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When the time came to plant, a Chinese farmer would have hundreds of different varieties to choose from.
一旦到了種植季節，中國的農民就需要在100多種稻種之中選出適合今年種植的稻種。
each of which offered a slightly different trade-off, between yield and, say, how quickly it grew, or how well it did in times of drought, or how it fared in poor soils.
因為每種稻種在收益上都會有輕微的不同，所以農民需要衡量不同稻種在產量上的差異和成長速度上的快慢、遇干旱時的長勢或在貧瘠土地上的長勢。
A farmer might plant a dozen or more different varieties at one time, adjusting the mix from season to season in order to manage the risk of a crop failure.
一個農民可能會同時播種12種甚至更多種類的稻子，來平衡季節以及氣候將給稻田收成帶來的影響，降低播種失敗所帶來的風險。
He or she (or more accurately, the whole family, since rice agriculture was a family affair) would plant the seed in a specially prepared seedbed.
農夫或農婦（實際上，一般都是整個家庭在參與，因為種植稻谷是整個家庭的事務）將根據不同的品種選擇特定的種床來培植稻種。
After a few weeks, the seedlings would be transplanted into the field, in carefully space rows six inches apart, and then painstakingly nurtured.
經過幾個星期的培植之后，稻種將被轉移到田地里，每壟地間隔6英寸，然后辛苦的勞作就此拉開序幕。
Weeding was done by hand, diligently and unceasingly, because the seedlings could easily be choked by other plant life.
手工除草的工作必須一直持續，不能停下來，因為一旦養料被其他的植物吸收了，種子就會因缺少養料而死掉。
Sometimes each rice shoot would be individually groomed, with a bamboo comb to clear away insects.
有些時候有些稻穗還需要用竹刷梳理，以便驅趕害蟲。
All the while, farmers had to check an recheck water levels, and make sure the water didn't get too hot in the summer sun.
除此之外，農民們還需要不斷檢測稻田的水位是否合適，以確保夏季里的水溫不會太高。
And when the rice ripened, farmers gathered all their friends and relatives and, in one coordinated burst, harvested it as quickly as possible,
當稻田成熟的時候，農民們經常找親戚朋友來幫忙收割，同時進行第二次播種，
so that they can get the second crop in and harvest it before the winter dry season began.
為此可以在冬天來臨之前得到一年中的第二次收成。
Breakfast in south China, at least for those who could afford it, is congee- white rice porridge with lettuce and dace paste and bamboo shoots.
在中國的南方，人們的早餐通常都以稀粥為主，白米粥配上萵苣、小咸魚和筍絲。
Lunch is more congee. Dinner is rice with "toppings."
午餐就是喝過多的粥而已。晚飯則是米飯加菜。
Rice was what you sold at the market to buy the other necessities of life.
大米通常都拿到市場上去賣，以換取其他的生活必需品。
It was how wealth and status were measured.It dictated almost every working moment of everyday.
在當地，大米是衡量財富和地位的一種標準，它揭示了人們每天的工作程度。
"Rice is life," says the anthropologist Goncalo Santos, who has studies traditional south Chinese village.
“民以食為天，”一位研究中國傳統的南方鄉鎮生活的人類學家孔卡洛·桑托斯（Goncalo Santos）說道，
"Without rice, you don't survive. If you want to be anyone in this part of China, you would have to have rice. It made the world go around."
“沒有糧食，你就無法存活，如果你想在中國的南方取得某種社會地位，你就必須擁有很多糧食，糧食使社會運轉。”
