Abstract

Because the inscriptions material and archaeological materials are relatively abundant，the most easily explored stage of agriculture was late Shang Dynasty in the pre-Qin period.It is important for us to understand the history of agriculture in the pre-Qin period.With the announcement of neworacle inscriptions and the introduction of plant archeology flotation method，some of the details of late Shang agricultural history have the necessity and possibility for further research.In particular，there are some problems related to agricultural cookbooks，production techniques and farm tools，agriculture inscriptions，and production organizations.Based on this，the book is divided into five chapters to discuss the situation of late Shang agriculture and its production organization，and each chapter is a topic.

The first chapter is the introduction about agroclimate and academic history of agricultural research.Chapter two focuses on late Shang crops.Based on crop nouns in oracle inscriptions and late Shang crops structure reflected by flotation materials，the paper concludes that there are differences in the agricultural diet system betweenoracle inscriptions and plant flotation，which may reflect the difference between sacrificial system and the system of life.In the last section of the first chapter，this book examines the scale of wheat planting in the Shang Dynasty，pointing out that the Shang Dynasty had deliberately promoted the scale of wheat planting，but this attempt ended in failure.

Chapter three focuses on agricultural activities and production tools in the late Shang.The former mainly relies on oracle bone inscriptions，and combs relevant contents according to the order of farming activities.The latter mainly depends on archaeological materials to analyze the relationship between agricultural production and shovel，knife and sickle of different shapes and materialsin in archaeological remains.As far as the conclusion is concerned，the shovel，knife and sickle of different types and materials are not all farm tools.Specific problems need specific analysis.

Chapter four has two topics about theagriculture inscriptions.The first topic analyzes the“Year”inscriptions from the perspective of agricultural sacrifices.This book is mainly from the difference of classification，sign sequence，deities and place name to analyze the change of“Year”inscriptions，and make a new explanation.For the“Year”inscriptions，the biggest change is the difference in the times.There are more signs，more various deities and more complex place names in the early inscriptions while late inscriptions is relatively standard and single.This reflects the change of attitude of the Shang King to agricultural divination，and it also implies the consolidation of secular kingship and the reduction of divine power.

The second topic of Chapter four discussesthe relationship between agricultural place names in oracle bone inscriptions and“内外服”of Late Shang.Based on the analysis of the character of agricultural place names，this book puts forward two standards for judging agricultural place names.Firstly，all the names within the scope of“我”in inscriptions should be“内服”.Secondly，the place name from“call someone to plant in some palace”or“call someone to till in some palace”also should be“内服”.Based on this，the book think that agricultural place names from“Years”inscriptions belong to the system of“内服”，and the agricultural place name from“裒田”inscriptions is even more complicated.

Chapter five focuses on the forms of social organization in capital area，and explores the form of agricultural production organization in the late Shang.Through the analysis of oracle bone inscriptions and archaeological materials，it is clear that blood related tissue is commonly existed in the late Shang，which is also applicable to the form of agricultural production organization.However，the forms of social organization in capital area are especial.For the convenience of management，the capital area may appear geographical management mode.So the capital area's agricultural production organization not only has blood related tissue，but also has geographical organizational form.This shows that some kinds of“小臣”in inscriptions take part in agricultural production activities.

On the basis of the above five chapters，the book thinks that late Shang agriculture makes no breakthrough progress in crops and tools of production，but the agricultural production organization compared to the period before has a great change in the late Shang.It is this change that provides the material base of Shang civilization.

Generally speaking，archaeology is becoming more and more important for the study of late Shang agriculture history，and using archaeological materials to study the history of late Shang agriculture will be a trend of academic research in the future.This book is an attempt to systematically utilize oracle materials and archaeological materials to explore the history of agriculture in Shang Dynasty.

Keywords：Late Shang；Agricultural inscriptions；Production organization；Yin ruins；flotation