Which country is the birth place of rice? India or China?
2021-01-01 00:00:00
中國(guó)新書(shū)(英文版) 2021年5期
Brief introduction：
This book is a work of culture and geography， describing the rice cultivating civilization in the Xijiang River Basin of Lingnan. The
author has been living in Guangxi for a long time. Over many years， he has traveled throughout the countryside of Lingnan， engaging in the investigation and research of Lingnan culture. Observing different geographic， historical， folklore， and other perspectives， he moved along the Xijiang River Basin to make a field investigation of the ancient Luoyue rice cultivating culture， look for the rice cultivating agriculture hidden in mountains and rivers in the past， and reveal the historical details of rice cultivating culture obscured by uncivilized areas. The book not only reveals the true feelings of the writer in his writing but also provides his unique perspective of his fieldwork in southern China.
About the author：
As a famous writer and member of the China Writers Association， Zhu Qianhua is a contributing writer of Chinese National Geography magazine. He won the first Zhu Ziqing Literature Award and was honored as an “Outstanding Individual” of the China Writers Association in 2019.
Rice is the most common cereal among the five grains. In any village in Guangxi， a handful of rice with the smell of sunshine and soil arouses a strong feeling， which is regarded as the most fragrant and the warmest memory passed on from the agrarian age. This feeling has been integrated into our body and soul. The billowing rice fields are the most poetic landscapes in the countryside of South China. Whenever we hold a bowl of shining white and fragrant rice in our hands， our hearts are always full of gratitude for the selfless gifts of sunshine， land， mountains， and rivers. Moreover， it gets us thinking about the age-old mystery about nature： where does the rice in the bowl come from？
Both rice and wheat are the staple grains for human survival， and the rice domestication and cultivation technology is one of the greatest inventions in human history. Rice is a staple food for more than half of the world’s population and the main source of food for the world’s poor. It can be said that rice is life. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations， 2 billion people in Asia alone count on rice and rice products for 60% or 70% of the calories they need. Rice is a plant with strong vitality and it is very convenient to grow. It can grow unrestrainedly as long as there is water and soil. Therefore， 80% of the world’s rice is grown by small-scale agricultural producers in low-income developing countries.
But people have been debating about the origin of rice for hundreds of years. In the 1880s， with the development of science and technology， increasing studies held that the origin of rice mainly fell on two countries： China and India.
So which country is the real birth place of rice？ China or India？
When it comes to the origin of rice， we shouldn’t forget Alphonse de Candolle， a Swiss botanist who lived in the 19th century. In 1855， de Candolle discussed the origin of cultivated crops for the first time in his book Géographie Botanique Raisonnée. The mystery of the origin of plants had always been a fascinating topic for him. After more than 20 years of research， de Candolle published the book Origine des Plantes Cultivees， which made him a pioneer in the study of the origin of cultivated crops.
In this book， de Candolle put forward an idea： rice was first cultivated in China. His reason for this was that in the early ancient times， when Shennong the Yan Emperor reigned， this crop was already regarded as one of the “five grains” in China， a country with numerous rivers and canals.
The Birth Place of Rice
Zhu Qianhua
Guangxi Education Publishing House
March 2021
52.00 （CNY）
