Production customs

The social development of Xiangxi went through the primitive production stage of natural gathering, hunting and fishing. From primitive gathering to fishing and hunting and then to animal husbandry, the ancestors of Xiangxi completed the primary stage of their social production evolution. Because of its unique location and diverse ethnic groups, its unique culture of fishing and hunting as well as animal husbandry began to take shape in the primitive production stage, developing from the primitive economy to the rural economy.

With the development of social production and the improvement of social division of labor, human beings began to develop from simple economic production to manual production. Some specialized production workshops appeared. The production workshops in Xiangxi had a short history. They gradually emerged during the Han and Tang Dynasties. The pressing mill and grinding mill for processing grain and oil as well as the paper mill, cloth dyeing mill and wine mill were the most representative workshops.
 
The agricultural production in Xiangxi was slightly later than that in Central China. In the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the early agricultural planting culture came into being. Despite the continuous progress of social production, the agricultural production in Xiangxi still lagged behind due to the geographical isolation. The primitive “slash-and-burn” farming method had been accompanied by intensive cultivation in individual villages until the Republic of China. As for the forestry production customs, it did not attach importance to the development of forestry economics until the Qing Dynasty, such as the cultivation of tung trees, oil tea, tea gardens and lacquer trees.
 
Although people in Xiangxi used to place more emphasis on agriculture than commerce, according to archaeological findings, as early as the Warring States Period, there were large market trade activities in Xiangxi. Villages and towns usually had their own markets. There was a “market day” every five days. Villagers nearby could not only buy or sell goods, but also meet friends and relatives on the market. In addition, the “market day” in nearby villages was usually staggered, so that there was a “market day” almost every day in the area of tens of miles around, thus accelerating the exchange of rural commodities and promoting the prosperity of commodity economy in Xiangxi.