Illustration:
ill. 3.7 (set: 3.7)
Date:
1964
Genre:
illustration, textbook
Material:
scan, paper, black-and-white; original source: print on paper, black-and-white
Source:
Nongye jishu Sanzijing 农业技术三字经 (Three character classic of agricultural techniques). Changchun: Jilin renmin, 1964:16.
Inscription:
換好茬，如上粪，巧安排，粮满囤。 調茬口，看条件，各地区，有特点： 豆梁谷，三年換，平原区，較普遍。 黄苞米，不挑茬，粪肥足，粮多打。 草原区，种 苞米，接高粱，接谷子。 半山区，先苞米，谷茬豆，較适宜。 崗薄地，少肥力，豆谷豆，也可以。 低洼地，土性凉，苞米豆，接高粱。
Keywords:
practical learning, peasants, agriculture, countryside, information, criticism, Confucius, reaction, studying, countertext, three-year-circle, Sanzijing

Three Character Classic of Agricultural Techniques (Nongye jishu Sanzijing 农业技术三字经)

The Three Character Classic on Agricultural Techniques (农业技术三字经 Nongye jishu Sanzijing) illustrates the pragmatic nature of these publications (NYJSSZJ 1964). This book, and the many variations of it published at around the same time, may be seen as a direct answer to criticisms of Confucius and Confucianism put forward then: in these discussions, the fact that Confucius did not teach practical matters about agriculture and even discouraged his students to learn anything about agriculture (Louie 1980, 72) played an important role. These new variations on the Three Character Classic use a Confucian template, then, to create an extremely detailed countertext to this very work and the ideas propagated therein. The text advises readers, for example, as here, how to deal with used up and salt-washed fields, how to apply three-year circles, how best to install irrigation systems, and how to fight plant diseases and pests.