WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Before the Han Dynasty (202 BC – AD 220), Chinese ploughs were made almost wholly of wood except for the iron blade of the ploughshare. These were V-shaped iron pieces mounted on wooden blades and handles. By the Han period the entire ploughshare was made of cast iron.

Detailed explanation-2: -According to Robert Greenburger’s book The Technology of Ancient China, the Chinese were using iron plows to till farm fields as far back as the 6th Century B.C. But a couple of hundred years later, some ingenious Han inventor came up with the kuan, also known as the moldboard plow.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Cast Iron Plow. The plow evolved from the all-wood designs of antiquity, to the use of iron parts. In 1720, the first English patent for a wooden moldboard sheathed with iron was issued to Joseph Foljambe.

Detailed explanation-4: -While shovels, rakes, and ploughs used in the Yellow River region were made of stone, similar tools used in the Yangtze River region were made of shell and bone.

Detailed explanation-5: -To solve the problem of food, the ancient immigrants built terraced fields for water conservation which made it possible to grow rice in hilly areas. China’s rice terraces are mainly distributed in the mountainous area in the south of the Yangtze River.