in the same period.“On Animals” not only was a scientific paper in field of the C hinese biology science,but also can be one of the masterpieces of art and entertainment.“Methods of Growing Taros” reflected Wu's diversified agricultural traditions and frequent disasters,which also was the only monograph about taro in the period of Chinese traditional agricultural society.“Techniques of Silkworms” was the most advanced sericulture technology in Ming Dynasty C hina,which reflects the highest level of sericulture in Ming Dynasty.The difference between “Growing Chrysanthemums”and the Chrysanthemum manuals in Song Dynasty,which mainly recorded breeds,was that “Growing Chrysanthemums” was more practical.Amano Shimotonosuke,a Japanese scholar,called this work“a further research work on horticulture”.Besides the five agricultural monographs,Huang Xingzeng's poems and other articles also had agricultural contents which not only was an important historical data of agricultural research but also had high scientific value.The contents of Huang Xingzeng's agriculture-related writingsincluded the records of paddy farming,fishery production,raising livestock,fruit and vegetable gardening and agricultural folk phenomenon in Wu district during Mid-Ming dynasty.These writings provided an important historical data for the current research about agricultural production,production technology and agricultural practices of Wu district where in the hinterland of the Yangtze River Economy.As a scholar in the late Ming Dynasty,Huang Xingzeng was known as “one of the eight talents of Wu district”.Huang Xingzeng's poems reflected his thoughts about Wang Yangming's Concept and philosophical thinking.However,as the representative of agricultural poetry,“On My Wife Feeding Silkworms”?“Monks Banqueting Me with Chinese wolfberry Leaves and Bamboo Shoots”accurately describedagricultural production situation and technology condition in south of the Yangtze River and vividly recordedthe local customs and landscapes,which provided important historical data for the investigation of the agricultural production,the production technology and the customs.This treatise is generally divided into three chapters.First,this paper studied the agricultural situation of Wu district and Huang Xingzeng's family background.Then,systematic and comprehensive analysis Biological and agricultural knowledge of “Four Books on Agriculture & Horticulture”?“On Animals”?“Methods of Growing Taros” and horticultureofgermplasm resources and gardening technology of “Four Books on Agriculture & Horticulture”.Moreover made a comprehensive research and analysis of the fish recorded of “On Fishes”,which reflected Huang Xingzeng's contribution to ancient agronomy.Besides,on the basis of previous studies about agricultural customon Huang Xingzeng's poems and reference to other related records in ancient books,this paper discussed the agricultural proverbs,farmland cultivation,sericulture production and trade of agricultural products recorded in Huang Xingngceng's poems.In addition,the paper focuses on the study of the scientific evidence of agricultural production and agricultural practices.