User:Yujicusick99/sandbox

Article Evaluation:

I reviewed the Wikipedia page of Champa Rice, a Vietnamese rice consumed as part of the "humble" cuisine of southern Chinese Buddhists. I found that the page did not have a lot of information, but the information that was provided was through four, verifiable sources that are neutral in intention.

Potential Ideas:

One idea I had was to either add to the existing page of "Medieval cuisine" and expand upon the dairy product section or to create a medieval cheese page. I wish to expand on the means of production, the social outlook, and geographical origins of cheese.

I have already started editing the champa rice page. The page is a stub right now and I am confident I could find a more comprehensive history of champa rice and its uses.

Looking into the diets and cuisines of Buddhist monks should be very interesting due to several material and philosophical restrictions. The page could compare the diets of Buddhist monks across geographical regions.

Final Topic:

I have decided to add to the stub page of Champa Rice. I think it will be a great opportunity to add thorough information regarding its background, usage, origins, and its differences from other species of rice. The page has such little content that I have a lot of room to work with to make the page full of useful information. I can hopefully connect champa rice into the greater dialogue of eastern Asian history as it has intimate connections with Buddhist cuisine and the Song Dynasty in China. I also like the idea of working on one specific food because I can research the biological information of the species, rather than solely relying on cultural context and less tangible information. Champa rice is early-ripening and I would be interested to see how that plays into the nuances of cuisine and agriculture. Finally, I am interested how this species of rice among others was used as a commodity in the global trade market.

Links of relevant Champa Rice articles:

The Impact of Climate on the Spread of Rice to North-Eastern China: A New Look at the Data from Shandong Province:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4488397/

The Origin and Spread of Early-Ripening Champa Rice: It’s Impact on Song Dynasty China

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12284-011-9079-6

The Rice Economy of Asia, Volume 2 (Book)

Early-Ripening Rice in Chinese History (JSTOR Article)

Science and Civilisation in China, Vol. 6: Biology and Biological Technology, Part II: Agriculture (JSTOR Article)

Outline/Lead Section (Week 7):

Champa rice is an early-ripening rice variety that originates from the hilly areas of India to Central Vietnam to China during the Song Dynasty in the eleventh century. Champa rice belong to the aus subpopulation, which share similarities to the indica and japonica species of Eastern India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar.

Champa rice was raised and bred by farmers for its resistance to temperature fluctuations, drought, flooding, humidity, and salinity. Due to its durability, Champa rice is accredited to facilitating food security in Asia and acting as a staple of Buddhist cuisine. Historically, rice proved to be a difficult crop to introduce in climates varying from its center of domestication. Due to its abiotic durability, Champa rice spread quickly throughout southeastern Asia and into China. Champa rice has a growing periods of 100-110 days, where as traditional varieties of rice required over 150 to 165 days and even some taking up to 200 days.

Due to its productive growing cycle, Champa rice was the preferred staple crop for the Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties. The introduction of Champa rice marked the beginning of the further spread of early-ripening varieties, such as hsien (indica), which was better suited for lowlands. The early Song dynasty emperors faced environmental pressures to implement and early-ripening rice species after a severe drought of the Huai and Tangy river valleys and the Zhejiang paddy areas in 1012. Champa rice was known to be drought resistant and 30,000 bushels of seed was delivered from the Fujian Province in central Vietnam to China.

An influx of Champa rice from Vietnam to China led to technological advancements such as terracing of uplands and the usage of double cropping in lowlands, both of which were intended to address a growing food security concern. Champa rice became very successful and nourished a large population swell in Southern China.

Final Draft:

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Overview

Champa rice is an early-ripening Indica rice variety that originates from the hilly areas of India and was adopted in Central Vietnam and eventually brought to China by the Song dynasty during the 12th century. Champa rice belongs to the aus subpopulation, rice varieties which are photoperiod insensitive and share characteristics with the species of Eastern India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar.

Characteristics

Champa rice has two growing periods, leading to two separate harvests. Two varieties of Champa are observed: one with a growing period of 60 days while the other has a growing period of 100 days, in comparison to traditional rice varieties that require over 150 to 200 days for their respective growing periods. Champa rice was previously referred to as "sixty-day rice" for the earliest ripening variety and "one hundred day rice" for the normal variety. Champa rice was also revered for its resistance to temperature fluctuations, drought, flooding, humidity, and salinity. The grains of Champa rice are smaller than traditional rice varieties, which produce harder grains. Champa rice was labeled as hsien rice, or large-grained rice by the people of the lower Yangtze and lower Huai River areas. Li Shizhen, author of Pen-ts'ao kang-m, wrote of hsien rice, which was reported to ripen earlier, producing large, glossy, translucent grains that contrasted with keng rice, which produced smaller, stickier grains that were late-ripening. Early-ripening varieties of rice require less water and mature at a faster rate, but produce a small yield per unit than their traditional counterparts.

Growth

Champa was categorized as an upland Indica rice as it was self-sufficient when grown in highlands. Upland Indica varieties are generally over 150 cm tall when grown in upland conditions. They are also are shown to produce consistent, albeit low yields of fertile panicles filled with large grains. However, upland varieties tend to lodge permanently at maturity and are susceptible to nitrogen fluctuations in the soil, resulting in reduced rates of photosynthesis and growth. Upland rices are generally resistant to iron and phosphorous-deficient soils, adverse aerobic soils, and water stresses. When leaf nitrogen levels and soluble protein content are held constant, Indica varieties tend to higher rates of photosynthesis than Japonica varieties, rice species originating from Japan that share many characteristics with Indica rice. When leaf temperature increases, Indica rice has slower rates of change in photosynthesis and respiration levels as compared to their Japonica counterparts. Rice varieties such as Champa were grown at altitudes ranging from 0 to 1800 meters, as upland rices were found to be sufficiently productive under lowland conditions. The Champa seeds could be stored for a long time and only needed watering sparsely.

Photosensitivity

Champa rice, as a member of the aus subpopulation, which consists primarily of Indica varieties, is one of few photoperiod insensitive rice species. The critical photoperiod or 'day length' is the period of time in which the rice plant can flower, and is usually between 12 to 14 hours for most rice varieties. For those that are photoperiod sensitive, their critical day length shortens as latitude increases. In the case of Champa rice, as latitude increases and decreases, the critical day length stays relatively constant, an important characteristic of climatic adaptation. Photoperiod insensitive rice varieties are planted and flower when the days are long and respond well when grown in lower latitude areas near the equator. The photoperiod insensitive genotype was bred for its ability to grow effectively across wide ranges of latitudes. A cross of a strongly photoperiod sensitive variety and a weakly sensitive variety produced a majority of strongly photoperiod sensitive offspring, while some in the resulting generation were found to be photoperiod insensitive.

The Champa rice variety and others in the aus subpopulation have a lower minimum germination temperature than the Japonica varieties, even though they reside in the temperate zone with a higher average air temperature. Champa rice was found to germinate faster than their Japonica counterparts at temperatures lower than 20°C. Champa was also found to have more distinct responses to tillering rate and internode elongation rate than the Japonica varieties. Tropical upland varieties such as Champa have higher rates of radicle development and grow quickly after direct seeding, allowing them to compete with weeds. Champa rice’s photoperiod insensitivity, temperature change resistance, and higher tillering ability produced a crop that held stable yields and was adaptable to a wide range of climates, allowing it to diffuse over a wide area.

Distribution

Map of the Champa Kindgom in central Vietnam, the region which Champa rice was named after.

Rice production and its subsequent technologies spread into southeastern China, primarily the Yangtze area. Champa rice disseminated from India to central Vietnam and into the Yangtze and Huai river valleys. Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty had previously experimented with early-ripening rice varieties and green lentils of India, which were purported to produce heavy yields and large seeds. Both were planted in his imperial garden and his ministers tasted and evaluated the products. A severe drought in the Yangtze and Huai river valleys occurred in the year 1012 and in response Emperor Zhendong ordered the drought-resistant Champa rice to be delivered to his kingdom. Envoys were sent to the Champa Kingdom of central Vietnam to retrieve 30,000 bushels of Champa rice. The Champa variety diffused slowly; by the end of the Song dynasty, Champa rice had been confined to Checkiang, Jiangsu, Fujian, and Jiangxi.

Agricultural progress halted during the 12th and 13th century wars between the Chinese and Juchens, who had conquered northern China. The resulting southward migration of the Chinese stopped rice exportation. The Mongol conquests during the Ming dynasty facilitated the spread of Champa rice to northern China. Rice accounted for nearly three-quarters of Chinese grain production during the 12th and 17th century and was grown primarily in the southern and central regions. Substitute grains such as maize, peanuts, and sweet potato were introduced in the northern regions and were used in times of famine or low crop yields.

Impacts

Etymology

Prior to the introduction of Champa Rice during the 12th century, the terms hsien and keng were nearly identical in definition in the Kuang-ya and Yu-p'ien, two standard dictionaries compiled during the 6th and 7th century, respectively. The first instance in which hsien and keng were differentiated on the basis of hsien's quick-maturing characteristics was in Lo Yuan's Erh-ya-i in 1174, 162 years after Champa was brought to China's mainland. In future references in literature, hsien and keng were distinguished by grain size, maturation rate, taste, or grain translucency.

Population Growth

Champa rice proved to be an integral factor in the growing agricultural success of ancient China. Due to its short growing period of 60-100 days, the rice fields could be reused for other crops following the harvest. Different varieties of rice could be grown on rotating fields, while other crops could be alternated in, such as wheat and other winter crops. The use of commercial fertilizers allowed farmers to use the same field multiple times without sacrificing soil fertility. Champa rice and other early-ripening varieties required less water than traditional varieties and could be grown on higher land and hilly slopes, which were fed by springs and rainwater.

Within 200 years of its introduction, Champa rice had allowed the hilly area of the lower Yangtze and Fukien to implement terraced paddies that provided sufficient water and soil conditions. The Yunnan Guizhou Plateau in southwest China required quick-maturing varieties of rice and terracing, as the landscape was highly vertical and had an insufficient water supply. In the Chengdu Plain of western China, Champa was utilized extensively, as it also thrived in low-altitude, non-vertical landscapes. The population in both regions grew extensively during the 13th and 14th century, aided by the Tuntian regime, which provided animals to farmers and assisted in the construction of hilltop paddies. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, farmers had developed cold-resistant varieties of Champa rice to be planted in late autumn or early winter known as 'cold Champa' or 'winter Champa'. Varieties with even shorter growth periods were also cultivated in response to the mid-summer floods of the Jiangsu flats. Districts in southwestern Checkiang developed a "fifty day" Champa rice, while a "forty-day" variety emerged from Hangzhou during the 18th century. These extremely quick-maturing rice varieties were distributed as aid to the victims of the Jiangsu floods of 1720 and 1834. The fertilizer-demanding keng varieties were replaced by hsien varieties such as Champa by the early 17th century.

China doubled its rice production between 1000 to 1800; by 1637, quick-maturing rice constituted 70% of China's cereal production. The remainder consisted of Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, maize, and peanuts, which were used in drier areas with poorer soil quality. By the 12th century, China's total population had exceeded 100 million for the first time largely due to the usage of quick-maturing rice. Champa rice's ability to be double-cropped and grown on higher land was the greatest factor in addressing China's food security problem during the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties. Double-cropping became increasingly profitable during the Song dynasty, as farmers were only taxed on their rice harvests and could produce untaxed yields of wheat or maize for profit by growing them during the rice's off season.