South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, PR China
(Agricultural Archaeology 1984(2):266-268.Transl.by Mingjie Zhang, ed.by B.Gordon)
Chinese pest controls began in Zhou Dynasty (1000 BC), where The Book of Songs lists 20 insects: Huang, Sheng, Zei, etc. Zhou Li Qiu Guan records many official methods and Guan Zi-Du Di considers pest control one of five crucial national needs. It developed before Chun Qiu and Zhan Guo (800 BC) and improved over several millenia:
Human methods include catching, crushing, burning and baiting pests
Crushing and Catching: The 3rd century BC Spring & Autumn Period classic Lu says farmers "caught and killed locusts" without stating how. Si Sheng's pre-1st century BC book says millet with silverfish needs winnowing. The Han Dynasty book Emperor PingYang says the 2nd century AD government sent someone to train people to catch locusts and give them to goverment to get money, the earliest record of large-scale locust catching. The Eastern Han Dynasty's Wang Chong's article Lun Heng Shun Gu first mentions a ditch to catch locusts prior to killing. Post-Han Dynasty books record much about humans killing locusts, emphasizing opportune moments; e.g., Zhou Tao saying it's better to kill larva, but not as good as digging their eggs. Miyuan Li's Records of Catching Locusts says "as locusts have three resting parts of the day (morning too wet to fly, noon for mating and night for clustering), people seize this opportunity. Jongling Pu's Agriculture and Silkworms also emphasizes killing larva as best.
Burning: Er-Ya and Say texts both have the word for worm-burning or "firing pests", widely adopted by Emperor ZhouYou (771-781 BC). The Plant-Jujube chapter of Qimin Yaoshu mentions killing mulberry and fruit tree pests. Tang Dynasty's Tao Chong dug pits to annihilate locusts, with excellent results, while Manchu Dynasty books, like Knack of Catching Locusts, suggest night but stress moonlight. Many places retain the adage that burning is best for pest control: If everyone held a firebrand, worms cannot hide.
Baiting: The first record of baiting pests is in the Plant-Melon Chapter of Qimin Yaoshu, citing Han Dynasty's Shi Cui using a wrapper of bait at four corners of a melon field to lure and kill melon worms.
Creating good conditions for crop growing and bad ones for pests by integrating and adjusting cultivation techniques to avoid problems by restraining pests.
Deep Ploughing and Digging: Lu's Spring-Autumn period RenDi says deep ploughing kills long-rooted weeds and worms, while Zhi Shuo Shi says raking prevents many crop diseases. Shihuo Zhiyuan records the government issuing an autumn 1313 ploughing decree advocating killing locust larva by sunshine. Nong Zheng Quan Shu Sang Can Guang Lwi also records ploughing as important to kill worms. China also retains adages like "If one family does not autumn-plough, 10,000 families suffer insect plague" and "Plow to freeze worms between first frost and winter onset".
Crop Selection and Breeding as Pest Prevention: Selecting pest-resistant crops is one method of ancient pest prevention. Sisi Jia's Qiming Yaoshu records 14 of 86 pest-resistant millets. Dong Wei, quoting Zunlu Wu's North Song Dynasty experience, suggests extensive pea planting to prevent locusts because they don't eat peas. Some later books are similar, concluding with >10 plants untouched by locusts: mung bean, cow pea, sesame, Chinese yam, mulberry and water chestnut.
Selecting Right Season: Lushi Chunqu-Shenshi and Sheng Si's book stress the importance of selecting the right moment in pest control. Simin Yueling, QimingYaoshu and The Book of Planting Trees record timely trimming of bamboo and trees to prevent borers.
Plow and Cut Weeds: The Book of Songs already mentions frequent weed cutting, without definite ties to pest prevention. The Spring-Autumn Period's Lu Shi considers both important, without causality. Biyong Zhongyi says crop will be overrun by weeds if they're not cut. The Chen Pu farm book says the aim of weed cutting is pest prevention, while the Shen Shi farm book advocates knowing where weeds winter and uprooting them, as in the farm proverb "If you wish a pest-free new year, cut field weeds".
Crop Rotation: Qimin Yaoshu covers crop rotation without noting ties between it and pest prevention. To prevent pest continuity, Nongzheng Quanshu considers alternating cotton two years and rice one year, with pests proliferating after 3 years without crop change. The Shen Shi farm book considers planting taro every year, reflecting deep attention to crop rotation, as seen in the proverb "Crop rotation kills pests".
Insect Control: The first record, Jin Dynasty's 304 AD State of South Crop, says muntjac ants prevent orange pest, south Qinling Mountain farmers going to market to buy ant nests. Tang Dynasty's Lingbiao Luyi, Song Dynasty's Writing on Chicken Bone, Ming Dynasty's Tree Planting, Qing Dynasty's Guangdong New Words and Notes of South Qinling Mountain and Notes South of Yue all have similar data on ant use to prevent pests. Red ants were used to control sugarcane snout moth larva. Qing Dynasty Daihe Cheng's West Wu Chrysanthemum Pest Elimination refers to mantis nests beside chrysanthemums before autumn onset, the mantis jumping to their leaves to eat butterflies, its first record.
Frog Protection: As frogs catch pests, wise officers made rules protecting them. Wentong Shen's (1025-1062 AD) Moke Huixi chapter 6 "prohibits Qiantang of Jeijiang Province from catching frogs". South-Song Dynasty Kui Zhao's Xingying Zalu prohibits Yuzhai from catching frogs in Chu County. Qing Dynasty Fengsheng Wang's Henan Province Locust Catching Notes in Yong City County refers to frog use.
Bird Protection: The Liji-Yueling prohibits egg and fledgling removal in early spring nesting. In Emperor Han Xuan's third year (63 BC), spring and summer egg removal and bird shooting were prohibited. Jin Dynasty Yizhong Huang's Thirteen State Notes prohibit officers from killing wild geese because they ate Shangyu County pests. Like the later South Song's Xiao emperor, the Late Han Dynasty's Yin emperor prohibited mynah bird killing because they ate locusts at 948-950 AD. All are ancient biological controls.
Poultry Control: As it benefitted both rice and duck, Ming Dynasty Tao Huo's Mingjing Shiwenbian vol. 188 (1487-1540 AD) mentions domestic ducks to excellently control amphibious crabs in Zhujiang River rice paddies. Jinglun Chen's Locust Prevention Notes mentions his witnessing duck as locust control in rice paddies in 1597. Shiyi Lu's (1611-1672) Locust Killing Notes and Zhiyi Wang, Yan Gu, et al. also mention ducks.It also eats flying louse, leafhopper, rice shieldbug, army & funi worms, etc., and controls weeds in Zhujiang River rice paddies.
Pesticides were made from plants like jia & mang weed, duju, Chinese mugwort, Xanthium sibiricum, turnip flower, yanjing, Stemona tuber, croton, tung oil plant, etc. Some were animal matter like clam ash, silkworm droppings, eel bone and fish rinse water, while some were mineral like lime, salt, alum, sulphur, arsenic, mercury, etc., their use variable. Some were mixed with stored or sowing seed; others were soaked, boiled or fumed or smeared in worm holes or combined with other methods. Data was included for different crops, times, places, etc.
Other pest controls were temperature, humidity, fire, light and tools.
Temperature and humidity were often used for ancient crop and seed handling; e.g., Chong Wang's Lun Heng says stored wheat must be sundried and put in dry pots or it will be wormy. Qimi Yaoshu Records include cellaring sun, wind or fire-dried wheat, where crops are partly fired and extinguished by beating to keep them worm-free all summer. It also mentions soaking wood one month and fire-drying for storage and worm prevention. Nongzheng Quanshu records worm control by putting cotton seeds in snow water. Zhuofeng Guangyi and Nongpu Bianlan both record blanching seeds followed by cold water and mixing with ash for sowing.
Pest-control tools become more complex, from iron hooks and wood beaters for tree worms and shoes to crush locusts to complex tools; e.g.s, Yintang Liu's Junsan Nongpu (1717) records an effective bilaterally tanged bamboo comb used until 1950 to catch rice bud worms; Qiongli Chen's Locust Prevention Book (1874) records a kind of pulley attached to a handle and pulled to capture army worms that was used until the 1950's in South China.
In sum, ancient Chinese pest controls varied, but were cheap, simple and safe, and improved now to protect plants and crops.