Irrigation and sequence in agricultural time in Shanxi since the Ming dynasty

This chapter mainly focuses on the cases of Shouyang and Yuci in Shanxi. I will explain how peasants used and managed water resources as well as avoided agriculture risks in late imperial China. In Shouyang, I explore the dry farming system and discover the traditional pattern of agriculture in Shanxi. I then analyze the spatial structure of sharing water and environmental knowledge that peasants perceived in Yuci. Comparing two cases shows that peasants’ lifestyles depended on the amount of precipitation and irrigation water. They created agricultural spatial diversity and performed sequential cultivation with good flexibility. Finally, the benefit of irrigation in Shanxi will be discussed.