Without continued cultivation, they will vanish from the world forever
Foodthink Says
*Eating to Extinction* is a work that explores the global crisis of food diversity and serves as a vital call for the protection of local germplasm resources and cultural heritage.
On 9 July, Foodthink and Beiye Books jointly launched the *Eating to Extinction* online reading series, featuring in-depth discussions on the themes of food diversity and the conservation of local varieties. Liu Yurong, a farmer from Wangjinzhuang, She County, Hebei, shared stories of traditional legume conservation and seed saving in Wangjinzhuang, emphasising the connection between people and food and the importance of protecting local varieties. The discussion also covered topics such as seed banks, local culture, and dietary habits.
Thanks to Pengpai’s reading group for compiling the transcript. You are welcome to follow Foodthink’s video account to watch the replay of the reading session.
The ‘Ark of Taste’ Project and the Slow Food Movement
The “Ark of Taste” is an independent initiative launched by the Slow Food website. On the site, you can filter entries by country or by crop type. In total, it has catalogued 6,592 endangered agricultural varieties.
The Ark of Taste originated in the mid-1990s, stemming from the Slow Food movement founded by Italian journalist Carlo Petrini. The common characteristic of the Slow Food movement is the desire to resist the increasing industrialisation and homogenisation of food. Therefore, the term “slow food” perfectly embodies the philosophy they advocate: the food we eat does not have to be fast food, nor does it have to be white-feathered broiler chickens forced to maturity in thirty days; they want us to focus on the local culture of plants.
In 2017, Foodthink went to Chengdu to report on a Slow Food movement conference held in China. Dan Saladino, the author of *Eating to Extinction*, also came to China with the movement in 2017. The story of the Chinese farmer Sun Wenxiang mentioned in the book was a result of Saladino’s interview with him in Chengdu during that year’s visit.
In protecting these endangered crops, the most important first step is documentation—understanding which crops are currently at risk. *Eating to Extinction* mentions two lists:
The first is the “Ark of Taste”, which records entries entirely based on food and crop leads.
The other is the “IUCN Red List of Threatened Species”, formally the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. I recall that in the section on fisheries, there is a discussion of wild catfish, crucian carp, and other species; you will see many IUCN Red List entries used to record endangered fish and marine animal resources.
This creates a contrast with Slow Food’s Ark of Taste: while the IUCN primarily records wild animals, Slow Food approaches the issue from the perspective of disappearing food diversity to record endangered crops.
Starting with “Plant Blindness”
This reminds me of an article I recently read on WeChat Moments titled “Why Do We Always Fail to See Plants?”. This piece is based on a recent paper, “Discussion on Typical Problems in Plant Science Education”, and adapts the concept for the general public using “plant blindness” as an example.
The article mentions a very interesting term: “plant blindness”. It gives an example stating that in the UK, an eight-year-old child can recognise many types of pets but cannot name the common flowers and grass in their own garden. 41% of UK secondary school students can identify only one type of wildflower.
This is evident not only in public awareness but also in conservation mechanisms. For instance, when the US Lacey Act was enacted in 1900, it only protected birds; it took 108 years before plants were included in its protection, and the funding allocated to plant conservation remains pitifully small.
If our attention to wild plants is far less than that given to wild animals, then our attention to everyday food may be far less than that given to wild plants. The crops we eat once possessed a rich diversity of varieties, but we are largely unaware of this. Much of this food diversity has, in fact, already vanished.
Different Logics for Animal and Crop Conservation
Animals and crops differ entirely in the process of their disappearance and the methods used to protect them.
If you look at the chapter on wild sturgeon, you will find that many fishery resources vanished due to overfishing. Traditional fishing gear could only harvest a small amount, but once destructive modern industrial fishing tools appeared, some populations plummeted. The original English title of the book is *Eating to Extinction*, which literally means eating these species into extinction.
However, when discussing agricultural biodiversity, there is an industry saying: “If you want to save me, eat me.” This perfectly describes the plight of many niche, endangered plants and crops in the book. If you do not eat them, and they are not integrated into local traditional food cultures, no one may be willing to grow them anymore, and they could disappear from the Earth forever.
Vavilov and the Theory of Centres of Origin
Next, let me give you some specific examples.
The book frequently mentions a Russian plant scientist and geneticist named Nikolai Vavilov. Vavilov realised early on that the crop varieties we cultivate were disappearing. With great foresight, he spent 25 years travelling the globe, conducting over 180 expeditions, collecting more than 150,000 seed samples, and establishing the world’s first seed bank in Russia.
Another of Vavilov’s major achievements was the proposal of the theory of “crop centres of origin”. When we interviewed Saladino, he mentioned something that deeply excited him: one of the most significant stories in human history—the way we domesticated wild plants over ten thousand years ago, transitioning from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to one sustained by farming crops.
This theory of “crop centres of origin” essentially explains that our crops—such as wheat, maize, and rice—were first domesticated by local populations in specific regions before spreading across the globe. When he proposed this theory in 1935, he identified eight major centres of origin. East Asia is one of the most critical. Rice and millet (which includes different varieties such as foxtail and broomcorn millet) both originated in Northern China. The soybean is another vital crop that originated in China.
Ex Situ Conservation: Seed Banks Around the World
What is “ex situ conservation”? This method involves collecting crop samples and storing them in seed banks for long-term preservation. In our industry, this is known as ex situ conservation.
The book mentions several crucially important seed banks:
Vavilov Seed Bank: The seed samples collected by Vavilov over a century ago are now stored at the Vavilov Institute in St Petersburg, Russia.
Kew Gardens’ Millennium Seed Bank: Located in Sussex in the south of England, this is one of the largest seed banks in the world, housing potentially hundreds of millions of seed samples.
Svalbard Global Seed Vault: Located on the Svalbard archipelago in Norway, it is often referred to as the “Doomsday Seed Vault”.
The National Germplasm Resources Bank of China: Located at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing.
These vital seed banks store vast quantities of seed samples collected from every corner of the world. They serve as backup resources; if certain crops disappear from the wild or from farms, we can apply to these official seed banks to restore them.
For example, the book mentions that farmers in the Swabian Jura region of Germany were eager to restore the cultivation of local lentils. They sought out the relevant seeds from the Vavilov Institute in Russia and successfully reintroduced the crop to their region.
In the chapter on sweets, the book describes a local delicacy from Syria called sweet cheese rolls, which uses a specific local variety of wheat. Due to years of conflict in Syria, local seed banks were destroyed, but they were able to resume production by retrieving the variety from the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway.
What is it like inside a seed bank? During our visit to Europe last year, we visited many local seed conservation organisations and research institutes. This image shows the small seed bank of VERN, a German conservation organisation, which houses several thousand varieties. Upon entering, you can see an array of bottles and jars.
The first thing you notice is the cold, as seeds must be stored at low temperatures. At VERN, the seed bank is kept at roughly refrigerator temperature. However, in Norway or other large-scale seed banks, temperatures can drop to -98 degrees Celsius, or even below -200 degrees Celsius. At such extremes, refrigeration is not enough; liquid nitrogen is used to store certain seed samples, effectively suspending their metabolism.
In Situ Conservation: Dynamic, Participatory Protection
One aspect of this book that I find particularly excellent is that, alongside ex situ conservation, it introduces many examples of “in situ conservation”.
Ex situ conservation is relatively straightforward: seeds are collected from their original habitat or a seed farm and sent to a cold store for preservation. This is a static conservation model, usually carried out by public breeding systems or even private seed companies.
In situ conservation, by contrast, occurs when a local heirloom variety is continuously grown by the people of a village. If I don’t plant it this year, but my neighbour does, the variety is passed down year by year within the community. Simultaneously, the crop continues to interact with and adapt to the surrounding environment and the farmland ecosystem.
A defining characteristic of in situ conservation is that it protects evolutionary and ecological processes. Compared to the static nature of seed banks, this is a dynamic, participatory form of conservation that requires the active involvement of farmers and communities, rather than being the sole domain of scientists and public research institutions.
I recently attended the Eastern Network Exchange meeting hosted by our partner organisation, the “Farmers’ Seed Network”, in Hefei, Anhui. The event featured a seed exchange session, which is a wonderful example of in situ conservation. For instance, regions with similar climates and terroir, such as Anhui and Zhejiang, can exchange seeds. In this way, a seed variety is protected not only on my own farm but also in a neighbouring province.
Why do farmers choose to protect endangered varieties?
There is a very interesting passage on page 324 of Chapter 7. While Saladino emphasises the importance of official seed banks, he also acknowledges that static conservation is insufficient. He argues that diversity must be preserved across the world. For example, certain cheese varieties are more than just food; their production helps protect and sustain a whole way of life and a specific ecosystem.
The book showcases examples of endangered crops protected spontaneously by frontline farmers, chefs, and workers involved in cheese or dried fish processing. I have tried to summarise why these individuals are willing to protect these endangered varieties, even with very limited resources:
1. Taste and culinary culture. The most immediate motivation is simply that they taste better. For example, Danyue, a small-scale ecological farmer from Xiangshan, Zhejiang, grows heirloom varieties of pickled shallots on his farm. When asked why he saves his own seeds, he explained that commercial breeding companies don’t develop these varieties; they aren’t interested in them, so the seeds aren’t available on the market. However, because local people love eating them, the variety is naturally preserved.
2. Climate resilience. As products of in situ conservation, these heirloom varieties have adapted to and interacted with their local ecosystems for thousands of years, making them more resilient to climate change and extreme weather. An example is the Kavoga wheat from Turkey mentioned at the beginning; its very hard husk effectively resists Fusarium head blight and wheat rust.
3. Cultural identity and heritage. Some varieties are closely tied to local identity and legacy, such as the Syrian sweet cheese rolls or the “Kichy red cowpeas” mentioned in the chapter on vegetables. These beans were brought to the Americas by enslaved Africans during the slave trade. In recent decades, descendants of those enslaved people—the African-American community—have worked to preserve this near-extinct variety of bean.
The book also mentions other agents of conservation, such as restaurants and chefs. A restaurant in the Faroe Islands focuses on traditional fermented foods of Faroese culture, preserving many local fermented products. There are also artisans, such as a smoked salmon specialist from Ireland or a master of cured skipjack tuna in Japan, who is reportedly the only person left in the entire country using that specific traditional curing method.
A cheese shop in London preserves a vast number of regional cheese varieties. In his interview, Saladino mentions that the UK experienced a revival of cheese varieties in the 1970s. Many farmhouse cheese varieties were restored from that point onwards, and there are now thousands of them.
I recently attended the Eastern Exchange Meeting of the Seed Network. The turnout was great, with attendees ranging from farmers to friends from botanical gardens and other backgrounds. Everyone shared a passion for seeds, and this network serves as a space for exchanging not only the seeds themselves but also techniques and insights on breeding and conservation.
It is clear that motivations such as nutritional value, food security, and adaptability to local climates are crucial drivers for promoting agro-biodiversity and the preservation of food diversity. This concludes the general overview of the book’s content. Now, I am delighted to introduce a farming friend I have known for many years, Liu Yurong, a farmer from Wangjinzhuang in She County, Hebei Province.
For more on the story of Wangjinzhuang, you can search for “Planting a Hundred Varieties: Beyond Depending on Nature” on Foodthink’s WeChat official account. That article focuses on the preservation of heirloom varieties in Wangjinzhuang and how to better promote local climate adaptation.
Liu Yurong: Hello to everyone joining online. My topic today is the in-situ conservation of crop biodiversity in Wangjinzhuang. First, I would like to introduce the location and natural environment of Wangjinzhuang. These two images show the scenery of Wangjinzhuang in spring and summer.
Wangjinzhuang is located in She County, Handan City, Hebei Province, at the eastern foot of the Taihang Mountains, where Henan, Hebei, and Shanxi provinces meet. Because its dryland terraces are the most regular and extensive, Wangjinzhuang is the core protection area of the She County dryland terrace system.
To the west of the village stands the Huanglong Temple. A stone tablet there records that Wangjinzhuang was established in 1230 during the Yuan Dynasty, meaning the village has a history of over 790 years. It is currently a large natural village comprising five administrative villages, with a total population of over 4,600 and around 3,000 permanent residents; it remains a vibrant community today.
Wangjinzhuang is located in a typical deep mountain region, characterised by chronic drought and low rainfall, with an annual average of about 500mm. Spring is particularly dry, and rain is concentrated in the rainy season of July and August, making the area prone to natural disasters. There is a local saying that in any ten years, there are “nine droughts and one flood”. Due to its remote mountain location, Wangjinzhuang has preserved traditional farming methods; donkeys are still the primary tools for production and transport. Additionally, some of our old houses are still built of stone, retaining the architectural style of the Ming and Qing dynasties. It was only in 1976 that a tunnel was opened, providing road access and better connection to the outside world. As a result, the traditional culture and farming practices of Wangjinzhuang have been exceptionally well preserved.
In 2012, Wangjinzhuang was designated as a Chinese Traditional Village. In 2014, the She County dryland terrace system, with Wangjinzhuang as its core area, was recognised as a China Important Agricultural Heritage System. In 2021, Wangjinzhuang was selected as a global typical case for “Biodiversity 100+” for its conservation and utilisation of biodiversity. In May 2022, our She County dryland terrace system was designated as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS).
Biodiversity Characteristics of Wangjinzhuang
Wangjinzhuang has one very prominent feature: its rich biodiversity. However, because the terrain is mountainous and steep with limited arable land and extremely scarce water resources, villagers have had to plant a variety of different crops on the mountains to adapt.
Villagers typically plant drought- and cold-resistant Sichuan pepper trees along the stone embankments as their primary cash crop. Before 2000, the sale of these peppers provided the funds for children’s education, house building, and general living expenses. The pepper trees also help stabilise the embankments and prevent soil erosion. Within the terraces, a large number of high-yield, drought-resistant crops are grown, such as beans, maize, and millet. Vegetables that require supports, such as runner beans and pumpkins, are planted at the base of the embankments. Runner beans are often intercropped with maize. Furthermore, black jujube and persimmon trees are planted along the base of the embankments, creating a mixed three-dimensional planting structure that maximises the utility of the terraces.
During a census in 2020, we discovered that Wangjinzhuang possesses 171 heirloom seed varieties. There are also over 400 types of wild medicinal herbs on the mountains, more than 200 of which are already used in daily prescriptions by practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine. All of this fully demonstrates the rich agricultural biodiversity of Wangjinzhuang.
The Establishment of the Farmer Seed Bank and My Personal Growth
To this day, villagers continue to plant heirloom varieties every year, with almost every household maintaining between 20 and 30 different traditional crop varieties. The custom of seed saving remains strong; every year before harvest, farmers go up to the terraces to select and set aside seeds for the next season.
To better protect the terraces and expand their value, the She County Dryland Terrace Protection and Utilisation Association was established in Wangjinzhuang in 2017. In 2019, under the guidance of the China Agricultural University, the Farmer Seed Network, and the She County Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau, and with support from Oxfam, the association organised visits to over 1,000 households across the village to collect heirloom varieties. We collected a vast number of seeds for millet, maize, beans, sorghum, and runner beans, and carefully documented their growth characteristics, planting times, and the cultural stories behind them.
In November 2019, the Farmer Seed Bank was established in Wangjinzhuang; in December of the same year, the 7th Annual Meeting of the Farmer Seed Network was held here. At the time, I had not yet joined the association, but since the meeting was taking place right next to my house, the atmosphere was so lively that I decided to attend as an observer. I was fascinated by Teacher Bai Keyu from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences speaking on the genetics of millet, as well as a session on how to film for TikTok.
I became determined to join the association. Due to poverty, although I passed the entrance exam for senior high school after finishing junior high, I was unable to continue my studies. The opportunity to reconnect with experts and professors and to acquire knowledge felt like a chance to make up for lost time and motivate myself. I joined the association in 2020.
In April 2020, I participated in censuses of the terraces, crops, and village culture, which gave me a deeper understanding of my home. In June 2020, I had the honour of meeting Teacher Sun Qingzhong from China Agricultural University and Teacher Song Yiqing from the Farmer Seed Network. When they arrived in Wangjinzhuang, Teacher Sun recognised me and called my name immediately, which was a wonderful surprise. After listening to their lectures, my passion for learning was reignited, and I felt that I too could contribute to my hometown. Inspired by this, I enrolled in the Radio and TV University to study Chinese, hoping to improve my writing and public speaking skills to express myself more effectively in the future.
During this time, I developed a particular interest in biodiversity and traditional heirloom varieties. I began delving deeper into the village, searching for and uncovering endangered varieties, and meticulously photographing and documenting them at every stage of their growth.
The Rich Variety of Beans in Wangjinzhuang
Here are some photographs I took of bean varieties in Wangjinzhuang, though this is only a small fraction of them. The variety of beans is immense, including soya beans, adzuki beans, kidney beans, common beans, and pinto beans, with over 40 varieties in total. I chose to photograph some of the more vibrantly coloured ones.
For example, the soya beans include yellow, green, and black varieties. Each of these is further classified by grain size into ‘large’, ‘medium’, and ‘small’ yellow soya beans, as well as ‘large’, ‘medium’, and ‘small’ green soya beans. This classification exists because those labelled as ‘large’ and ‘medium’ have an upright, multi-branched growth habit.
The small yellow, black, and green beans have a more climbing growth habit. In terms of flavour, although the yields of these small varieties are lower than those of the larger yellow and green beans, they offer a superior taste. The small bean varieties in Wangjinzhuang are more colourful, including white, red, green, black, and mottled small beans, each possessing different medicinal properties. The kidney bean varieties are also diverse, such as green mottled beans, purple beans, red and black ‘plum-silk’ beans, and white small beans. Hyacinth beans include white-flowered green-browed beans, purple-flowered green-browed beans, crape-myrtle browed beans, purple browed beans, and white browed beans, with the white browed variety being of medicinal value.
In 2023, I conducted a planting tracking record for traditional old bean varieties. I planted several collected varieties in a single field to compare their growth periods, flowering periods, maturation periods, and plant habits. For example, the small yellow bean has an upright, multi-branched habit, whereas the white small bean (a type of kidney bean) is a twining climber.
Data shows that these old varieties in Wangjinzhuang generally have taller plants, with a rich diversity of flower colours, leaf shapes, and seed coat colours. The photographs also reveal the beautiful colours of these beans.
Generally, the yields of these old varieties are lower. For instance, the average yield for small beans is only around 80 jin per mu, dropping to less than 60 jin in poor years, while other soybeans are slightly higher, at approximately 200 jin per mu.
The abundance of bean varieties in Wangjinzhuang is primarily due to its location deep in the Taihang Mountains, with altitudes ranging from 678 to 1,030 metres. The unique mountain microclimate results in variations in rainfall and weather across different valleys.
Geographically, Wangjinzhuang is situated between two mountains with a central valley. The soil in this valley depression is relatively fertile, categorised as ‘first-class land’ due to its lower altitude. Beyond this are the half-slopes and the areas transitioning from the valley to the slope; these have better ventilation but poorer soil, categorised as ‘second-class land’. Higher still is the land adjacent to the ridges, which is relatively barren and includes some non-arable land, categorised as ‘third-class land’.
Soybeans, for example, require more water and fertile soil, so most are planted in the valley depressions. Small beans, such as the red and green varieties, are more tolerant of poor soil and are suited for the half-slopes or ridgeline land. Kidney beans and hyacinth beans require support, so they are typically intercropped with maize or planted by stone embankments to allow them to climb.
Agricultural Calendar and Planting Wisdom
Wangjinzhuang has an arid climate with little rain, so timing is critical. After we plant maize or millet, if the soil moisture is poor, it will be too late to plant other crops, so we switch to soybeans. Soybeans are an excellent backup crop; they are shade-tolerant and can grow well even beneath the maize canopy.
Old bean varieties have different growth cycles. For instance, hyacinth beans have a longer cycle and must be planted in April; soybeans are planted in May, while the timing for small beans is more flexible, allowing for planting in either May or June.
As for bean pods, villagers begin ‘planting melons and sowing beans’ around the Qingming Festival in April. By planting then, they can sow a second crop in June or July, allowing for two harvests a year. Green beans are harvested in July, purple beans in August, and old varieties like red and black ‘plum-silk’ beans in September. Some red ‘plum-silk’ and early-maturing hyacinth beans can still be harvested in October.
Different varieties are chosen based on the specific geography and environment. As a local saying in Wangjinzhuang goes, “Sow a hundred varieties and you needn’t rely on the heavens,” meaning that regardless of the year’s weather, a diverse range of crops ensures a harvest. This reflects the wisdom of Wangjinzhuang in preserving biodiversity and ensuring food security—constantly learning through practice by protecting old varieties.
Reviving the White Small Bean
Taking myself as an example, because of my passion for old varieties, I plant them every year, constantly inquiring and searching for more beautiful seeds to trial. In 2019, during a survey, I discovered that some white small beans from many years ago were still being grown in the village. These beans are milky white, and we initially classified them as soybeans. I tried planting them in 2020 and 2021, but failed. In 2022, while visiting a neighbour, my sensitivity to old seeds led me to notice some white small beans from eight or nine years ago on his windowsill. I wanted to plant them. I initially offered him two yuan, but he refused; in the end, he gave me the seeds for just one yuan.
I began trial planting on 13 April. Because so much time had passed, I initially tried starting seedlings in paper cups, but it failed. On 17 May, I planted some more in the field behind my house; eventually, only three seedlings emerged, but they were eaten by birds and gradually withered away.
Just as I was losing heart, around 18 June, a leader from the county’s Agricultural and Rural Affairs Bureau suggested I try again by sowing directly into the ground. This time, I checked the weather forecast in advance, brought water, and sowed directly in the field. To my surprise, over 40 seedlings emerged. To prevent birds from eating the tender shoots, I cut Sprite and Coke bottles in half and stuck them into the soil. When sparrows and other birds tried to feed, they would occasionally nick their bellies on the plastic edges and stop coming, which protected the white small beans effectively.
From then on, I visited every few days to take photos. We initially thought it was a soybean, but as it grew, it didn’t look right. I posted photos on WeChat saying my soybeans had “grown crookedly”, and a teacher from Yunnan Agricultural University mentioned that soybeans can indeed have climbing traits. However, it wasn’t until it produced white papilionaceous flowers that I was certain it was not a soybean. When it finally bore fruit, I discovered the variety was a seed-type kidney bean. Its seeds are edible, but the pods are not.
By re-documenting this process, I corrected our previous misrecordings. Once confirmed as a kidney bean, I updated my notes. Every time I revive one of these endangered varieties, I feel a deep sense of joy and pride, feeling as though I have given these old varieties a second life. The more I do, the more I want to continue. I hope to contribute more to the protection of biodiversity in the future.
Bean Culture and Traditional Customs
Driven by my interest in seeds, I noticed that by 2023, very few people in the village were planting white hyacinth beans, so I made private inquiries to continue their cultivation and revival. Some old millet varieties, such as ‘Pi Ma Qing’, are darker in colour and high in anthocyanins, making them particularly suitable for those with liver issues when brewed as a green rice porridge.
Wangjinzhuang was once a secluded place, much like the ‘Peach Blossom Spring’ of legend. The villagers were generally impoverished and life was very hard. There were no roads in the village; the only link to the outside world was a camel caravan that brought in grain. Yet, food was chronically scarce. To survive, people had to buy oil bran—the husks of millet—from Anyang in Henan. For survival, people often lived on a vegetarian diet and rarely ate meat, seeing a bit of grease only during the Lunar New Year. Due to these hardships, villagers relied on various types of beans to supplement essential proteins and amino acids. They also consumed crops with medicinal value for health maintenance, planting different beans based on their own or their family’s health needs. For example, mung bean soup was drunk to soothe ‘internal heat’, black beans were eaten to nourish the kidneys for hair loss, and adzuki bean soup was used to reduce swelling.
Because Wangjinzhuang possesses such a variety of crops, it has not only adapted to the local geography to form a unique ecosystem but is also inextricably linked to the people’s lives. Regarding bean culture, take the wedding customs: when a bride arrives at the groom’s house—either stepping down from a sedan chair or a car—the groom’s family will have someone waiting at the door holding a device called a “Shengzi”. In Wangjinzhuang, this is a square wooden vessel made according to the standard of ten sheng per dou. The Shengzi is filled with the five grains—which in Wangjinzhuang are millet, broomcorn millet, beans, hemp seeds, and wheat—which are then scattered over the bride’s head or body. This symbolises that her future life will be one of continuous ascent and happiness.
Similarly, in funeral customs, when someone passes away and is placed in a coffin, millet stalks are spread on the ground and the five grains are scattered before the body is lowered, as a gesture of gratitude to the parents and the grains that nurtured humanity. On the day of burial, an eternal lamp is lit beside the coffin. Once the lid is sealed, soil is filled first horizontally and then vertically. When the mound is formed into a circle, the five grains are scattered over the top; this is known as “the filial son scatters prosperity.”
I have a deep personal connection to this. This April, after my aunt passed away, the coordinator, knowing I was her close niece, asked me to scatter the five grains on her grave. I silently hoped that it would rain quickly so that the five grains would grow on the mound, ensuring her family would always have food and clothing and that her descendants would prosper. I also hoped that once the grains grew, she would be shielded from the scorching sun, and that these crops would provide her with shelter from the wind and rain.
Additionally, we have a custom regarding family separation. In Wangjinzhuang, once a son marries, he usually lives separately from his parents. During the separation, the bride’s parents bring healthy green bean sprouts and some grain to their daughter’s new home. This symbolises that the daughter will, like the bean sprouts, flourish and take root in her husband’s home, growing prosperous and thriving.
Every year, the Laba Festival is celebrated as the ‘birthday of the sparrows’ in Wangjinzhuang, and villagers prepare bean-mixed steamed rice using various small beans and millet. Most people in Wangjinzhuang follow Taoism; first, millet steamed rice is offered to the deities, and afterwards, a bowl of bean-mixed rice is placed on the roof for the sparrows. This is to show gratitude to the sparrows, as legend says that Wangjinzhuang once had no millet until sparrows brought the seeds from afar. This is a quintessential expression of the people of Wangjinzhuang’s respect for nature and their philosophy of living in harmony with it.
Challenges Faced
While Wangjinzhuang still grows many heirloom varieties, its biodiversity is currently facing significant challenges.
Firstly, a key characteristic of Wangjinzhuang’s traditional heirloom varieties is their long growth cycle and low yield. For instance, the traditional ‘Golden Empress’ maize produces only 500 jin per mu, whereas yields in the plains can exceed 1,000 jin. Traditional small beans also have very low yields; black and red beans produce only 100 jin per mu, with adzuki beans sometimes as low as 60 to 80 jin.
Secondly, seed resources are being lost. The aggressive promotion of new varieties—favoured for their high yields, commercial appeal, and economic efficiency—has led to a decrease in the planting area of many traditional varieties, some of which are now on the brink of extinction.
Thirdly, as we are in a mountainous region, we still maintain traditional farming methods. The steep terrain of Wangjinzhuang makes it impossible to use large agricultural machinery, making labour costs exceptionally high. For example, villagers use donkeys to plough, managing only 1 to 1.5 mu a day. Once the millet and maize have sprouted, they require manual replanting and three rounds of weeding. An old saying in Wangjinzhuang goes: “Only millet that has been weeded three times makes the most delicious and flavourful porridge.” Consequently, the villagers are incredibly meticulous in their farming, which drives up the cost of labour.
Fourthly, vast areas of terraced fields have fallen into disuse. With the process of urbanisation, young farmers have begun migrating to cities for work, buying homes there for their children’s education and better healthcare. The village has lost its young workforce, leaving many terraces derelict and resulting in low economic returns. As the elderly pass away, traditional farming techniques are not being effectively passed down. Moreover, the arduous nature of agricultural labour discourages young people from participating.
Fifthly, extreme weather is increasing agricultural risks. In Wangjinzhuang, we face drought in nine out of every ten years. In recent years, severe droughts combined with low temperatures have led to poor germination rates or significant crop failures. For instance, a severe drought in 2019 caused yields to plummet by almost 70%; 2021 brought floods; and 2022 saw severe low temperatures, with a late spring frost and a cold summer that left bean crops either unable to flower or producing shrivelled, unfilled pods. This year has also seen a severe drought; while millet would normally be heading at this stage, people are only just beginning to replant, and some are still waiting for seeds to germinate. Extreme weather has become one of the most unstable factors in food production.
However, we also face opportunities. Firstly, there is growing market demand. More and more people are now prioritising wellness, preferring healthy, ecological produce and showing a preference for heirloom varieties. Because Wangjinzhuang possesses numerous traditional varieties and rich biodiversity, there are more sales channels available; many people travel here specifically to enquire about and purchase the heirloom crops they desire, providing villagers with more outlets for these varieties.
Secondly, Wangjinzhuang has become a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System. We have established a Farmer Seed Bank, along with an exhibition hall and the Handan Seed Museum. Seed culture is being continuously disseminated and promoted, and CCTV and Xinhua News Agency have visited Wangjinzhuang multiple times for filming. On the corporate side, brand building is also underway. Farmers can continue planting independently; as long as the land is not left fallow, the biodiversity of these heirloom seeds can be preserved.
Wangjinzhuang has now submitted 60 heirloom seed varieties to the Hebei Provincial Seed Resource Bank. For example, some varieties, such as the millet from Wu County, have been used in space breeding, further contributing to the preservation of biodiversity.
Thirdly, following preliminary surveys of flora, fauna, and village culture—led by Professor Sun Qingzhong of the China Agricultural University as chief editor—we have published three chronicles: *The Toponymic Cultural Record of the Dryland Terrace System in She County: Historical Landscapes*, *The Crop Cultural Record of the Dryland Terrace System in She County: Natural Ingredients*, and *The Village Cultural Record of the Dryland Terrace System in She County: Stone Street Neighbours*. These cover the terraces, crops, and village culture of Wangjinzhuang. The *Historical Landscapes* volume was co-authored by 20 members of the Terrace Association. These books have helped outsiders better understand the crop, village, and terrace cultures of Wangjinzhuang.
Additionally, we organise a local children’s summer camp every year. In my role as a counsellor, I introduce the children to traditional heirloom varieties and their culture, helping the children of Wangjinzhuang understand and love their hometown from a young age, cherish their local varieties, and establish a deep emotional connection with their roots. As they grow up, they will be able to play a greater role in preserving the biodiversity of Wangjinzhuang.
I have finished reading the book *Disappearing Foods*. It resonated with me on a very visceral level. For example, on page 64, the book mentions farmers being told to eradicate certain plants that may have grown locally for thousands of years, only for them to vanish in the blink of an eye. We have reached a critical juncture; the more severe the loss of diversity, the higher the risks we face. I feel this deeply. Wangjinzhuang has some exceptional heirloom varieties; if no one continues to plant and pass them down through generations, they will lose their life and vanish from the world forever. Therefore, more of us must protect them—we are racing against time.
On page 86, I came across a passage that particularly interested me: “Crops that have persisted for countless generations became local varieties; for hundreds or even thousands of years, rice, maize, and other cultivated grains have continuously evolved in different places to adapt to the local environment, becoming closely linked with the ecosystem, population, and culture.” This statement is perfectly applicable to Wangjinzhuang. Since the Yuan Dynasty, the population of Wangjinzhuang has grown from just 500 to over 4,600. Biodiversity has fostered this population growth, sustaining more people. Certain unique cultural practices, such as the cultivation methods for Sichuan pepper, millet, and maize, are closely intertwined with the ecosystem, the culture of various crops like beans, and the daily lives of the people. This touched me deeply. Culturally, the people of Wangjinzhuang eat different foods during different seasons and festivals; for example, eating bean-simmered rice during the Laba Festival, dumplings on the Winter Solstice, and using wheat flour to steam buns for ancestral rituals. These crops are seamlessly integrated into the culture of daily life.