| In the East, T. compactum (6x) had differentiated in the Hindukush
areas and T. sphaerococcum (6x) in the Indus areas in the early stage,
as stated before. KIHARA, YAMASHITA and TANAKA (1965) described 50 varieties
of T. vulgare, one of T. compactum, five of T. durum
and one of T. turgidum in the materials collected by KUSE. For, further dispersion, KIHARA and LILIENFELD (1949) stated "(1) From the description of various Chinese classics it seems to be quite sure that wheat ws already introduced and cultivated in the period of Chou (1100 B.C.). However, there is no archaeological evidence. Above all there arises a question whether or not the ancient wheat in China was tetraploid. If the origin of T. vulgare were very recent, ancient Chinese wheat and its presumable descendants in Korea and Japan cannot have been hexaploid common wheats. Both historical records and deposits of ancient Korea show that wheat cultivation was very common in the middle of the third century. Carbonized wheat grains excavated from a military granary in Fuyo, Chusei-Nando, are, according to my collaborator Mr. NAKAO, perhaps the seeds of T. compactum or T. vulgare. There is no indication that the grains are those of a tetraploid wheat. The relics are believed to be from the middle part of the seventh century. I had no opportunity to see Japanese wheat grains found as deposits. But the native wheat varieties, which are believed to be cultivated since ancient times, are hexaploid. (2) There arises a suspicion that the once cultivated tetraploid wheat has been substituted by the present hexaploid one. In the Far East, however, there is no proof that Emmer or any other 4x wheats were cultivated, as there is no 4x wheat left either in Korea or in Japan. T. durum and T. turgidum, which are sporadically cultivated in Mongolia and China, are believed to have been introduced in very recent times (HOSONO, 1935 and HlRAYOSHI, 1940). From these considerations we may conclude that Chinese, Korean and Japanese varieties, used in ancient times, seem to be hexaploid." It is interesting to refer to HOSONO (1935) who studied systematically his collections of wheats from various localities in China. He found a considerable diversity of varieties of wheats. The majority of the materials were 6x wheats, T. vulgare and compactum, and only 1 sample was proved to be T. tutrgidum. Concerning the introduction of wheats to China, HOSONO (1935) stated that "geht hervor dass Hopei, Shantung und Yuennan die meisten Varietaeten beherbergen. - Die reichste Provinz an Varietaeten ist fraglos Yuennan: unter 20 vulgare-Proben stellten 10 verschie dene Varietaeten dar. Auch die in Indien endemische bengalense-Varietaet wurde nur in dieser Provinz gefunden. Daraus kann man schliessen, dass der heute nicht mehr wichtige Burma-Yuennan-Hand-elsweg bei der Verbreitung der Weizen in Suedchina eine gewisse Rolle gespielt haben muss." It is also noteworthy that "Aus folgenden Gruenden ist es aber sehr wahrscheinlich, dass die im Norden gefundenen Weizen durch den Nordweg eingefuehrt wurden. 1. In Kansu kommt die in Mittelasien endemische vulgare-Varietaet turcomanicum vor. 2. Die benachbarte Mongolei, die sehr spaerlich bevolkert ist und nur geringe Weizenproduktion aufweist, ist reicher an Varietaeten als ganz China (VAVILOV, 1923)" "Wahrscheinlich sind die Weizen aus dem Ursprungszentrum nach China nicht ueber die seit dem Mittelalter gebrauchten Handelswege, sondern in vorhistorischer Zeit auf dem Wege der Voelkerwanderungen gekommen." |
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