齊民要術·序（節選） Essential Arts for the Common People: From the Preface Jia Sixie 賈思勰 (fl. 6th century) Six Dynasties · c. 533–544 Cold Library · Open Stacks · S-006209 · https://coldlibrary.com/s/006209 Rights: A Northern Wei book of the sixth century, nearly fifteen hundred years old. Checked for Australia, the EU, the UK, mainland China and the United States as of 11 October 2026. Guidance, not legal advice. Source: Wikisource, https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/齊民要術/自序 (retrieved 2026-10-11) English translation: Claude (an AI), 2026 · CC0 1.0 Generated 2026-10-14 from https://coldlibrary.com/en/open-stacks/jia-sixie-essential-arts-preface ---- 蓋神農爲耒耜，以利天下；堯命四子，敬授民時；舜命后稷，食爲政首；禹制土田，萬國作乂；殷周之盛，詩書所述，要在安民，富而教之。 神農、倉頡，聖人者也；其於事也，有所不能矣。故趙過始爲牛耕，實勝耒耜之利；蔡倫立意造紙，豈方縑、牘之煩？且耿壽昌之常平倉，桑弘羊之均輸法，益國利民，不朽之術也。諺曰：「智如禹、湯，不如嘗更。」是以樊遲請學稼，孔子答曰：「吾不如老農。」然則聖賢之智，猶有所未達，而況於凡庸者乎？ 猗頓，魯窮士，聞陶朱公富，問術焉。告之曰：「欲速富，畜五牸。」乃畜牛羊，子息萬計。九真、廬江，不知牛耕，每致困乏。任延、王景，乃令鑄作田器，教之墾闢，歲歲開廣，百姓充給。燉煌不曉作耬犁；及種，人牛功力既費，而收穀更少。皇甫隆乃教作耬犁，所省庸力過半，得穀加五。又燉煌俗，婦女作裙，攣縮如羊腸，用布一匹。隆又禁改之，所省復不貲。茨充爲桂陽令，俗不種桑，無蠶織絲麻之利，類皆以麻枲頭貯衣。民惰窳，少麤履，足多剖裂血出，盛冬皆然火燎炙。充教民益種桑、柘，養蠶，織履，復令種紵麻。數年之間，大賴其利，衣履溫暖。今江南知桑蠶織履，皆充之教也。五原土宜麻枲，而俗不知織績；民冬月無衣，積細草，卧其中，見吏則衣草而出。崔寔爲作紡績、織絍之具以教，民得以免寒苦。安在不教乎？ 李衡於武陵龍陽汎洲上作宅，種甘橘千樹。臨死勑兒曰：「吾州里有千頭木奴，不責汝衣食，歲上一匹絹，亦可足用矣。」吳末，甘橘成，歲得絹數千匹。恒稱太史公所謂「江陵千樹橘，與千戶侯等」者也。樊重欲作器物，先種梓、漆，時人嗤之。然積以歲月，皆得其用，向之笑者，咸求假焉。此種殖之不可已已也。諺曰：「一年之計，莫如樹穀；十年之計，莫如樹木。」此之謂也。 今採捃經傳，爰及歌謠，詢之老成，驗之行事，起自耕農，終於醯、醢，資生之業，靡不畢書，號曰《齊民要術》。凡九十二篇，束爲十卷。卷首皆有目録，於文雖煩，尋覽差易。其有五穀、果、蓏非中國所殖者，存其名目而已；種蒔之法，蓋無聞焉。捨本逐末，賢哲所非，日富歲貧，飢寒之漸，故商賈之事，闕而不録。花草之流，可以悅目，徒有春花，而無秋實，匹諸浮僞，蓋不足存。 鄙意曉示家童，未敢聞之有識，故丁寧周至，言提其耳，每事指斥，不尚浮辭。覽者無或嗤焉。 ---- 盖神农为耒耜，以利天下；尧命四子，敬授民时；舜命后稷，食为政首；禹制土田，万国作乂；殷周之盛，诗书所述，要在安民，富而教之。 神农、仓颉，圣人者也；其于事也，有所不能矣。故赵过始为牛耕，实胜耒耜之利；蔡伦立意造纸，岂方缣、牍之烦？且耿寿昌之常平仓，桑弘羊之均输法，益国利民，不朽之术也。谚曰：「智如禹、汤，不如尝更。」是以樊迟请学稼，孔子答曰：「吾不如老农。」然则圣贤之智，犹有所未达，而况于凡庸者乎？ 猗顿，鲁穷士，闻陶朱公富，问术焉。告之曰：「欲速富，畜五牸。」乃畜牛羊，子息万计。九真、庐江，不知牛耕，每致困乏。任延、王景，乃令铸作田器，教之垦辟，岁岁开广，百姓充给。敦煌不晓作耧犁；及种，人牛功力既费，而收谷更少。皇甫隆乃教作耧犁，所省庸力过半，得谷加五。又敦煌俗，妇女作裙，挛缩如羊肠，用布一匹。隆又禁改之，所省复不赀。茨充为桂阳令，俗不种桑，无蚕织丝麻之利，类皆以麻枲头贮衣。民惰窳，少粗履，足多剖裂血出，盛冬皆然火燎炙。充教民益种桑、柘，养蚕，织履，复令种纻麻。数年之间，大赖其利，衣履温暖。今江南知桑蚕织履，皆充之教也。五原土宜麻枲，而俗不知织绩；民冬月无衣，积细草，卧其中，见吏则衣草而出。崔寔为作纺绩、织纴之具以教，民得以免寒苦。安在不教乎？ 李衡于武陵龙阳泛洲上作宅，种甘橘千树。临死敕儿曰：「吾州里有千头木奴，不责汝衣食，岁上一匹绢，亦可足用矣。」吴末，甘橘成，岁得绢数千匹。恒称太史公所谓「江陵千树橘，与千户侯等」者也。樊重欲作器物，先种梓、漆，时人嗤之。然积以岁月，皆得其用，向之笑者，咸求假焉。此种殖之不可已已也。谚曰：「一年之计，莫如树谷；十年之计，莫如树木。」此之谓也。 今采捃经传，爰及歌谣，询之老成，验之行事，起自耕农，终于醯、醢，资生之业，靡不毕书，号曰《齐民要术》。凡九十二篇，束为十卷。卷首皆有目录，于文虽烦，寻览差易。其有五谷、果、蓏非中国所殖者，存其名目而已；种莳之法，盖无闻焉。舍本逐末，贤哲所非，日富岁贫，饥寒之渐，故商贾之事，阙而不录。花草之流，可以悦目，徒有春花，而无秋实，匹诸浮伪，盖不足存。 鄙意晓示家童，未敢闻之有识，故丁宁周至，言提其耳，每事指斥，不尚浮辞。览者无或嗤焉。 ---- English translation by Claude (an AI) Shennong made the plough and its share to benefit the world; Yao charged his four officers to give the people the seasons with reverence; Shun commanded Hou Ji, putting food first among the affairs of government; Yu laid out the land and the fields, and the ten thousand states were set in order. The flourishing of Yin and Zhou, as the Songs and Documents describe it, came down to giving the people security, making them prosperous and then teaching them. Shennong and Cangjie were sages, yet in practical matters there were things beyond them. So Zhao Guo was the first to plough with oxen, a real gain on the hand plough; and Cai Lun conceived the making of paper, which spared the trouble of silk and wooden tablets. Geng Shouchang’s ever-normal granaries and Sang Hongyang’s system of equal transport profited the state and the people: these are arts that do not decay. The proverb says: “Wise as Yu and Tang, but not as good as having tried it.” That is why, when Fan Chi asked to learn farming, Confucius answered: “I am not as good as an old farmer.” If even the wisdom of sages and worthies falls short somewhere, how much more that of ordinary people? Yidun, a poor scholar of Lu, heard that Lord Taozhu was rich and asked him how. He was told: “If you want to get rich quickly, keep five kinds of breeding females.” So he kept cattle and sheep, and their increase was counted in tens of thousands. In Jiuzhen and Lujiang the people did not know how to plough with oxen and were often in want; Ren Yan and Wang Jing had farm tools cast and taught them to break new ground, which widened year by year until the people had enough. Dunhuang did not know how to make the seed drill; at sowing time the labour of men and oxen was spent and the grain harvested was still small. Huangfu Long taught them to make the seed drill: it saved more than half the labour, and the grain gained by half again. It was also the custom in Dunhuang for women to make skirts gathered up like a sheep’s gut, using a whole bolt of cloth; Long forbade it and had it changed, and again the saving was beyond counting. When Ci Chong was magistrate of Guiyang, the people did not plant mulberry and had none of the profit of silkworms or of weaving silk and hemp; most of them stuffed their clothes with the waste ends of hemp. They were idle and had few rough shoes; their feet split and bled, and in the depths of winter they all lit fires to warm them. Chong taught them to plant more mulberry and silkworm thorn, to raise silkworms and weave shoes, and had them plant ramie as well. Within a few years they were relying on it greatly, and their clothes and shoes were warm. That people south of the Yangzi now know mulberry, silkworms and the weaving of shoes is all due to Chong’s teaching. The soil of Wuyuan was right for hemp, but the people did not know how to spin and weave; in the winter months they had no clothes and lay in heaps of fine grass, and when they met an official they came out wearing the grass. Cui Shi made tools for spinning and weaving to teach them, and the people escaped the misery of cold. How can one say that teaching is not needed? Li Heng built a house on the river islet at Longyang in Wuling and planted a thousand sweet orange trees. When he was dying he told his son: “In our district I have a thousand wooden servants. They will not ask you for food or clothing, and each will bring in a bolt of silk a year, which will be enough to live on.” By the end of Wu the oranges had matured, and they brought in several thousand bolts of silk a year. This is what the Grand Historian meant by “a thousand orange trees at Jiangling are equal to a marquis of a thousand households.” Fan Zhong, wanting to make vessels and furniture, first planted catalpa and lacquer trees, and people laughed at him. But as the years went by they all came into use, and those who had laughed came to borrow from him. So planting must never stop. The proverb says: “For a one-year plan, nothing is better than planting grain; for a ten-year plan, nothing is better than planting trees.” That is what this means. Now I have gathered from the classics and commentaries, gone on to songs and sayings, asked those with long experience and tested it in practice; from ploughing and farming down to vinegar and meat sauces, every trade that supports life is written down, and I have called it Essential Arts for the Common People. There are ninety-two chapters, bound in ten books. Each book begins with a table of contents; it makes the text longer, but easier to look through. Grains, fruits and gourds that are not grown in the central lands are given by name only; how to plant them I have not learned. To leave the root for the branches is what the wise condemn; growing rich by the day and poor by the year is how hunger and cold creep up; so the business of merchants is left out and not recorded. Flowers and plants of the decorative kind may please the eye, but they have spring flowers and no autumn fruit; they are of a piece with empty show, and not worth keeping. My purpose is to instruct the boys of my household; I do not presume to address the learned. So I have been careful and thorough, talking into their ears and pointing at each thing plainly, without valuing fine words. Let no reader laugh at it.