A worker makes a willow-woven basket in Linshu, Shandong province, in June. LIANG BEN/CHINA NEWS SERVICE

　　As China pushes to modernize its countryside, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has turned to thousand-year-old farming traditions to spearhead rural vitalization.

　　According to research unveiled by the ministry during a national conference on rural civilization in Linyi, Shandong province, in July, four ancient concepts — agriculture (nong), people (min), timeliness (shi) and harmony (he) — account for over 80 percent of China's core agricultural heritage values.

　　These four concepts have been summarized as the core spirit of China's agricultural cultural heritage: valuing agriculture, putting people at the center, following seasonal farming cycles, and upholding harmony and unity.

　　Far from treating these ideas as historical relics, experts and local leadership across the country are proving that ancient ecological wisdom and traditional craft can serve as active economic engines for contemporary rural development.

　　Old crafts, modern markets

　　In a willow-weaving workshop in Linshu county, Shandong province, 70-year-old Yang Jinbang twists pliable willow twigs into a small gourd, his hands never pausing as he speaks.

　　"This variety of willow is planted at the Spring Equinox and harvested at the Minor Heat. This seasonal rule is the most basic experience summed up by our ancestors from agriculture, and we are still benefiting from it," he told a group of tourists.

　　Yang practices twist weaving, an ancient local technique historically tied to rural production.