井田 (jǐngtián): the well-field system of ancien…

Meanings

1 the well-field system of ancient China (a Zhou-dynasty land allocation scheme)

Characters

井

Examples

孟子主张恢复井田制。

Mèngzǐ zhǔzhāng huīfù jǐngtiánzhì.

Mencius advocated restoring the well-field system.

井田制将土地分成九块，中央为公田。

Jǐngtiánzhì jiāng tǔdì fēnchéng jiǔ kuài, zhōngyāng wéi gōngtián.

The well-field system divided land into nine plots, with the central plot being public land.

Tips

history

井田制 (jǐngtiánzhì) was an idealized Zhou-era land system: a square of land was divided like the character 井 into nine plots — eight families each farmed an outer plot and jointly cultivated the central public plot to pay tribute. Mencius romanticized it; modern historians debate whether it was ever actually implemented.

memory

The character 井 is literally a picture of the grid pattern — eight surrounding fields plus one central well. The shape gives the system its name.