﻿444 
  AISTNUAL 
  REPOKT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1927 
  

  

  forest, 
  far 
  distant 
  from 
  the 
  village. 
  This 
  would 
  almost 
  necessitate 
  

   the 
  practice 
  of 
  going 
  to 
  live 
  near 
  them 
  each 
  working 
  season, 
  returning 
  

   to 
  the 
  village 
  only 
  after 
  the 
  harvest 
  was 
  gathered. 
  

  

  The 
  hardest 
  work 
  of 
  all 
  was 
  the 
  reclamation 
  of 
  the 
  land 
  itself, 
  of 
  

   its 
  conquest 
  from 
  river 
  and 
  swamp 
  ; 
  this 
  was 
  a 
  long 
  and 
  painful 
  one, 
  

   requiring 
  the 
  erection 
  of 
  dikes 
  against 
  the 
  inundations 
  and 
  the 
  dig- 
  

   ging 
  of 
  canals 
  to 
  drain 
  and 
  dry 
  out 
  the 
  soil. 
  All 
  these 
  tasks, 
  how- 
  

   ever, 
  had 
  been 
  accomplished 
  so 
  long 
  ago 
  that 
  their 
  very 
  memory 
  was 
  

   lost 
  in 
  the 
  mist 
  of 
  legend, 
  and 
  they 
  were 
  believed 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  ac- 
  

   complished 
  by 
  heroes 
  descended 
  from 
  heaven 
  at 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  

   the 
  world 
  — 
  Huang^-ti 
  the 
  Yellow 
  Emperor, 
  Shen-nung 
  the 
  Divine 
  

   Plowman, 
  and 
  finally 
  Yii 
  the 
  Great, 
  the 
  most 
  celebrated 
  of 
  all. 
  

  

  Yes, 
  [all 
  about] 
  that 
  southern 
  hill 
  

  

  Was 
  made 
  manageable 
  by 
  Yu. 
  

  

  Its 
  plains 
  and 
  marshes 
  being 
  opened 
  up, 
  

  

  It 
  was 
  made 
  into 
  fields 
  by 
  the 
  distant 
  descendant. 
  

  

  Or 
  again 
  : 
  

  

  Thick 
  grew 
  the 
  tribulus 
  [on 
  the 
  ground], 
  

  

  But 
  they 
  cleared 
  away 
  its 
  thorny 
  bushes. 
  

  

  Why 
  did 
  they 
  this 
  of 
  old? 
  

  

  That 
  we 
  might 
  plant 
  our 
  millet 
  and 
  sacrificial 
  millet; 
  

  

  That 
  our 
  millet 
  might 
  be 
  abundant. 
  

  

  And 
  our 
  sacrificial 
  millet 
  luxuriant." 
  

  

  The 
  lands 
  thus 
  brought 
  under 
  cultivation 
  produced 
  mjllet 
  and 
  

   sorghum 
  in 
  Chihli, 
  rice 
  south 
  of 
  the 
  Yellow 
  River, 
  and 
  wheat 
  almost 
  

   everywhere; 
  there 
  were 
  grown 
  also 
  beans, 
  gourds, 
  hemp, 
  and 
  indigo. 
  

   The 
  fields, 
  which 
  were 
  periodically 
  reallotted, 
  formed 
  blocks 
  of 
  

   roughly 
  1 
  square 
  li 
  (16 
  to 
  20 
  hectares), 
  each 
  forming 
  1 
  ching, 
  divided 
  

   into 
  9 
  equal 
  lots 
  which 
  8 
  families 
  cultivated 
  in 
  common, 
  each 
  family 
  

   keeping 
  for 
  itself 
  the 
  produce 
  of 
  1 
  lot, 
  while 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  ninth, 
  the 
  

   kung 
  t^ien 
  or 
  " 
  public 
  field," 
  went 
  to 
  the 
  king 
  or 
  feudal 
  lord 
  by 
  way 
  

   of 
  tax. 
  Close 
  by, 
  but 
  scattered 
  and 
  almost 
  lost 
  in 
  the 
  midst 
  of 
  the 
  

   plain, 
  were 
  erected 
  little 
  clusters 
  of 
  mud 
  huts, 
  the 
  winter 
  dwellings 
  

   of 
  the 
  peasants, 
  in 
  groups 
  of 
  26, 
  forming 
  the 
  smallest 
  religious 
  and 
  

   adminstrative 
  divisions. 
  

  

  These 
  little 
  hamlets 
  or 
  li, 
  of 
  about 
  200 
  inhabitants 
  (the 
  25 
  familie-s 
  

   of 
  3 
  ching) 
  had 
  each 
  an 
  altar 
  to 
  the 
  god 
  of 
  the 
  soil, 
  a 
  school, 
  and 
  a 
  

   market.'^ 
  In 
  them 
  the 
  peasants 
  shut 
  themselves 
  up 
  every 
  winter, 
  each 
  

  

  20 
  Shih 
  Ching, 
  tsl. 
  Lcgge, 
  pp. 
  368-373. 
  

  

  "■ 
  We 
  only 
  know 
  tbis 
  organization 
  under 
  the 
  purely 
  theoretical 
  shape 
  In 
  which 
  it 
  Is 
  

   described 
  by 
  certain 
  late 
  rituals 
  with 
  Utopian 
  tendencies 
  ; 
  the 
  figures 
  are 
  given 
  In 
  round 
  

   numbers 
  In 
  order 
  to 
  obtain 
  regular 
  multiples. 
  The 
  cultivators 
  of 
  the 
  3 
  ching 
  in 
  reality 
  

   formed 
  24 
  families, 
  but 
  the 
  figure 
  was 
  rounded 
  out 
  to 
  25 
  !n 
  order 
  to 
  secure, 
  In 
  the 
  first 
  

   place, 
  an 
  even 
  division 
  of 
  the 
  li 
  or 
  hamlet 
  into 
  5 
  groups 
  of 
  5 
  families 
  each, 
  an 
  important 
  

   division 
  because 
  serving 
  as 
  base 
  for 
  military 
  levies 
  and 
  corvfies 
  and 
  providing 
  at 
  Ihe 
  same 
  

   time 
  an 
  even 
  figure 
  of 
  100 
  families 
  to 
  every 
  4 
  li 
  for 
  the 
  next 
  higher 
  division. 
  These 
  cal- 
  

   culations 
  were 
  purely 
  theoretical, 
  and 
  the 
  real 
  movements 
  of 
  population 
  rendered 
  them 
  

   illusory. 
  

  

  