The Socioreligious Significance of Rice A comparison between two Southeast Asian societies :: essays papers

The Socioreligious Significance of Rice A comparison between two Southeast Asian societiesWithout rice, there is nothing doing.Introduction.The fact that rice plays an important role in the lives of the peoples of Southeast Asia is undeniable. It is not just a form of sustenance that nourishes the body it is alike an aspect of of all timeyday life that feeds not only the soul but the unbounded realms of the imaginative human mind. Such proverbs as above are an example of how rice is revered and incorporated in day-to-day living of the peoples in this region. Even outside the region, as in Mizumono Kuni the Land of Luxurious Rice Crops that is Japan, the position of rice is that of a very high level next to the Emperor, rice is the most sacred of all things on earth. Money can be squander and the wastrel forgiven, but there is no forgiveness for wasting rice (Piper 199314).In Southeast Asia, rice is seen as the basis of almost all the cultures and civilizations ever created. It is also said to be responsible for the high populations of this region for if it wasnt for rice that had replaced the millets and other staple food crops that preceded it, far fewer people could view been supported by agriculture (Piper 19931). The truth remains that the bulk of the cultures of Southeast Asia constitutes agriculturalists with rice as the main crop, with a few exceptions of course, in more industry-oriented nations for example. deuce main elements can be derived firstly, since rice has been the major crop cultivated in Southeast Asia for perhaps more than 7,000 years, surely cultures and civilization are interlinking with each other (Piper 19931). One can safely assume that that long a time must have been ample enough for gradual evolutions and intermixing of cultures and traditions, rituals and beliefs and so on that is closely linked to rice, so we can see similarities between cultures of different countries within this region that may have even perpetuated from the aforesaid(prenominal) roots. And the same goes to the careful selections of good varieties of rice over time. Secondly, rice is such an adaptive crop that it is not impossible to successfully grow it in different environments where crops could not have been grown successfully- from swampy valleys and deltas to hot, dry land above the floods and even in the mountain forests (Piper 19931).