Heinz-Murray 2E.book

28 Part I: Land and Language

yellow in their dried-out fields, and then wither away. If the monsoons are

overgenerous, the waters will rise until the ridges separating fields disappear,

and the rice drowns.

Rice, Dry and Wet

Monsoon Asia is the natural habitat for rice. “Monsoon Asia”—the por-

tions of Asia dominated by the wet–dry pattern described in the last section—is

not the whole of Asia, by any means. In the equatorial islands of Indonesia, rain

falls more or less evenly throughout the year, and little seasonal variation can be

detected. And of course the mountainous regions of Tibet and the arid regions

to the north are outside “monsoon Asia.” But India, mainland Southeast Asia,

the lower, eastern regions of China, Korea, Manchuria, and southern Japan are

all influenced by the monsoons. In monsoon Asia, rice is the single most impor-

tant crop, covering one-third of the total cultivated area. Parts of monsoon Asia

have longer dry and weaker wet seasons, and so grains like wheat, millet, and

sorghum are more reliable crops. You can draw an imaginary line north–south

in India, leaving the southern tip of India and Sri Lanka on the eastern side; to

the west is wheat, to the east is rice cultivation. You can draw another line east–

west across China north of a rough line lying between the Yangzi and the Yel-

low Rivers. South is rice cultivation, north is millet and wheat.

Map 1.5 Arrival of monsoons in Asia.

Guangzhou

Manila

New Delhi

Teheran Tokyo

Beijing

Moscow

Summer Monsoons

Winter

Monsoons

Asian

Monsoons

late May

early Julyearly Julyearly July June

late May

early June

Him

alayas

Tibetan

Plateau

June

De

Gobi

Desert