China Agricultural Museum
Displaying the extensive and profound agricultural civilization (a first-level museum you don’t know)
Zou Yating and Wu Suhua
On the East Third Ring Road in Beijing, there is a large garden-style museum, which is the China Agricultural Museum (National Agricultural Exhibition Hall). The National Agricultural Exhibition Hall was one of the "Top Ten Buildings" in Beijing in the 1950s. It was completed and opened in 1959. In September 1986, the China Agricultural Museum, built on the basis of the Agricultural Exhibition Hall, was officially opened, implementing the "one institution, two brands" management model.
The China Agricultural Museum has a total collection of more than 140,000 pieces. Its featured collections include ancient agricultural books, traditional farm tools, painted pottery, tickets, agricultural posters, high-density New Year pictures, soil specimens, agricultural wax fruits, etc., including 213 first-class cultural relics. The museum has a basic display of "Chinese Agricultural Civilization", a special display of "Chinese Traditional Farm Tools", "Chinese Soil Specimens" and "Colorful Pottery Soul - Tian Shili Donated Colored Pottery Exhibition", as well as an agricultural science museum and a 24-solar traditional farming garden. etc., vividly displaying the long history, extensive and profound Chinese agricultural civilization.
Tracing the origins of agriculture
The exhibition area of "Chinese Agricultural Civilization" is about 4,850 square meters. Through more than 1,000 pieces (sets) of cultural relics, scene restorations, animated images, etc., it shows the history of China's agricultural development over tens of thousands of years.
Entering the preface hall, the statue of the "Five Ancestors of Farming" comes into view. This is the legendary figure who made important contributions to the origin of Chinese agricultural civilization-Fuxi, Shennong, Huangdi, Leizu, and Dayu. The surrounding murals depict myths and legends such as Sui people making fire, building houses with nests, and farming crops, reflecting the inventions and creations of ancient ancestors in production and life.
During the Neolithic Age, human production gradually shifted from primitive fishing, hunting and gathering to agriculture, and handicrafts such as textiles and pottery also appeared. During this period, agriculture in China can be roughly divided into two major agricultural systems: dryland millet agriculture in the Yellow River Basin in the north and paddy rice agriculture in the Yangtze River Basin in the south. The exhibition hall has restored scenes from the Hemudu site in Yuyao, Zhejiang, and the Banpo site in Xi'an, Shaanxi. The audience can understand the agricultural production and social life of the Neolithic Age.
The Shang and Zhou dynasties were a period of transition from primitive agriculture to intensive farming, and bronze was used to make agricultural tools. Bronze agricultural tools of the Shang Dynasty include incest, shovels, axes, adzes, etc. Among them, incest is one of the most common agricultural tools. Its purpose is to dig soil, dig ditches and make ridges. The bronze ingot from the Shang Dynasty in the collection is generally rectangular, with a slightly trapezoidal blade. Both sides of the blade surface are warped outwards, and there are residues such as soil inside the ingot. Bronze ingots are rare and have high historical and academic value. During the Warring States Period, as iron smelting technology matured, bronze farm tools were gradually replaced by iron farm tools.
Gray pottery wells, yellow glazed pottery stoves, brown glazed pottery sowing figurines, green glazed pottery rice pounding figurines, gray pottery pigeons and dolphin pens... The restored scenes of Han tombs in the exhibition hall are reproduced through various pottery figurines, pottery models and other funerary objects. Pictures of production and life in the Han Dynasty.
The green glazed pottery workshop is a national first-class cultural relic, which vividly depicts the shape of the grain processing workshop in the Han Dynasty. In the workshop, there are agricultural tools such as a tiller, a fan wheel, and a mill, as well as domestic animals such as chickens and dogs. One person is pounding rice, and the other is blowing wind and lighting a fire, which is lifelike.
Chen Jun, deputy director of the China Agricultural Museum, said that the figurine holding a dustpan and a chimney is one of the "treasures" of the China Agricultural Museum. It has a complete shape, tall body and lifelike expression, which represents the high level of pottery skills in the Han Dynasty. This figurine was unearthed in Pengshan, Sichuan. It is made of clay and gray pottery. It wears a round hat, a round-collared semi-long coat, and straw sandals. The right hand is on the chest, and the left hand is hanging down to hold a dustpan. There is also a handful around the waist. The long sword may be the manor owner's family soldier, who works in farming on weekdays and serves as a soldier in wartime. It reflects the agricultural production and manor economic situation in Sichuan during the Han Dynasty.
Understand the wisdom of the ancients
Plows, hoes, sickles, and mills are the four most representative agricultural tools in traditional agricultural labor, and they are respectively used in agricultural production processes such as plowing, cultivating, harvesting, and processing. The plow in China evolved from the grass. It was originally a stone plow, and later developed into a bronze plow and an iron plow. The emergence of the plow changed the top-down soil breaking and intermittent farming method into a back-to-front continuous farming method, which greatly improved the efficiency of farming. The Tang Dynasty invented the curved shaft plow based on the straight shaft plow, marking that China's plowing technology entered a mature stage. The curved shaft plow has a short plow body and flexible operation. It is more suitable for use in paddy fields in the south and can meet the different needs of deep and shallow plowing.
"Chinese plows were introduced to Asian countries during the Han and Tang Dynasties, and to Europe in the 18th century. It can be said that the spread of the plow promoted the development of the world's agricultural production level." said Chao Xinning, leader of the publicity and explanation team of the Social Education Department of the China Agricultural Museum .
A mill is a tool for shelling and crushing grains. The stone grinding discs and stone grinding rods discovered at the Peiligang site in Xinzheng, Henan Province, were made from sandstone about 8,000 to 7,000 years ago. They have smooth lines and fine workmanship, reflecting the skillful stone tool making skills and relatively sophisticated craftsmanship of the ancestors in the Central Plains region. Advanced grain processing technology. By the Han Dynasty, stone mills were widely used, mostly for grinding tofu.
China is the birthplace of silk. As late as the middle of the Neolithic Age, the Chinese began to plant mulberry, raise silkworms, collect cocoons and reel silk. With the development of ritual and music civilization, silk clothing has become an important symbol of status and level with its rich decoration and distinctive recognition. The Qing Dynasty Yunbrocade python robes in the exhibition hall are particularly eye-catching with their bright colors and exquisite workmanship. The python robe is 150 centimeters long. It is decorated with a python flying into the sky on orange-red cloud brocade. The lower part is decorated with sea water, reefs, corals, conch shells, etc. The python pattern is similar to the dragon pattern. The dragon has five claws and the python has one missing claw. Five-clawed pythons appeared in the late Ming Dynasty, so dragons and pythons were not distinguished by the number of claws, but by the identity of the wearer. In the Ming Dynasty, the python robe was a garment given by the emperor to meritorious ministers. By the Qing dynasty, the python robe was classified as an auspicious garment.
Highlighting the achievements of "agriculture, rural areas and farmers"
The tripod is a ritual vessel in ancient China. The ancients would make tripods to commemorate important ceremonies or when receiving rewards. In the "Modern Agriculture" exhibition hall, there is a modern bronze tripod named "Farewell to Tianfu tripod". This tripod is 99 centimeters high and weighs 252 kilograms. The belly is engraved with the inscription "Farewell to Tian Fu", a total of 560 words. The bottom is engraved with patterns such as giant dragons, auspicious beasts, and auspicious clouds, which symbolize peace and prosperity for the country and the people, as well as social harmony.
"It was cast to commemorate the introduction of a major system with epoch-making significance." Chao Xinning said. On December 29, 2005, the 19th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 10th National People's Congress decided to abolish the "Agricultural Tax Regulations of the People's Republic of China" from January 1, 2006, which marked the continuation of more than 2,000 tax laws in China. The annual agricultural tax has since withdrawn from the stage of history. After hearing the news, Wang Sanni, a farmer in Lingshou County, Hebei Province, was so excited that she designed and raised funds to cast this farewell tripod. The inscription on the tripod reads: "I am the son of a farmer, and my ancestors have farmed and weaved for generations and paid taxes for generations. Now I say goodbye to the land tax, and I will cast an inscription on the tripod on behalf of the farmers to inform future generations. It will be praised by generations and will never be forgotten." This tripod It is an important evidence of China's implementation of policies to strengthen agriculture and benefit farmers and its achievements in rural reform. In 2009, Wang Sanni donated it to the China Agricultural Museum.
The development of agriculture is inseparable from the progress of science and technology, among which cultivating improved crop varieties is a very important task. The museum houses a unique exhibit - the "Shijian-8" breeding satellite return capsule, which witnesses the development of China's aerospace breeding project. "Shijian-8" is China's first returnable science and technology test satellite specially developed for aerospace breeding. It was launched in September 2006 and loaded with more than 2,000 records in 9 categories including grain, cotton, vegetables, fruits, and flowers. 215 kilograms of crop seeds were used for space mutation breeding experiments in a space environment. The aerospace breeding project has made positive contributions to the selection of new crop varieties and food security in China. The seeds that have traveled through space have taken root, sprouted, bloomed and bore fruit on the earth, enriching people's "rice bags, vegetable baskets, and fruit plates."
"Ten Years of Agriculture, Rural Affairs and Rural Affairs - Exhibition of Achievements in Agricultural and Rural Development in the New Era" is a major special exhibition launched by the China Agricultural Museum in October 2022. In the exhibition hall, domestic agricultural drones, domestic high-performance no-till precision seeders, domestic high-efficiency plant protection unmanned vehicles, etc. display the "black technology" of China's agriculture. Certificates and medals bear witness to the new era of agriculture. great achievements in rural development. Huang Wenxiu’s certificate of “National Poverty Alleviation Model” is awe-inspiring. After graduating with a master's degree, Huang Wenxiu volunteered to serve as the first secretary in Baini Village, Leye County, Baise City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, leading more than 400 poor people out of poverty. In the early morning of June 17, 2019, she encountered a flash flood on her way back to Leye County from Baise City and died unfortunately. She was only 30 years old.
spread farming culture
The twenty-four solar terms are the treasure of Chinese farming culture. In 2016, the "Twenty-Four Solar Terms", which was declared by the China Agricultural Museum, was included in the "Representative List of Human Intangible Cultural Heritage" by UNESCO.
The China Agricultural Museum collects many collections related to solar terms culture. The Gaomi New Year painting "Plowing" depicts the scene of spring plowing during the Waking of Insects: a farmer wearing a bamboo hat with a smile on his face is whipping his cows to plow the land. "The Shepherd Boy Points to the Apricot Blossom Village" takes the poetic meaning of Du Mu's "Qingming Festival" and outlines the beautiful scenery of the spring breeze blowing willows and the blooming apricot blossoms during the Qingming Festival.
Entering the Agricultural Science Museum, the 1:3 restored ancient star observatory in Dengfeng, Henan Province shows how the ancients measured solar terms by observing the sun's shadow and starry sky. The decorative paintings on the surrounding pillars and the photography works on the exhibition walls present a colorful The beauty of solar terms. In the "Taste of Solar Terms" experience area, you can savor the customized fragrances of different solar terms.
Pulling plows for spring plowing, sowing good seeds, transplanting rice during the Qingming Festival, harvesting in the golden autumn, pounding rice mills for processing, storing grain into warehouses... In the traditional agricultural garden, bronze sculptures vividly represent the agricultural activities carried out around the four solar terms. "There is also a crop planting area in the agricultural garden, where crops are planted according to the season, allowing urban residents, especially children, to have close contact with agriculture and nature." Chen Jun said.
Based on the advantages of collection resources, the China Agricultural Museum has launched more than 50 high-quality popular science courses in five series: agriculture and life, festivals and folk customs, small agronomists, twenty-four solar terms, and interesting nature, and launched the "Most Beautiful China Festival" and "Follow the Agricultural Expo" Themed activities such as "Celebrating the Solar Terms" and "Talk about Farming during the Harvest Festival" carefully design study routes to lead primary and secondary school students to explore the mysteries of cultural relics and experience the planting, harvesting and processing of crops. At the same time, lectures and tours are held in schools and communities, and a series of online courses such as "Online Agricultural Expo", "Walking Agricultural Expo" and "Popular Science Agricultural Expo" are produced to spread Chinese farming culture through multiple channels.
Chen Jun said that with the purpose of "promoting agriculture, rural areas and farmers, promoting culture, and serving society", the China Agricultural Museum strives to do a good job in research, interpretation, dissemination and promotion of Chinese agricultural civilization, and help revitalize rural culture. In the future, the basic display will be updated to showcase new agricultural archaeological achievements in recent years, and new technologies such as VR, AR, and MR will be used to enhance the interactive experience. In addition, it is also planned to build a special pavilion on the twenty-four solar terms, allowing the audience to immerse themselves in the charm of solar terms culture through a combination of indoor + outdoor, display + experience, and online + offline. (People's Daily Overseas Edition)