Through their eyes.

Moving on, traditions do not only evolve from the history of art and craft forms but also from religion, myths and folklores. In effect, these result in the creation of ceremonies that both make use of and celebrate the culture of rice. Because the range of myths and folklores conjured over the long Southeast Asian history of rice is so extensive, we will only attempt to examine a few of these and find out whether there is direct or indirect connections between what Piper terms as ‘customary beliefs’ (Piper, Jacqueline M., 1993) and the countries of SEA.

The unique thing about rice culture in SEA is the rich historical background that has seen emerging agricultural, religious and mythical beliefs especially from countries that produce rice crops for survival and economic sustenance. But what really interests us is the intertwining and overlapping similarities between the resultant ceremonial rites which at first glance, seem purely exclusive to the individual country within SEA.

For instance, there is a general belief in a female goddess of rice, grain, wheat or whatever staple they are planting, in many Southeast Asian agricultural communities. In Central Java, the Rice Goddess is known as Dewi Sri, the daughter of The Raja of Mataram, Lombok, and eventually ended up as a python which blessed the rice harvests of the farmers by feeding on rice-field pests. (Piper, Jacqueline M., 1993) Similarly, the famous Western Javanese rice myth stems from an ancient Sudanese poem called Wawatjan Sulandjana, which births forth the name Sri that remains the Rice Goddess’s name till today. The variation in the Western Javanese myth lies in the story of the goddess who is the foster daughter of the god Guru. After her tragic death and burial, her body turns into the first rice plant. (Josselin de Jong, P.E., 1965) Much further away in Thailand, Mae Posop is also known as the Rice Goddess, who “gives her body and soul to everyone”. (Gomez, Kwanchai A., 2001) As we can see, the varying versions of such ancient myths in Southeast Asia still contain a common meaning and belief that be it the Dewi Sri or Mae Posop, Rice Goddesses are pictured to be self-sacrificing and their bodies are “given” to the farmers in order for rice and a good harvest to be blessed on.

Another common believe in what is called the “rice soul” further draws parallel between agricultural rites in the different parts of the Southeast Asian region. We shall begin by looking at the Iban farmers of Sarawak. Other than the traditional rice that is sown for sustainance and economic purposes, they grow two specific types of ritual rice; the padi pun (sacred rice) and padi sangking (rice used for secondary ceromonials. The padi pun is unique to every Iban family in the community because each plants a different type of it, differentiated by characteristics of the rice such as the length, colour and so on. Traditionally, and even till today, the padi pun is planted in the “sacred heart” of the farm which is thereby surrounded and “protected” by the padi sanking. Interestingly, the farmers plant all types of rice across the field in the single continuous path that should not be broken so as to ensure that, according to Piper, “the souls of the rice a woman has harvested must follow her and not be permitted to stray or next year’s crop will be poorer”. Likewise, another reference to the soul of rice belongs to a traditional belief by the Malays during harvesting that “the Soul of Rice is ritually led from the rice field to the house of the owner of the field”, where a medicine man “chants to various spirits”, in particular to two named “Dang Pok” and Dang Melini”. (Josselin de Jong, P.E., 1965)

What is interesting to observe therefore, is the commonality between seemingly distinct cultures in the Southeast Asian region yet again which seems to suggest that Southeast Asians may be more connected to each other than we believe ourselves to be. Just by studying the traditions of rice farming, it is so easy to see that there is some sort of ancient or historical connection between the Thais, Javanese, Malays (including those in Sarawak) and even the Filipinos.




Even the traditional roles between men and women in Southeast Asian agricultural farming communities seem to reflect widely, the culture of SEA. Iban planting tradition has jobs such as felling, firing and dibbling allocated to men and the women are often allocated jobs which require them to plant behind the men as the move along, and mostly in a low, bending position. Furthermore, “young men may refuse to participate in tasks like weeding which are seen as ‘women’s work’”. (Piper, Jacqueline M., 1993) It is almost exactly the same traditional planting ritual with the Brou people of North-east Cambodia, where if a particular family has no men, they must enlist the help of a relative to do the job of dibbling as it is strictly a men-only affair. The women here are expected to move across the field with a “hollow bamboo tube closed at one end” to “cover the seeds as they pass”, and all done in a (you guessed it!) bend low position. (Piper, Jacqueline M.,1993) However, while traditional roles are carved out and adhered to in the agricultural communities (men do jobs that builds up prestige for their families while women handle most of the domestic rice sowing affairs of the household), the role of the women are not insignificant as compared to the men. Women have extensive knowledge of the rice and the varieties they plant and are thus indispensable to the cultivation process. Certain beliefs even elevate the position of women. For instance, the Iban men are not allowed to handle or even touch the sacred rice out of respect and this is only handled by women.

Once again, the traditions of the agriculture communities in the region has shown us that there are more similarities and connections between Southeast Asian countries and suggests a common history point which all countries in Southeast Asia might have been a part of. This could also be the reason for the Western view of SEA as a single region rather than a region of individual countries. Therefore should there not be an effort on the part of all Southeast Asians to try to understand and tolerate each other much more than we do now?


References

Piper, Jacqueline M. (1993). Rice in South-East Asia: Cultures and Landscapes.UK: Oxford University Press.

P.E de Josselin de Jong. (1965). Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 24, No. 2

Gomez, Kwanchai A. (2001) Rice, the Grain of Culture. Siam Society Lecture Series