The Cultivation of Rice
The most important contribution of the Malays to the animistic theory of
vegetation is perhaps to be found in the many strange ceremonies with which
they surround the culture of Rice. In order to properly understand the
significance of these ceremonies, however, a proper understanding of the Malay
system of rice-planting is essential, and I therefore quote in extenso a description
of rice-culture, which possesses the additional interest of being translated from
the composition of a Malay:^186 —
“It is the established custom in Malacca territory to plant rice once a year, and
the season for doing so generally falls about the month of Zilkaʿidah or
Zilhijah.^187
“In starting planting operations, however, the object is, if possible, to coincide
with the season when the West wind blows, because at that time there are
frequent rains, and accordingly the earth of the rice-field becomes soft and easy
to plough. Moreover, in planting rice it is an invariable rule that there must be
water in the field, in order that the rice may sprout properly; though, on the other
hand, if there is too great a depth of water the rice is sure to die. It has also been
observed that as a rule the season of the West wind coincides with the fourth
month^188 of the Chinese calendar, and sometimes also with the month of
Zilkaʿidah or Zilhijah.^189