关键词: 畜牧业的产生, 环境变迁, 中国北方

Abstract:

Stockbreeding in northern China was a production sector separated from primitive agriculture. Its generation and development experienced the following process. About 5000 years ago, northern China was witnessing a climatic warm period,farming and hunting were basically the predominant human activities with less proportion of stock preeding in areas north of the Great Wall. From that time on to 3500 years ago, agricultural practices became less and less with the climate turning to be colder and drier. On the other hand, stockbreeding and hunting became more and more important. The structure of production changed from original farming and hunting in predomination to stockbreeding and hunting in predomination. But the stockbreeding then was different from nomadism, because it had intimate relationship with agriculture. The archaeological researches in China had proved not only that stockbreeding came from agriculture, but also that the rise of nomadism was related to the use of saddlery. About 800 B.C., the northern tribes in China had been proficient in using saddlery, they gave up completely,settlement life and the genuine nomadism appeared then.In the process of discussion, this paper points out that early stockbreeding belonged to breeding depended on agriculture. Naissance of the nomadic life was later than stockbreeding,making it broken away from agriculture completely. Climate changes were important factors that directly made stockbreeding broken away from agriculture. With this development, stockbreeding turned to the nomadic life. This article discusses the relationship between naissance of the nomadic life and environmental changes. The conclusion is that, when life in the grassland changed into nomadic, the local people did not leave their homeland, the only change they made was that they shifted their production mode from agricultural to nomadic.

Key words: naissance of the nomadic life, environmental changes, northern China