Hey, I am doing some research about the 3 kingdom period in China, years 220 AD to 280 AD.
I am interested in finding out about what kind of agriculture they had at the time like what was mainly grown at the time, and what was considered staple food for the commoners?
(I have already done some research around the history of the period, so I am aware of the agricultural colonies in Wei and Wu, and the situation in Shu, but I can't find what exactly was raised there.)
Also, if possible, I'd like to receive some information about how a normal big town would look like at the time and the ranks of nobility as well.
Millet was the most popular grain crop in ancient China (eg. Three Kingdoms era) up until the middle ages. Wheat, barley, and rice were also common grain crops grown during that era with its popularity varying depending on the climate of the growing region.
Agricultural production in the region of China was mostly concentrated in their northern regions until the High Middle Ages. That is why despite popular conception, rice was not the most important grain in ancient China and much of early medieval China. Millet was the most popular grain and most important grain in ancient China up until the 700s or 800s AD, when wheat became the most popular. Rice didn't become the most popular grain until advances in rice agriculture combined with millions of people being pushed south into subtropical climates by invasions and wars during the 1000s-1200s AD.
Southern China with its humid subtropical climate relies heavily on rice because this climate is more suitable to rice farming (which is more water intensive relative to other grains). The cooler and dryer climates in northern China and the other parts of China meant that people there primarily grew millet, wheat, and barley (which grows fine in cooler temperate climates and is less water intensive than rice).
Even today, there is a north vs south divide in terms of growing and eating wheat vs rice. There are some exceptions such as Manchuria (in the far northeast of China) which grows wheat and rice because some parts of the region have a unique local climate (eg. warmer environment than much of north China due to the warm air from the Kuroshio Current) and more recent agricultural infrastructure.
Here are some sources:
1) Chinese farmers were growing millet since up to 11,500 years ago, and this remained the primary crop until wheat became the primary crop during the Tang Dynasty around 600s-900s AD.
https://www.sapiens.org/archaeology/chinese-farmers/
2) The warmer climate of the south is much more conducive to rice growing. Even in modern times where technology and new breeds of rice (eg. GMO, hybrid, selectively bred, etc) has allowed rice growing in colder and dryer areas, 85-90% of the rice in China is still grown in southern China. See modern rice production map: https://ipad.fas.usda.gov/rssiws/al/crop_production_maps/China/China_rice.jpg
3) The wheat vs rice geographic distinction still exists to this day, where northern Chinese people prefer to grow and eat wheat while southern Chinese people prefer to grow and eat rice.
“...Yangtze also roughly divides rice farming and wheat farming...”
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2009/03/early-chinese-may-have-eaten-millet-rice
4) Books that discuss agriculture in ancient China that have some sections regarding the production of millet, wheat, barley, and rice:
