“Ancient China: Agriculture” (History Channel “Where Did It Come From” series) (Amazon Streaming)



Watch the documentary at this link >>


[Note: This is episode #3 in the “Great Civilizations: Asia” series on Amazon Streaming.]

This documentary details Chinese agricultural innovations that radically improved the efficiency of growing crops, resulting in the transformation of eastern Asia thousands of years ago— usually centuries or even millennias before the same ideas were adopted by Europeans and elsewhere.

Following are innovations mentioned in the documentary:

— The invention of the wheelbarrow, hoes and plows from wrought iron.

— “Furrowing the soil” into rows for irrigation starting in the 6th century BC.

— The invention of the “seed drill” which efficiently plants seeds in the soil of fields.

— Innovations of the use of fertilizer and natural organic pesticide technology starting in 2000 BC.

— Advanced canal systems being implemented to harvest river water, including pumps that made water flow uphill.

— Design innovations that greatly improved the efficiency of the harnessing the power of horses.

— The invention of the harvesting knife which greatly improved the efficiency of the harvesting process.

— The invention of the “winnowing machine” in 200 BC which automates the separation of the chaff from grains such as rice.

— China’s economy becoming strong due to the effective agricultural techniques they developed.

— The development of lengthy canal systems that were started to be dug in the fifth century BC for efficiently transporting large amounts of harvested crops such as grain.

— The invention of dykes, gates, and weirs in canals to move water traffic to higher elevations.



This article is a part of the summary article “A Summary of the History of the World, in Videos.”