Chinese culture, boasting a lengthy history, is composed of
numerous sub-cultures. The agricultural way of life, centered
around rice, has played an important part in the country's history.
For thousands of years, the Chinese have been diligently
cultivating their land. Blood, sweat and tears have been shed over
their soil in the pursuit of favorable harvests. This reliance on
the land for so many thousands of years accounts for China's strong
rural essence. The need for rice production has led the Chinese to
pay particular attention to irrigation technologies, improving
cultivation. The agricultural way of life, centered around rice,
has had a strong influence on the social, economic, political and
ideological developments of ancient China. In this sense,
traditional Chinese culture may be considered a "rice culture."
While exploring the status of rice in Chinese culture a number of
developments become apparent. According to Professor Zhang Deci, an
expert on cultivation, rice first grew when people, who had lived
mainly on hunting, fishing, and fruit collecting, happened to leave
some seeds in low-lying areas. Later, these people began developing
the land, making it more suitable for farming. Weeding, rice
transplanting, and irrigating all originated in the Yellow River
Valley region in the north, and Hanshui Basin region in the
northwest. To date, traces of rice have been found in Hemudu of
Yuyao, Zhejiang Province, Yangshao of Mianchi, Henan Province,
Dachendun of Feidong, Anhui Province, Miaoshan of Nanjing and
Xianlidun of Wuxi in Jiangsu Province, Qianshanyang of Wuxing,
Zhejiang Province, Qujialing and Zhujiazui of Jingshan, Shijiahe of
Tianmen, and Fangyingtai of Wuchang in Hubei Province.
Archaeologists have confirmed that China started planting rice at
least 3,000 to 4,000 years ago. In the 1970s, seeds of long-grained
non-glutinous rice were unearthed from the Neolithic ruins at
Hemudu in Yuyao, Zhejiang Province, the earliest records of rice
planting in China, and the world.
By
the time the western Zhou Dynasty (c.1100 BC - c. 771 BC) was in
power, rice had become well accepted and extremely important, as
can be seen from inscriptions on bronze vessels used as containers
for storing rice. At this time, rice was a central part of
aristocratic banquets.
During the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC - 476 BC), rice became
an important part of the diets for Chinese people. Later, in
southern China, especially with the development of meticulously
intensive farming techniques during the Han Dynasty (206 BC 220
AD), rice rose to occupy an important position in Chinese
culture.
The cultivation of rice led to the development of an economic
lifecycle centered around agriculture: ploughing in spring, weeding
in summer, harvesting in autumn, and hoarding in winter. In ancient
China, vast amounts of land, including the present middle and lower
reaches of the Yangtze River region and North China region, were
suitable for planting rice, with most Chinese working the land in
particular ways during the different seasons.
Rice farming influenced many other aspects of the old Chinese
economy. For instance, to be viable Chinese farming depended on
sophisticated irrigation techniques. The importance of irrigation
was outlined in the Twenty-Four Histories, a collection of
books chronicling 4,000 years of Chinese history, which recorded
dynastic histories from distant antiquity up until the Ming Dynasty
(1368 - 1644). Books discussing rice agriculture appeared as early
as the Warring States Period (475 BC - 221 BC), demonstrating the
long history of China's agronomy. Daopin (Strains of
Rice), by Huang Xingsi, a book specializing in the rice
planting techniques of the Ming Dynasty, was widely regarded as a
complete collection detailing the improvements of rice through its
many strains. The book also illustrates the significance of rice
agriculture in traditional Chinese economy.
China was built on agriculture. During the period before the Qin
Dynasty (221 BC 206 BC), rice had become a specially prepared food.
It was also used to brew wines and offered as a sacrifice to the
Gods. What's more, rice was delicately made into different kinds of
food, which played an important role in a number of traditional
Chinese festivities.
First, rice is a central part of the Spring Festival (or lunar New
Year) Eve dinner. On this occasion, Chinese families make New
Year's cake and steamed sponge cake from flour turned from
glutinous rice. The cake is called "gao" in Chinese, a
homophony to another "gao," meaning high. People eat these
cakes in the hope of a better harvest and higher status in the New
Year. The cakes and the New Year's dinner symbolize people's wishes
for a better future.
Second, rice dumplings are made on the 15th night of the 1st lunar
month. This is the first day the full moon can be seen each New
Year. People eat rice dumplings, known as Yuanxiao in the
north and Tangyuan in the south ("yuan" means of
satisfaction in Chinese), hoping everything will turn out as they
wish.
Third, zongzi, eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival on the
5th day of the 5th lunar month, is also made of glutinous rice. It
is said that people eat zongzi on this day to remember Qu
Yuan, an official of the Chu State (about 340 BC - 278 BC), who
committed suicide by jumping into the Miluo River. People throw
zongi into the river to prevent fish eating Qu Yuan's
body.
Fourth, rice is made into "Double Nine" festival cakes on the 9th
day of the 9th lunar month each year. As people have just harvested
their crops during autumn they can make these cakes with fresh new
rice. Many people also follow the tradition of climbing a mountain
on this day.
Finally, people eat porridge on the 8th day of the 12th lunar
month. The porridge is made with rice, cereals, beans, nuts and
dried fruit. It is said that Sakyamuni attained Buddhahood on this
day, drinking chyle presented to him by a shepherdess, which he
believes led him to enlightenment. As a result people bathe Buddha
statues and eat porridge on this day.
(China.org.cn edited and translated by Li Jinhui, October 2,
2002)