Iron Farm Tools and Ox Plowing Appear

The economy developed greatly in the Spring and Autumn period; especially in its later part, iron farm tools and ox plowing began to appear, a key sign of rising farm productivity. Ancient texts record plowing with iron implements, and archaeologists have unearthed iron farm tools such as hoes, spades and sickles from Spring and Autumn tombs in Changsha (Hunan), Henan, Jiangsu and elsewhere. Most iron tools of the time were wooden tools fitted with an iron cutting edge, much sharper and more durable than wooden or stone tools. By the end of the period at the latest, people were using oxen to pull plows; Confucius's disciples Ran Geng, styled Boniu, and Sima Geng, styled Zi Niu, have names and styles linking “ox” and “plowing,” which reflects that oxen and cultivation were already connected. Iron tools and ox plowing promoted deep, careful tillage and made it possible to clear forests and wasteland and expand farmland; much wasteland became private fields, undermining the land system based on the well-field system. Alongside agriculture, crafts expanded, with growth in bronze, ironmaking, textiles, salt boiling and lacquerware; cast iron appeared in China in the Spring and Autumn period, more than a thousand years earlier than in Europe. As output grew, trade became more active, many cities had markets for exchange and metal currency was used more widely. In the Warring States, iron tools and ox plowing spread further and productivity kept rising; the new landlord class gained strength, laying the economic foundation for the reforms of the states and the formation of feudal society.