Chu people lived in Jingshan and Suishan from north to south. Therefore, from the Shang Dynasty to the early Spring and Autumn Period, agricultural production was still slash and burn, mainly planting millet. After Wu Chu and King Wen, the State of Chu opened to the south and east, gradually occupied Jianghan Valley, and learned from local residents to cultivate rice by fire, and mastered the production technology of planting rice. "Biography of Historical Records of Huo Zhi" said: "The more vast and sparsely populated Chu is, there are rice soup fish, or there are fire and water." Pei Qian's Collection of Historical Records, Ying Shao of the Eastern Han Dynasty explained: "Burning grass, planting rice in water, grass and rice are the same, seven or eight inches high. Because I forgot, I irrigated in the water again, and the grass died, and the rice grew. The so-called fire ploughing water is also. " Ancient ancestors burned wasteland, which is very common, so whether planting millet or rice, grass should be burned as fertilizer first. Rice is "watered" again, weeds are removed and soaked in water, which is not only used as fertilizer, but also ensures the growth of rice. In Jianghan Plain, ancient agriculture has been very developed, and rice husk has been unearthed in Qujialing and Shijiahe cultural sites. It can be seen that after the Chu people occupied Jianghan Plain, the agricultural production dominated by rice further developed and the farming level gradually improved.

Production tools are an important symbol of the development of agricultural production. During the Spring and Autumn Period, bronze smelting in Chu was very developed. In addition to making ritual vessels, weapons and household appliances, we also made agricultural production tools for different purposes. Archaeological excavation data show that the main production tools are [1] copper sickles such as thulium, sickle, axe, chisel and cone, which shows that the crop yield has been greatly improved. At that time, the slave owners and nobles of all countries used the slave masses to work, so there were few tools for bronze production, and Chu State was no exception.

According to the existing archaeological data and the research of relevant experts, at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period or during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Chu State was able to forge not only "wrought iron" but also "pig iron", and was in a leading position in smelting iron and cast iron. Unearthed ironware includes iron knives, swords, concave hoes, ding, etc. (See archaeological excavation materials, including an iron knife unearthed from the Chu Tomb in Deshan, Changde, Hunan, an iron knife unearthed from the Chu Tomb in Longdongpo, Changsha, an iron concave hoe unearthed from the Chu Tomb in Zhiziling, Changsha, a sword, a chisel, a tripod unearthed from the Chu Tomb in Yangjiashan, Xichuan, an iron sword unearthed from the Chu Tomb in Simaochong, Changsha. Although the use of ironware is in the primary stage, and the number of ironware unearthed so far is not much, ironware, as a new productive factor, has played a significant role in promoting land reclamation, water conservancy construction and eventually leading to the emergence of new production relations. Generally speaking, with the use of iron farm tools, this new farming method in Niu Geng should also appear. However, at present, no plough has been unearthed in Chu, so it is difficult to conclude that Niu Geng was used in Chu during the Spring and Autumn Period. However, it was no accident that Chen was destroyed as a county, and Shen Shu ironically called it "taking cattle from Xintian" [2]. It was not impossible for Chu Kang to have a doctor named "Plow" [3], so it was not impossible for Chu State, like other countries in the Central Plains, to start using it.

Chu, located in the hometown, is rich in water resources. With the appearance of bronze and iron farm tools, water irrigation gradually developed. "Historical Records Biography of Rivers and Channels" says: "Chu land is connected to the fields of Hanshui and Yunmeng in the west and between Hehuai in the east." After Wu Chu and Wang Wen, they expanded from south to east and built ditches between Jianghan and Jianghuai, which laid the foundation for water conservancy and waterway transportation in Chu.

According to historical records, the earliest large-scale water conservancy project in Chu State was Shui Pi and Shaopi, which was built by Sun Shuai during the Chu Zhuangwang period. The former, such as "Huainanzi Human Training", said: "Sun Shuai decided to think about water, which was to irrigate Noda, and Zhuang Wang knew it could be a spiritual retreat." Its irrigation area is in the area of Sisi and Yilou, which is today's Gushi area in Henan Province. This is the earliest large-scale irrigation project in ancient China. The latter, such as Biography of Wang Jingchuan in the Later Han Dynasty and Notes on Water Classics, is the King Elephant of Shaobei made by Nan Sunshuai in Shouxian County, Anhui Province, saying that during the Warring States Period, Dr. Chu wanted to build Shaobei. Many people hold this view today.

After the death of Chu, this project was continuously maintained and utilized by successive dynasties, and became the foundation of Huainan land tax [4], Biography of Historical Records and Pei Jian quoted Emperor Lan as saying, "Sun Shuaiqi dreamed of osawa." Qushui, that is, Gushui water, merges with Zhangshui and flows into the Yangtze River. This large-scale water conservancy project in the lower reaches of Zhang Ju is obviously very beneficial to agricultural production in Jianghan Woye, including Du Ying. According to the record of Chu Food in the Seventh National Examination, Sun Shuai also "cut off the water in the tomb of Wen to make a pond to irrigate the fields".

In "Zhuangzi Heaven and Earth", Zi Gong "traveled south to Chu, fought against Jin, crossed Hanyin, and saw a lady dig a tunnel into a well and fill it with an urn". Zi Gong advised him to carry water with oranges. The husband replied, "I don't know, but I'm ashamed." Although the records in "Zhuangzi" are fables, it also reflects that Chu did dig wells to irrigate fields and used orange peel, an advanced irrigation tool.

As can be seen from the above historical data, the water conservancy in Chu was very developed in the Spring and Autumn Period, which not only diverted water for ponds (ponds), but also used for water storage and irrigation. Digging wells to irrigate fields and taking water on the spot, therefore, after Chu entered Han, agricultural production advanced by leaps and bounds, and grain output also increased greatly. In 6 1 1 year BC (the third year of Chu Zhuangwang), many people rebelled. At this critical juncture, Chu Zhuangwang "encouraged everyone to have dinner together" [5], opened the grain depot reserved by the state, ensured that the army had food to eat, and went to counter-insurgency. In 522 BC (the seventh year of King Chu Ping), Wu Zixu was wronged and fled, and King Chu Ping offered a reward for his capture. According to the law of Chu, those who win Wu Zixu will be rewarded with 50,000 stones for millet, and they will be awarded the title of ",[7] Wu Zixu and Wu Zetian helped the king of He Lv attack Chu, and in 506 BC, Wu people entered Ying," Gao Fu burned millet and broke the Kowloon Bell "[8].

According to "History of Chu Family", in 5 19 BC (the tenth year of King Ping of Chu), Chu and Wu also used the army to fight for mulberry for the folk women (children) on the border between the two countries and attacked each other, indicating that Chu's mulberry planting and sericulture industry has also been generally developed in Jianghuai area. As for other agricultural and sideline businesses, the "garden bed" mentioned in the above-mentioned Zhuangzi refers to the garden where vegetables, fruits and trees are planted, which shows that the agricultural and sideline businesses and cash crops in Chu have also developed greatly.

Second, handicrafts.

With the development of agriculture, Chu's handicraft industry has also developed greatly, mainly in bronze casting, iron smelting, silk weaving and wood lacquer industry.

The development of bronze industry in Chu was realized with the Chu people's southward entry into the east. After Xiong Qu's external expansion, the Chu Dynasty was Muzhuang, with Jianghan in the south, the Central Plains in the north and Jianghuai in the east, learning from Xia, learning from foreigners and eclectic. He has made great innovations in bronze casting, modeling and ornamentation, and formed his own style.

Tonglushan Mountain in Daye, Hubei Province is the main base of domestic copper in Chu State. According to the archaeological excavation data and the research of relevant experts, the copper mine is underground mining, and the method of combining vertical shaft, inclined shaft, drift and blind shaft is adopted. In order to ensure safety, a mine support was set up on the mine, and a wooden sink was laid under it to prevent the damage caused by collapsed water. Mining tools mainly include copper axe and bamboo, wood and stone making tools. After the ore is taken out, the furnace is built on the spot for smelting. The furnace is vertical, including bottom, hearth and furnace body. Due to the on-site treatment of slag, a large amount of copper slag is left. The test shows that the copper content of copper slag is 0.07%, which shows that the technical level of copper smelting is very high. After the Chu State smelted copper here, it was transported to Du Ying and other places to be cast into different types of bronzes.

At present, a large number of Chu bronzes in the Spring and Autumn Period have been unearthed in Hubei, Henan, Hunan and other places. From 1978 to 1979, more than 400 bronzes were unearthed from Sixia Chu Tomb in Xichuan, Henan Province, as well as Chu bronzes unearthed in other places, which provided us with an empirical understanding of the casting process, shape and decoration of Chu bronzes. In the casting process, the Chu people mastered the casting welding method, casting inlay method and wax loss method. The so-called separate casting welding is to cast the car body and accessories separately, and then weld them with copper and tin as flux. The so-called casting inlay is because the decoration is complex, which needs to be trimmed first, put into a bronze mold, then closed and poured into copper liquid for casting. The so-called lost wax means that after making a wax model, carving patterns or shapes of objects, the outer surface of the wax model is coated with mud (a mixture of soil and carbon), hardened to form a mold, and then the wax model is heated and melted, so that the casting machine can be made. These casting techniques mastered by Chu in the middle and late Spring and Autumn Period were very advanced at that time and first-class in the world. The bronzes unearthed in Chu during the Spring and Autumn Period mainly include ritual vessels, musical instruments, weapons, household appliances and production tools. Like other countries in the Central Plains, ding is the most ritual vessel. Because of its special shape, Chu Ding is called Chu Ding by archaeologists, including Yu Ding, Sheng Ding and Ding Can. Other ritual vessels and household appliances include reeds, lamps, bowls, pots and pans. Musical instruments are mainly chimes, including chimes, buttons and chimes. 52 chimes unearthed from Si Xia Chu Tomb in Xichuan. Chu people are martial, so Chu bronze weapons are numerous and well-made, including ge, spear, halberd, sword, cymbal, dagger and arrow. The decorative patterns of Chu bronzes are roughly the same as those of Central Plains countries, but they are more delicate and feminine in expression and have their own characteristics. Decorative patterns mainly include flat flies, flat flies, dragons and phoenixes, stolen songs, animal faces (gluttonous patterns), Yun Leiwen, bird patterns, round vortex patterns and so on.

With the improvement of copper processing technology, Chu also mastered iron smelting technology in the middle and late Spring and Autumn Period. According to archaeological excavations, ironware has been unearthed in Hubei, Hunan, Henan and other places, but the number seen so far is not much. 1976 The steel sword unearthed from the Chu Tomb of Yangjiashan in Changsha is the earliest steel weapon found in China at present, with a carbon content of 0.5% ~ 0.6% (the steel sword iron was newly discovered in Changsha in the late Spring and Autumn Period (cultural relic number 1978).

During the Spring and Autumn Period, the silk weaving industry in Chu also developed greatly, which was confirmed by historical documents and underground excavation data. For example, there is a record of "jade and silk" in Guoyu Chu Yu, and it is said in Biography of Jokes in Historical Records that Chu Zhuangwang loved horses and once embroidered clothes with words. Chu Family History and other records show that the children of Yi people in Chu and Wu fought for mulberry, which led to the war between the two countries, directly indicating that Chu and Wu attached importance to sericulture and silk reeling. The bronze statue of sericulture unearthed in Liu Xia, Hengdong, Hunan Province is a vivid example of sericulture.

A large number of lacquerware unearthed in Chu and its exquisite craftsmanship have become a major feature of Jingchu material culture. According to Teng Rensheng's research statistics, there are 6 pieces of lacquerware unearthed in the Spring and Autumn Period, including lacquerware, ear cups, cups, beans, bronze dings inlaid with black lacquer, etc. Other unearthed lacquerware, some of which are unknown in shape and some of which are poorly preserved, is difficult to conclude that lacquerware is a sign of the development of social productive forces and the improvement of material living standards. It reflects the social and economic development of Chu and the living standards of Chu people from one side.

Chu's architectural technology has made great progress. After the Spring and Autumn Period, in order to compete for the hegemony of the north, Chu connected the dams it passed along Funiu Mountain, stretching for hundreds of miles from north to south, and was called the Great Wall of Chu, that is, the "Fangcheng". In 656 BC (the 16th year of King Chu), Qi Huangong led eight armies from the Central Plains to attack the State of Chu, and the King of Chu also led the army northward. After the defeat, he claimed that "Chu Fangcheng thought it was a city, and Hanshui thought it was a pool", forcing an alliance with Chu to call the mausoleum. It can be seen that the construction of Fangcheng had already begun before this. The architecture of Fangcheng pays attention to local conditions. On the one hand, it builds a city along the mountain shape, on the other hand, it builds dikes along the river bank. This is undoubtedly a great creation of military architecture and played a very important role in ancient wars.

Chu's urban architecture also has its own characteristics. Ying Du (Jinan) is built along hilly terrain, with Jishan Mountain in the north, Baling Mountain in the west, Yutai Mountain in the northeast and lakes (Hu Miao Lake, Haizi Lake and Changhu Lake) in the east. The climate is pleasant, you don't have to worry about floods, and you can also divert water into the city to facilitate water transportation. The layout of the urban area is also very suitable, with the imperial city and noble residence in the east and the smelting workshop area in the southwest. Chengmen No.3 Road, with wide middle door and narrow side door, is divided into people and vehicles, and the traffic is orderly. In order to draw water into the city, a sluice was built, which is more than 3 meters wide and convenient for boating. This is the earliest sluice construction project in ancient China. The height and width of the city wall are equal, strong and stable. Ramming is used in the wall building, and the thickness of each layer is only about 10 cm, which is solid and reliable. Palace buildings are numerous and complicated. In addition to the imperial palace, there are many divorces of the Chu royal family, such as Zhu Gong Palace, zhanghua Palace (Taiwan), Jingtai Palace and Suju Palace. Zhanghua Palace (Taiwan Province) built by King Chu Ling is a famous detached palace in ancient China. Its site is in Longwan, Qianjiang, Hubei Province (there are always different opinions about the site of zhanghua Palace (Taiwan Province)). In addition to today's Qianjiang Longwan, there are today's Jianli Tianzhu Mountain, today's Zhanghua Temple in Shashi, the ancient Ruyang City in Henan Mall, and the father's territory of Bo County, Anhui Province. Chu people have the custom of moving to a new house and still attacking the old name. Therefore, there are many places in zhanghua Palace where Chu Jun (the king) left the palace, and all the above statements are possible. After many investigations and excavations in the 1980s, many cultural relics have been unearthed, which is the most complete Chu Palace complex seen so far. Among them, the red bricks with tube tiles, tile fragments and rectangular shapes were unearthed in Yingying Terrace, indicating that the technology of firing bricks and tiles had been mastered in the period of King Chu Ling, and bricks and tiles had been used as building materials. A bronze knocker was also unearthed and used as a building material. Abutment is a rammed earth structure with square columns and columns, which are thicker than the columns of ordinary houses. Below the veranda is a paved surface made of shells, which is firm and beautiful (Chen Yuejun's Investigation and Trial Excavation of Zhanghuatai Site in Longwan, Qianjiang, Hubei Province (Proceedings of the Symposium on Chu Zhanghuatai compiled by Hubei Archaeological Society, May 1988). From then on, it is enough to show that in the middle and late Spring and Autumn Period, the palace architecture of Chu State, whether it is building materials or construction technology, has reached an advanced level. "It is the first terrace in ancient China" and "as the originator of palace buildings and garden buildings, it also has a position that cannot be underestimated in the history of world architecture" [9].

Chu also has underground palace buildings. According to "Twelve Years of Zuo Zhuan Cheng Gong", in 579 BC (the twelfth year of King Chu * * *), "Jin [Gu Lian] was hired by Chu and [Yu] became an alliance. Zi Chu, opposite the son, hanging for the ground room. I will be on the chessboard, then I will play with it, and I will come out in shock. " Chu made a basement in the palace, where he hung bells and drums to play music. Whether it is a palace building or a musical effect played by bells and drums, it is a kind of creation. According to Zuo Zhuan's Twenty-one Years of Xianggong, in the summer of 552 BC (the eighth year of King Chu Kang), Chu made Yin Zigeng die, and King Chu Kang made his son Feng Ren make Yin. Worried about the political instability of the country, his son Feng pretended to be ill and lived in the basement, "sleeping under the ice" and "heavy cocoon and clothes", which was cold and sultry. It can be seen that due to the hot summer in Chu, the royal family and aristocratic mansion built basements to escape the heat.

In addition, due to the needs of foreign operations, Chu has been able to manufacture cars and ships. According to the "building car" and "nest car" in Zuo Zhuan's Fifteen Years of Gong Xuan and Zuo Zhuan's Sixteen Years of Chenggong, it shows that Chu State widely used chariots in the period of Chu Zhuang and * * *. "Zuo Zhuan Xiang Gong Twenty-four Years" contains: "It is a master on the ship who defeated Wu." In the middle and late Spring and Autumn Period, Chu had built a large number of warships and trained the navy, and launched a fierce battle with Wu. According to the relevant chapters in Mozi, Lu Ban went to Chu State to create a "boat boat" and "ladder" for Chu State to attack the city, indicating that the vehicle and boat manufacturing industry in Chu State was relatively developed at that time.