Some students who learn Mandarin in China wanted to learn something about the ancient Chinese agriculture so that they selected the Chinese culture course. The teacher of the course told them the ancient land system and the agriculture production situation of Zhou Dynasty which interested the students who study Mandarin in China very much. They even looked up some historical records to enrich their knowledge.
The “nine squares” system of land ownership was the basic field system in the slave-owner’s state of West Zhou Dynasty. The ownership of lands belonged to the state, which also meant it belonged to the King of Zhou Dynasty. Just like Shijing says, “普天之下，莫非王土；率土之滨，莫非王臣。”One of the students who learn Chinese in China found the historical material records that the King of Zhou Dynasty gave the lands and slaves to the aristocrats in every level as gifts. These lands and slaves can be used by the aristocrats generation by generation.
The Chinese culture teacher told this student that because the lands and slaves belonged to the King of Zhou Dynasty, the aristocrats could only have the right of use instead of the right of ownership; therefore the lands and slaves could not be transferred or sold freely. The distribution system of exchanging the lands and living places periodically was also be regulated.
The field system of Zhou Dynasty was a progress based on the one of Shang Dynasty. Zhou had had the accurate unit of measure for the distribution of lands. In Zhou Dynasty, a hundred mu was called a 夫 (one family) and the lands the one family ploughed on were called a 田. According to the materials found by the students who study Mandarin in China, there were two different distribution methods varied from the different exploitees.
Students who study Chinese in China learnt from the Chinese culture courses that one tenth of the harvested products of the common people had to be handed in the state as the tribute and taxes which would be used as the funds of the army. In Chinese culture, this phenomenon was called “国中什一使自赋”.
If you have read the book Guoyu when you learn Chinese in China, you may have read the sentence in this book, “先王制土，藉田以力。” And Mencius said that “野九一而助” which describes the situation that thousands of the slaves were ploughing on the fields under monitor. All of the harvested products would be occupied by the slave owners, which was actually a kind of labor exploitation. The small land on which the common people ploughed was only the maintenance condition for the reproduction and not belonged to them. After learning this, students who study Mandarin in China all have sympathy for the slaves at that time.
The hard working of the slaves also made the progress of the agriculture of West Zhou Dynasty. In order to the let the students who learn Mandarin in China have a direct feeling for the agriculture production of West Zhou Dynasty, the teacher brought them to visit the historical museum.
In the museum, the students who learn Chinese in China saw many agricultural implements unearthed in the ruins of West Zhou Dynasty. Before they study Chinese in China, they just heard about the advanced agriculture production in ancient China, now they really saw it in their own eyes. Some students were quite excited about that.
All of the archaeological discoveries indicate that slaves in Zhou Dynasty had already accumulated rich agriculture experiences. They had paid attention to seed selection, fertilization, weeding, deinsectization and irrigation. The types of crops increased a lot, including millet, rice, sorghum, wheat, vegetables and some fruits. Some cash crops were also widely planted.