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The Qimin yaoshu 齊民要術 "Important methods to condition the people's [living]" is one of the oldest agronomical treatise of China. It was written by Jia Sixie 賈思勰, a scholar of the short Eastern Wei period 東魏 (534-550). It comprises 92 chapters in 10 juan "scrolls". About the author virtually nothing is known but in his foreword he at least explains that he collected quotations from all types of books, especially from older agronomical treatises like the Fan Shengzhi shu 氾生之書 and the Simin yueling 四民月令 as well as interviews of experts on agronomy.
Jia Sixie does not only describe how to plant and rise different kinds of crops or how to breed cattle, but also describes the preparation of some materials based on agronomical products, like glue or ink. He also describes plants not common in central China, and his book is thus a very important source for agriculture in early China.
There are two 20th century commentaries to the Qimin yaoshu, namely Shi Shenghan's 石聲漢 Qimin yaoshu jinshi 齊民要術今釋 and Miao Qiyu's 繆啟愉 Qimin yaoshu jiaoshi 齊民要術校釋.
Source: Zhou Yiliang 周一良 (1992). "Qimin yaoshu 齊民要術", in: Zhongguo da baike quanshu 中國大百科全書， Zhongguo lishi 中國歷史, vol. 2, p. 764. Beijing/Shanghai: Zhongguo da baike quanshu chubanshe.
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Chinese literature according to the four-category system
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