What were the views on land use in ancient times?

Land use is the foundation of agricultural technology, and expanding the area of agricultural land and increasing the output of agricultural land per unit area (namely land productivity) are two ways to develop agricultural production. With the increase of population, China has been expanding the area of cultivated land and agricultural land for generations, but when considering its production policy, all agricultural business units always focus on increasing the output per unit area. At least since the Warring States period. In the early years of the Warring States, Li Kui (Wei Xiao) issued a fatwa of "making good use of land" for Wei Xiang, pointing out that whether farmland is cultivated diligently or not, the output per mu will increase or decrease by three buckets, and the total grain output will increase or decrease by/kloc-0.8 million stone, with an amplitude of 20%. "Do your best", in the current words, is to improve land productivity. Xunzi also believes that if the land is cultivated well, it can produce "several pots" per mu (pots are measuring devices, two buckets for one stone and eight liters), which is equivalent to harvesting twice a year, with great potential.

If we want to increase the total output by increasing the unit output, we can't blindly expand the scale of operation. Agronomists of all ages advocated intensive management, planting less and harvesting more. For example, Jia Sixie thought that "a mortal should measure his own strength, preferring less good and less evil" (Qi Shu Yao Min). Chen Yi advocated that "more deficiency is better than less reality, and wider planting is better than narrower harvest" (Agricultural Book), and proposed that the scale of farming should be commensurate with financial resources. In the Ming Dynasty, Shen Shi's agricultural books also advocated that "it is better to be less but better, and not to be too hasty". The emergence of this proposition is not only due to the increase of population, the shortage of cultivated land and the weak economic strength of small farmers. In the long-term production practice, people have realized that intensive management, planting less and harvesting more, is more economical than extensive management and extensive farming in the utilization of natural resources and human and financial resources. Taking mulberry garden management as an example, Shen Shi Agricultural Books pointed out that "one acre and two acres can be earned, while labor, money and land are still only one acre". He also quoted the old farmer as saying: "Three burdens are fields, two burdens are fields, and five burdens are fields. It is better to plant more than less, which saves energy and field. "