“Agricultural history is closely related to the history of Chinese culture. There would have been no cultural development without agricultural development” says Peng Shijiang, a professor from the South China Agricultural University. This reporter interviewed several experts and scholars to learn about the archeological research and discoveries of recent years related to rice.

Research on the history of rice needs to be integrated and strengthened

“At present the main dispute over the history of rice is still the place of origin of rice itself” explains Peng Shijiang, adding that it is up to further research to determine where in the world rice originated from, and where its earliest point of origin was in China.

In addition, research on rice’s history urgently needs to be integrated and strengthened. “There are few full-time researchers of the history of rice, which is a part of broader agricultural history”, explains Zeng Xiongsheng, a research fellow with the Institute for the History of Natural Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. “This area of research mainly depends on academics from the fields of history, archaeology and biogenetics, and their focuses are different.”

According to Zeng Xiongsheng, at present the research institutions involved are mainly the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Zhejiang University, Nanjing Agricultural University, South China Agricultural University and archaeological research departments in different provinces.

“On the whole, there are no specialized research institutions or comprehensive and systematic research mechanisms” says Peng Shijiang.

The history of rice and its influence on population distribution

“China is the place of origin of rice cultivation” says Zeng Xiongsheng, adding that before the Song Dynasty, rice was mainly consumed by the Southern Chinese, while later on it gradually became the main food for the entire country. “After the Song Dynasty, China’s economy developed sustainably while relying on rice, and traditional rice cultivation techniques were formed and developed,” said Zeng.

“From a historical perspective, rice has had a great impact not only on the development of population and society, but also on poultry farming and the social food consumption structure, and eventually on population distribution” continues Peng Shijiang.

Zeng Xiongsheng notes that research on rice history can not only display the achievements of ancient agricultural civilization, but also contribute to the economy and culture, providing historical reference for food production and national food security.

Carrying out extensive multidisciplinary cooperation

“There is currently no clear research direction in the field of the history of rice, and people focus mostly on its prehistoric origin and diffusion, which is related to the emerging field of “technological archaeology”, explains Zeng Xiongsheng.

Yang Shiting, a research fellow from the Guangdong Museum, says that the origin of rice cultivation is one of the important issues explored by disciplines like archaeology, and it occupies a significant position within the studies on the origin of agriculture.

Yang Shiting feels that there are two lessons which future research on the origin of rice should take into account. The first one is that the remarkable achievements already made in this area have involved not only scientific research departments of agricultural science and rice cultivation, but also cooperation between academics in fields like history, archaeology, ancient philology, ethnology, linguistics, geography, paleobiology and paleo-climatology. Secondly, investigation and excavation should make use of the traces and the material already discovered at the regional level.

Zeng Xiongsheng thinks that with the increase in archaeological discoveries and the development of relevant disciplines, research on the origin and early diffusion of rice will be constantly furthered. He says that regional research may not only help reconstruct the history of rice in different regions, but also help know about the level of rice development and the spread of cultivation technologies through dynamic comparison and analysis. He added that research on the history of rice’s environment deserves our attention, as it is in our interest to know about the environmental changes which occurred at different stages, and their relationship with rice cultivation.

The Chinese version appeared in Chinese Social Sciences Today, No. 556, February 7, 2014.

Chinese link: http://www.csstoday.net/xueshuzixun/guoneixinwen/87552.html

Translated by Yu Hui

Revised by Gabriele Corsetti