抄録
Mencius, who was born in the 4th century B. C. in the intensive agricultural region of the lower Hwang Ho plain, had advocated the so called Tsing-tien. It was a grid-pattern land project and its ground block was 1 Ri (about 400 metres) square called Tsing, which was divi-ded into 9 Fus. Fu means one family's holding, so one Tsing was the ideal type of a village planning in whick eight families settled them-selves at the central Fu section, and had to farm the other eight Fus. This land project was demarcated with ditches and lanes.
Tshin dynasty in the 3rd century B. C. and the Pei Wei dynasty in the 5th century B. C. which have both risen in the more arid and sparsely populated north western China enlarged the ground block. Some aerial photographs of the northern China plains today show the grid patterns which perhaps have been originated for more than thousand years ago.
The creek system in Yangtze delta seems to exemplify a some what degenerated form of a grid pattern land project which was practiced in that area.
This method propagated to the east Asian countries, in Korea we can find its remnant in Pyong-yang; and in Japan, the Taika reformation in the 7th century adopted this system and practiced it all over the country.
Yamato basin is the model district in which Japanese grid :pattern land project called Jori system, was put into practice in its typical form. Jori's ground block was also 1, Ri (but its length was prolonged and was about 640 metres) square, which was divided into 36 sections.
In frontier regions, for instance in the Chikugo river plain in Kyu-shu, the shape of grid patterns becomes a little incorrect and the creek landscape of this plain resembles that of Yangtze delta. Thus, ewe may-suppose that there lies the some physical and social coditions between these plains.
The pioneer settlements in northern Manchuria were developed under the enlarged Tsin-t'ien system. Those of Hokkaido in Japan were also projected in grid pattern, only this have been remodeled from Ame-rican township system to fit the original Japanese farming and consequ-ently resembled the Jori and Tsing-t'ien systems of ancient days.
