全球重要农业文化遗产——会稽山古香榧群

会稽山古香榧群 Kuaijishan Ancient Chinese Torreya

The Ancient Torreya Community of Shaoxing Kuaiji Mountain was designated as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) in 2013.

The early inhabitants of Shaoxing cultivated torreya trees on steep mountainous slopes. Under the torreya forests, they practiced intercropping with tea, coarse grains, and vegetables, forming a distinctive steep-slope land-use system that integrates soil and water conservation with high productivity.

会稽山社区通过运用古老的嫁接技术和人工选育方法，培育了中国香榧树，其中一些树龄已超过一千年。该系统在防止水土流失的同时，实现了人与自然的和谐共生，并从香榧树中生产出坚果、药材、食用油和饰品等多种高附加值经济产品。

The Chinese Torreya trees, some more than 1,000 years old, has been developed by the Kuaijishan Community by applying ancient grafting and artificial selection techniques.It is a harmonious system that prevents soil erosion while providing diverse ‘high value’ economic products such as nuts, medicine, oil and ornaments from the trees.

Global importance

中国香榧是经过长期精心人工选育与嫁接培育而成的优质树种。会稽山是中国香榧的原产地，拥有保存最为完好的古香榧群落，全国80%以上的香榧产量来自该地区。研究表明，会稽山区域拥有十余个中国香榧品种。历经两千多年发展，部分古香榧树树龄已逾千年，与传统村落、潺潺溪流和群山相互映衬，构成壮丽独特的文化景观。

然而，会稽山古香榧群正面临严峻挑战，包括自然老化、自然灾害、土地利用竞争、人口老龄化以及农业劳动力短缺等问题。亟需在动态保护的理念下，系统阐明并提升其社会、经济与生态价值。

Chinese Torreya is a quality grafting plant resulting over time from careful artificial selection. The Kuaiji mountain is the origin place of Chinese Torreya with the most well preserved ancient Torreya community, and more than 80% Chinese Torreya production is from this area. According to research, the Kuaijishan region contains over ten types of Chinese Torreya. With more than 2000 years of history, the ancient Chinese Torreya trees, some of which are more than 1000 years old, form a spectacular landscape merged with the traditional villages, abundant streams, and mountains.

The Kuaijishan Ancient Chinese Torreya Community is facing severe threats and challenges due to natural aging, natural disasters, land use competition, population aging, and the lack of agriculture labor resources. It is urgent to establish the social, economic and ecological values of this important system and protect them in dynamic ways.

Food and livelihood security

得益于香榧产业的发展（市场价格约为每公斤170元），香榧总产值达4.37亿元。在诸暨市东白湖镇和赵家镇，农民仅香榧一项的人均年收入便超过8000元，占人均年收入的80%以上。此外，会稽山地区历史上还将香榧木用于造船、制棺和建筑房梁。

除香榧外，会稽山古香榧群还生产樱桃、竹笋、板栗、瓜子、葡萄、红薯及高山云雾茶等多种农产品。东晋时期，会稽山所制书架与书案曾为王羲之等文人所珍视。

Thanks to Torreya communities, with the price of 170 Yuan per kg, the total value of Torreya production was 437 million Yuan. In Dongbaihu and Zhaojiazhen villages of Zhuji city, the average annual income per capita of Torreya alone can reach over 8000 Yuan, which accounts for over 80% of the annual income per capita. Moreover, Kuaijishan has been using Torreya for ship building, coffin making, and house beams.

In addition, Kuaijishan Ancient Chinese Torreya Community mainly produces such as Chinese Torreya, cherries, bamboo shoots, chestnuts, melon seeds, grapes, sweet potato, and mountain Yunwu tea, etc. During the East Jin Dynasty, the bookshelves and desks built in Kuaijishan were cherished by scholars such as Wang Xizhi.

Biodiversity and ecosystem functions

中国现有三种香榧属植物，分别为中国香榧、巴山香榧和长叶香榧。会稽山地区拥有十余个中国香榧地方品种。作为农业生态系统，香榧群落内还种植水稻、玉米、小麦、大麦、马铃薯和豆类等粮食作物，以及花生、油菜、芝麻等油料作物，还有茶叶、板栗、笋干、乌桕和食用菌等重要经济作物。

会稽山古香榧群在维护生物多样性、生态平衡与环境保护方面发挥着不可替代的作用。区域内以香榧林、针叶林和毛竹林为主，辅以常绿阔叶林，多种植被类型交织，形成结构完整、物种丰富的森林生态系统。

研究表明，香榧林的水土流失程度最低，并具有显著的水源涵养功能，主要体现在林冠截留降水、枯落叶层保水能力以及土壤蓄水能力等方面。

First of all China has three Torreya species known as Chinese Torreya tree, Bashan Torreya, and long-leaf Torreya, The Kuaijishan region contains over ten varieties of Chinese Torreya. As an agrosystem, several crops are cultivated within Torreya communities such as rice, corn, wheat, barley, potato, and beans. There are also oil crops, including peanuts, rapeseed, and sesame and important cash crops, including tea, chestnuts, dried bamboo shoots, Chinese tallow trees and mushrooms.

The Kuaijishan Ancient Chinese Torreya Community plays an irreplaceable role in maintaining biodiversity, ecological balance and environmental protection. The region is mainly covered by Torreya grandis forest, coniferous forest, and Mao bamboo forest, with some evergreen broad-leaved forest. The combination of these plants forms well-forested vegetation and maintains a relatively complete forest ecological system and considerable biodiversity.

Studies have shown Torreya grandis forest is associated with the lowest level of erosion. This forest also has the function of water resource conservation, which reflect in three ways: canopy interception, water conserving ability of defoliated leaves and soil water reservation ability.

Knowledge systems and adapted technologies

                                           驱鸟土方

传统香榧嫁接期通常在2月下旬至4月上旬，此时气温回升，植株根系活动增强，有利于提高嫁接成活率。高位嫁接是最常见的传统技术之一。为确保安全，农民多使用普通梯子或当地特有的“蜈蚣梯”攀爬树干。

中国香榧通过长期人工选育和野生香榧嫁接而形成稳定栽培体系。同时，农民在香榧林周围修建鱼鳞坑和梯田，用于种植茶叶、粮食作物、蔬菜和牧草，形成独特的农林复合生态生产系统。

香榧传统加工工艺包括堆放、去皮、清洗、晾晒、翻炒、出锅、浸泡、沥干、烘焙、冷却和拣选等11道工序，全部以手工完成。

The traditional Torreya grafting period is between late February and early April, since temperature is beginning to increase and the roots of plants are more active, which increasing chance of successful grafting. High position grafting is the most common technique among the traditional grafting practices. To ensure safety, people often use regular ladders or a local tool, known as the "centipede ladder", to climb up the trees.

Chinese Torreya has been cultivated through long periods of artificial selection and grafting wild Torreya. At the same time farmers have built fish scale pits and terrace fields around the Torreya forest for the cultivation of tea, food crops, vegetables, and pasture, which formed a unique agro-ecological production system.

Traditional processing technology of Chinese Torreya includes 11 stages: stacking, peeling, washing, drying, stir frying, removing from heat, soaking, draining, baking, cooling, and picking. All procedures are done manually.

Cultures, value systems and social organizations

祭祀

会稽山香榧农民通过村落活动、祭祀仪式与节庆活动，传承与延续香榧文化。通过这种文化传承，家族价值观、地方历史和社会礼俗等社会记忆融为一体，塑造了群体认同与文化自觉。

家庭是社会的基本单位，宗族关系构成社会结构的基础。随着社会发展，这种以家庭为核心的社会结构正在逐步转型。

The Torreya farmers of Kuaijishan extend this culture by inheriting traditional ideas and practices in organizing village activities, sacrifices and holiday festivals. Through the inheritance of Torreya culture, the social history and cultural memories such as family values, local history and social rituals are blended together and remembered as a whole, which leads to the formation of social identity and cultural consciousness.

Family is the basic social unit, and kinship is the foundation of the social structure. As the society develops, this family-based social structure is gradually transforming.

Remarkable landscapes, land and water resources management features

通过混作栽培与梯田建设，会稽山古香榧群塑造了独具特色的山地村落景观。

由于香榧群多分布于陡坡地带，水土保持成为古树管理的重要内容。当地农民在陡坡上修筑梯田、设置竹篱笆或堆砌石块形成鱼鳞坑，以防止水土流失。以石堆构筑的梯田景观，已成为会稽山独特而鲜明的自然与文化标志。

Being planted and cultivated with mixed crops and terraces, this system is unique and has shaped the landscape of many villages in the region.

Moreover, due to the distribution of the Torreya communities is in steep areas, soil and water conservation is an important topic in ancient tree management. The farmers of Kuaijishan use terrace or build bamboo fences and piles of stones for fish-scale pits on steep hills to prevent erosion. Terraces built with stone piles have become a unique natural landscape feature in Kuaijishan.

（编辑资料源于FAO）