ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to explain how China's farm economy responded to the demands of a rising population and still was able to provide a small surplus for the rich, the arts, and industrialization. China is a large and diverse country, a period of six centuries is long, and the sources used are themselves great in number and variable in quality. A spurt in population growth together with an end to many of the pre-modern sources of increased grain production necessitated a major change in the pace and direction of Chinese efforts to raise farm output. The chapter also provides an overview of this book. The book analyzes changes in China's cropping patterns over time, including the spread of double cropping, new seeds, and new crops and contains a discussion of the increase in capital inputs, both traditional and modern.
