A study of the shape and application of the straight shaft plough in han dynasty China

Abstract

The straight shaft plough is the main agricultural tool used to till land for farming purposes during the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) in China. The wooden frame of the plough easily rots, and as a result, few complete artefacts have been excavated in archaeological sites. As such, the appearance of straight shaft ploughs as an agricultural tool has been mainly imagined by archaeologists. In the absence of a complete and undamaged straight shaft plough specimen, this study combines design research methods with information from a close cousin of the straight shaft plough, that is, the iron plough, which has been excavated in its entirety, to examine a range of unexplored questions about the straight shaft plough that was used during the Han dynasty in China. The shape, structure and use of the straight shaft plough are examined, so that two-dimensional petroglyphs of this piece of equipment are translated into a three-dimensional artefact. In doing so, important information can be obtained on this important agricultural technology which has been vital in the preparation of soil for planting or sowing seeds for which no complete physical artefact has been excavated.