William Clutterbuck The Dao of Agriculture in Song China The Song dynasty in China faced a major problem during

its rule- food shortages. As the Song experienced a population boom of 60 million people from the 700s to the 1200s, they had to find ways of providing food for all of the new people under their control or face the might of millions of unhappy peasants. One way that the Song successfully combated famine was through funding the production of works that promoted up to date agricultural technologies. The Craft of Farming by Chen Pu was one of these works produced, and utilized agricultural science, but also used folk wisdom and Confucian and Daoist ideology. The making of The Craft of Farming was an excellent solution to holding off the anticipated famine, as it utilized agricultural sciences and new techniques to help produce a higher amount of sustainable produce. The Song use of multiple crops and fertilizer not only made a more diverse diet for the population being provided for, but also sustained the soil so that the nutrients were not drained, allowing the land to continually produce. The Song had the order of which they planted specific crops down to an art, and had obviously closely studied which order of planting leads to the greatest yield. The way in which Chen Pu describes the creation of compost systems was also revolutionary for his time, as it allowed not only the edible part of the crop to be used, but also the stalk and fallen leaves. Chen Pu also makes a point that the man who throws away his weeds is at loss to the man who composts his, and even gets the science that the weed will decay and release its nutrients into the soil spot on. The Song had clearly learned from decades of observing the small differences in the ways of agriculture, and it is how they used this knowledge that helped to stave off potential famine and elongate the proliferation of the empire as a whole.

Chen Pu also includes many Confucian and Daoist teachings as well as folk wisdom in his handbook, but these regard more to the business aspect of farming than to its actual plowing, sowing, and harvesting. Chen Pu invokes and old proverb when he says, Owning a great deal of emptiness is less desirable than reaping from a narrow patch of land. By using old adages, Chen Pu makes the manual more accessible to the common person aspiring to get into agriculture. This proverb also encourages the farmers to get the most out of the small amounts of land that the Chinese people can farm in order to provide for their enormous population size. The concept of Qi is also mentioned when fertilizer is discussed, and Chen Pu says that Qi can be added back into the system by way of adding fertilizer. Again, the use of Neo-Confucian concepts is utilized to aid in lay peoples understanding of agriculture. Chen Pu also invokes Mencius, a well renowned Confucian scholar, when he states that people must truly love farming in order to succeed in the production of food. In putting terms in to more average and well known terms, calling upon folk wisdom, Confucian teachings, and Daoist teachings are very useful. The Song emperors who began these programs of producing such handbooks as Chen Pus The Craft of Farming were very successful in solving potential problems of famine. Chen Pus use of technology as well as traditional knowledge provided a useful and accessible work which saved many of his people from starvation.