Switzerland is a hub for commodity trading. Did you know that this activity represents 4% of Swiss GDP, and even 22% of tax revenue for the canton of Geneva This week focus on rice. We delve into legends regarding rice. We are also given the opportunity to admire a painting entitled: Emperor Watching the Rice Harvest by Morimura Gito (Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery).
Myths and legends in China
In many countries, there are a myriad of myths and legends regarding rice. Discover some anecdotes regarding it.
In China
In China, there are many legends. One of these legends attests that a goddess traveled all the cardinal points, overwhelmed by hunger. After a while, she met a weed and undressed in front of her. The thorn dropped drops of milk, and the goddess gave it drops of blood in return. From there was born the rice: white on the inside and red on the outside.
to java
In Java, it is said that fruit plants sprung from the corpse of a young girl: Rice came out of the navel, branches of coconut palms grew out of the head and sex. Ripe fruits hang from his hands and more fruits fall from his legs.
Let’s enjoy admiring a painting: Emperor watching the rice harvest by Morimura Gito (Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery), dating from 1930.
Emperor Watching the Rice Harvest by Morimura Gito
The painting we present to you today is on display at the Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery, which commemorates the “imperial virtues” of Emperor Meiji of Japan. Among the eighty paintings on display is that of the emperor looking at the rice harvest (image above), thereby attesting to its importance in royal life.
For more rice trivia:
Raw materials, from a different angle – 10. Rice
In the same series, “Raw materials and art”:
- Cereals and Van Gogh
- Coffee and culture
- Cotton and Edgar Degas
- Cocoa and Luis Meléndez
- Sugar and Sartre
- Copper and Chardin
- Steel and Gayle Hermick
- Corn and Jean Mortel
- Biogas and Victor Hugo
- Hydrogen and the aerostatic globe
- The wind, Da Vinci and Monnet
- The Sun and Firedrich
- L’or et Klimt
- Barley and Antiquity
- Le soja et Seikei Zusetsu
- L’aluminium et Jule Verne
Sources: Novarroz; Rice Myths and Legends – UNESCO Digital Library
Photo credit : Yoshina Morimura (1872–1938), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons