Longing for the bumper harvest

This is a vast area， with abundant sunshine， rainfall， little frost and snowfall， providing ideal conditions for the remarkable member of the grass family -- rice. Our exploration of Luoyue culture starts from the rice fields in Chongzuo.

As far as the eye can see， Chongzuo’s paddy field is one of the most amazing engineering feats of the preindustrial China. For thousands of years， Luoyue people were farming ethnic， and it seems that every square inch of this land had been developed into cultivation by Luoyue people. Actually， the rice-farming culture of Luoyue people is an adaptation to the geographical conditions of the mountainous areas in Chongzuo， and also a connection with the traditional conventions of a minority group. They developed a remarkable rice-farming culture， a rather complete farming system and plentiful experience in irrigation. The long history of rice farming in Chongzuo and their food structure with rice as the staple food determine that their catering habits have impenetrated in people’s daily life， weddings， funerals and festivals. Now farming is a major occupation of the local villagers.

As an old Chinese saying goes， “spring is the season for rice growing”， and the success of the crop will determine how well the family will eat next year. Late autumn is a busy time for local farmers as they need to prepare the paddy field for the coming spring. To achieve bumper harvest and unceasing increase on food， the date of the traditional harvest festival is always determined when the paddy is getting ripe in each lunar October. On the morning of the festival， the housemaster of every family goes to the field， chooses the largest rice spike， twists down a few of grains， wraps them with leaves and hangs it in the field in hope of better harvest. Then， they prepare fresh rice and wine to invite the village chief and relatives. In addition， a part of popcorn made of fresh rice will be applied. Prior to the supper， every family will fete the ancestor with fresh rice and popcorns， and then feed the dog on the popcorns. Legend has it that long ago the flood swept all the crops. After the water waned， a bird found a paddy and wanted to peck， but here came a dog and drove away the bird and got the paddy. Since then， people resumed the cultivation of the paddy. That is why people have to offer the food to the dog every time they take fresh rice. When the worship is finished， the host and guests begin to enjoy the fresh rice. It is said that the more they take， the better quality the paddy will be and people will never again worry about the shortage.