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90-593: Their economy has been based on wet rice cultivation for at least one thousand years. This system has been characterised "one of the most significant examples of 'agrarian civilizations' in West Africa ". However, the Jola probably reached the Lower Casamance region in the 14th century, assimilating the previous Bainuk people and their rice tradition. In colonial times, the Jola began to cultivate peanuts as

180-408: A cash crop in the drier forests. Other activities include palm wine tapping, honey collecting, livestock rearing and the production of other crops such as sweet potatoes, yams and watermelon. The traditional religion of the Jola is animism , which is practised through fetishistic rituals and ceremonies. However, the Jola populations living in well-connected areas have become Islamized due to

270-582: A jatigi , and no jatigi can be without a griot. However, the jatigi can loan his griot to another jatigi. In many Mande societies, the jeli was a historian, advisor, arbitrator, praise singer (patronage), and storyteller. They essentially served as history books, preserving ancient stories and traditions through song. Their tradition was passed down through generations. The name jeli means "blood" in Manika language . They were believed to have deep connections to spiritual, social, or political powers. Speech

360-433: A 'caste', a term that has come under increasing attack as a distortion of the social structure in the region. In the worst case, that difference meant burial for griots in trees rather than in the ground in order to avoid polluting the earth (Conrad and Frank 1995:4-7). Although these traditions are changing, griots and people of griot heritage still find it difficult to marry outside of their social group." This discrimination

450-410: A council of elders make many of the daily decisions for the community and exert much influence. Despite the patriarchal nature of Jola society, many women played major roles in the community and were often members in village councils, religious leaders, and landowners. Women are also important as cultivators of wet rice fields in which they predominated. Polygamy and genital mutilation are not practiced by

540-464: A domestication of the wild rice Oryza rufipogon by cultures associated with pre-Austronesian and Hmong-Mien-speakers. This occurred 13,500 to 8,200 years ago south of the Yangtze River in present-day China. There are two likely centers of domestication for rice as well as the development of the wet-field technology. The first is in the lower Yangtze River , believed to be the homelands of

630-624: A family name. Many chose a name based on some geographical feature associated with their residence or occupation, and as nearly three-fourths of the population were farmers, many made family names using ta . Some common examples are Tanaka ( 田中 ), literally meaning "in the paddy field;" Nakata ( 中田 ), "middle paddy field;" Kawada (川田), "river paddy field;" and Furuta ( 古田 ), "old paddy field." In recent years, rice consumption in Japan has fallen and many rice farmers are increasingly elderly. The government has subsidized rice production since

720-403: A family of kings or emperors, who were superior in status to the griots. All kings had griots, and all griots had kings, and most villages also had their own griot. A village griot would relate stories of topics including births, deaths, marriages, battles, hunts, affairs, and other life events. Griots have the main responsibility for keeping stories of the individual tribes and families alive in

810-559: A great deal of labor and materials to create and need large quantities of water for irrigation. Oxen and water buffalo , adapted for life in wetlands , are important working animals used extensively in paddy field farming. Paddy field farming remains the dominant form of growing rice in modern times. It is practiced extensively in Bangladesh , Cambodia , China , India , Indonesia , northern Iran , Japan , Laos , Malaysia , Mongolia , Myanmar , Nepal , North Korea , Pakistan ,

900-843: A locally made farming tool called the kajando . Like some of the other indigenous ethnic groups of the Senegambian region—the Baga, the Balanta , the Konyagi, etc.—the Jola ethnic group did not develop a political scale that expanded beyond village level compared to ethnic groups that migrated to the region like the Soninke and the Mandinka. But this does not mean they did not develop a sophisticated political system. The egalitarian nature of their societies (rare in most societies), structured around

990-419: A long neck, today are nylon fishing line. Before, they were made of palm tree roots (Jola language: kuhall kata kubekel ). The neck is a bamboo stick (Mandinka language: bangoe ) that passes through the calabash to the other side. A hole is made in the sound box to allow the sound to escape. The bridge of the ekonting is not fixed to its skin as many lutes are. It is free, and can be moved back and forth on

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1080-499: A newly irrigated paddy field, especially those made during or after the Edo period , may be called Nitta or Shinden (both 新田 ), "new paddy field." In some places, lakes and marshes were likened to a paddy field and were named with ta , like Hakkōda ( 八甲田 ). Today, many family names have ta as a component, a practice which can be largely attributed to a government edict in the early Meiji Period which required all citizens to have

1170-536: A possible environmental and commercial solution. The word "paddy" is derived from the Malay / Indonesian word padi , meaning "rice plant", which is itself derived from Proto-Austronesian *pajay ("rice in the field", "rice plant"). Cognates include Amis panay ; Tagalog pálay ; Kadazan Dusun paai ; Javanese pari ; and Chamorro faʻi , among others. Genetic evidence shows that all forms of paddy rice, including both indica and japonica , spring from

1260-459: A roaming spirit with no respect from the other spirits. Some Jola religious festivals include the Samay , Kumpo and Niasse . Unlike most ethnic groups of the Senegambian region, the Jola do not have a caste system of Jewelers griots , slaves , nobility , leather workers, etc. Their communities are based on extended clan settlements normally large enough to be given independent names, including

1350-482: A saying, statement . The Manding term ߖߋߟߌߦߊ jeliya (meaning "musicianhood") sometimes refers to the knowledge of griots, indicating the hereditary nature of the class. Jali comes from the root word ߖߊߟߌ jali or djali (blood). This is also the title given to griots in regions within the former Mali Empire . Though the term "griot" is more common in English, some, such as poet Bakari Sumano , prefer

1440-473: A sense, it has been unable to cope with population growth and other rice economies which utilized fertilizers. Rice is now grown in all the three seasons of Myanmar, though primarily in the Monsoon season – from June to October. Rice grown in the delta areas relies heavily on the river water and sedimented minerals from the northern mountains, whilst the rice grown in the central regions require irrigation from

1530-555: A traditional secular leader. The most prominent Jola kingdom is in Oussouye . Among the Muslim Jola, there is also the marabout , a religious leader and teacher. Traditional animist rituals are overseen by elders, who have an important role in Jola society. For Jola boys to attain manhood, they must take part in the initiation festival known as futamp , which takes place every 15 to 20 years in every Jola village. The word Jola

1620-526: Is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician. Instead of writing history books, oral historians tell stories of the past that they have memorized. Sometimes there are families of historians, and the oral histories are passed down from one generation to the next. Telling a story out loud allows the speaker to use poetic and musical conventions that entertain an audience. This has contributed to many oral histories surviving for hundreds of years without being written down. The griot

1710-554: Is a repository of oral tradition and is often seen as a leader due to their position as an advisor to members of the royal family . As a result of the former of these two functions, they are sometimes called bards . They also act as mediators in disputes. The word may derive from the French transliteration " guiriot " of the Portuguese word " criado ", or the masculine singular term for "servant." Griots are more predominant in

1800-482: Is a variation of the kora, and usually consists of fewer than five strings. Both have gourd bodies that act as resonator . The ngoni is also similar to these two instruments, with five or six strings. The balafon is a wooden xylophone , while the goje is a stringed instrument played with a bow , much like a fiddle . According to the Encyclopædia Britannica : "West African plucked lutes such as

1890-737: Is archaeological evidence that unhusked rice was stored for the military and for burial with the deceased from the Neolithic period to the Han dynasty in China. By the late Neolithic (3500 to 2500 BC), population in the rice cultivating centers had increased rapidly, centered around the Qujialing - Shijiahe and Liangzhu cultures. There was also evidence of intensive rice cultivation in paddy fields as well as increasingly sophisticated material cultures in these two regions. The number of settlements among

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1980-489: Is available, rice farmers typically plant Green Revolution rice varieties allowing three growing seasons per year. Since fertilizer and pesticide are relatively expensive inputs, farmers typically plant seeds in a very small plot. Three weeks following germination, the 15-20 centimetre (6–8 in) stalks are picked and replanted at greater separation, in a backbreaking manual procedure. Rice harvesting in Central Java

2070-666: Is based in Delaware and performs in the United States. Circa 2013, he performed in charity concerts for SOS Children's Villages in Chicago. As of 2023, Paco leads McDaniel College 's Student African Drum Ensemble. His own band is titled the Super Ngewel Emsemble. Concerning the goals of modern-day griot, Paco has stated: If you are griot, you have to flow your history and your family, because we have such

2160-665: Is considered the main rice growing province of the Philippines . The Banaue Rice Terraces are an example of paddy fields in the country. They are located in Banaue in Northern Luzon , Philippines and were built by the Ifugaos 2,000 years ago. Streams and springs found in the mountains were tapped and channeled into irrigation canals that run downhill through the rice terraces. Other notable Philippine paddy fields are

2250-463: Is determined by the variety and quality control of water. The tavy is traditionally the culture of flooded upland rice on burning of cleared natural rain forest (135,966 ha). Criticized as being the cause of deforestation, tavy is still widely practiced by farmers in Madagascar, who find a good compromise between climate risks, availability of labour and food security. By extension,

2340-418: Is divided into a variety of dialects which may not, at times, be mutually intelligible. These dialects correspond to the different Jola tribes: Overall, more than half of Jolas (54%) are Muslims. In Gambia, 90% of Jolas are Muslims. Some Jolas continue to follow their traditional religion and rituals in spite of the influence of Islam and Christianity in recent times. Even though some accepted Islam after

2430-457: Is found in some place names, especially small farming townships and villages. However, the specific Korean term for 'paddy' is a purely Korean word, "non" ( Korean :  논 ). In Madagascar , the average annual consumption of rice is 130 kg per person, one of the largest in the world. According to a 1999 study of UPDRS / FAO: The majority of rice is related to irrigation (1,054,381 ha). The choice of methods conditioning performance

2520-580: Is grown in Northern Italy, especially in the valley of the Po River . The paddy fields are irrigated by fast-flowing streams descending from the Alps . In the 19th century and much of the 20th century, the paddy fields were farmed by the mondine , a subculture of seasonal rice paddy workers composed mostly of poor women. The acidic soil conditions common in Japan due to volcanic eruptions have made

2610-430: Is now deemed illegal. In addition to being singers and social commentators, griots are often skilled instrumentalists. Their instruments include stringed instruments like the kora , the khalam (or xalam ), the ngoni , the kontigi , and the goje (or n'ko in the Mandinka language). Other instruments include the balafon , and the junjung . The kora is a long-necked lute -like instrument with 21 strings. The xalam

2700-548: Is often performed not by owners or sharecroppers of paddies, but rather by itinerant middlemen, whose small firms specialize in the harvest, transport, milling, and distribution of rice. The fertile volcanic soil of much of the Indonesian archipelago—particularly the islands of Java and Bali—has made rice a central dietary staple. Steep terrain on Bali resulted in complex irrigation systems, locally called subak , to manage water storage and drainage for rice terraces. Rice

2790-605: Is one of the most common functions of a griot. Their range of exposure has widened, and many griots now travel internationally to sing and play the kora or other instruments. Bakari Sumano , head of the Association of Bamako Griots in Mali from 1994 to 2003, was an internationally known advocate for the significance of the griot in West African society. Pape Demba "Paco" Samb , a Senegalese griot of Wolof ancestry,

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2880-428: Is rice cultivation, which is tied closely to their religion and social organization. Jolas are also palm oil manufacturers and palm wine tappers in the Senegambian region. They farm cows, pigs, goats, chickens, sheep and ducks. Jola crafts include basket weaving, pottery, and building. Elders are considered very important in Jola society and are believed to possess occult powers and guard societal traditions. In villages,

2970-506: Is the Mandinka name for this ethnic group and means 'payback', since Jolas are renowned for doing back what has been done to them, be it a good or a bad deed. The name of the Jola tribe in their own language is Ajamat (singular) or Ajamataw (plural). Diola is the traditional transliteration in French , which is also very common in English sources. The Jola speak the Jola language , which

3060-626: Is the largest in the world, only about 15% of its total land area can be cultivated. About 75% of the cultivated area is used for food crops. Rice is China's most important crop, raised on about 25% of the cultivated area. Most rice is grown south of the Huai River , in the Yangtze valley, the Zhu Jiang delta, and in Yunnan , Guizhou , and Sichuan provinces. Rice appears to have been used by

3150-887: The Comoros , and the coast of East Africa around the 1st millennium AD by Austronesian settlers from the Greater Sunda Islands . There are ten archaeologically excavated rice paddy fields in Korea. The two oldest are the Okhyun and Yaumdong sites, found in Ulsan , dating to the early Mumun pottery period . Paddy field farming goes back thousands of years in Korea. A pit-house at the Daecheon-ni site yielded carbonized rice grains and radiocarbon dates, indicating that rice cultivation in dry-fields may have begun as early as

3240-541: The Irrawaddy River . The fields are tilled when the first rains arrive – traditionally measured at 40 days after Thingyan , the Burmese New Year – around the beginning of June. In modern times, tractors are used, but traditionally, buffalos were employed. The rice plants are planted in nurseries and then transplanted by hand into the prepared fields. The rice is then harvested in late November – "when

3330-625: The Malaysian Peninsula , with most of the fields being located in the northern states such as Kedah , Perlis , Perak , and Penang . Paddy fields can also be found on Malaysia's east coast region, in Kelantan and Terengganu . The central state of Selangor also has its fair share of paddy fields, especially in the districts of Kuala Selangor and Sabak Bernam . Before Malaysia became heavily reliant on its industrial output, people were mainly involved in agriculture, especially in

3420-458: The Mande peoples ( Mandinka or Malinké , Bambara , Bwaba , Bobo , Dyula , Soninke etc.), Fulɓe ( Fula ), Hausa , Songhai , Tukulóor , Wolof , Serer , Mossi , Dagomba , Mauritanian Arabs , and many other smaller groups. There are other griots who have left their home country for another such as the United States or France and still maintain their role as a griot. Today, performing

3510-912: The Philippines , South Korea , Sri Lanka , Taiwan , Thailand , and Vietnam . It has also been introduced elsewhere since the colonial era, notably in northern Italy , the Camargue in France , and in Spain , particularly in the Albufera de València wetlands in the Valencian Community , the Ebro Delta in Catalonia and the Guadalquivir wetlands in Andalusia , as well as along

3600-552: The Philippines , bringing rice cultivation technologies with them. From Luzon, Austronesians rapidly colonized the rest of Maritime Southeast Asia , moving westwards to Borneo , the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra ; and southwards to Sulawesi and Java . By 500 BC, there is evidence of intensive wetland rice agriculture already established in Java and Bali , especially near very fertile volcanic islands. Rice did not survive

3690-583: The Spring and Autumn period (722–481 BC), two revolutionary improvements in farming technology took place. One was the use of cast iron tools and beasts of burden to pull plows, and the other was the large-scale harnessing of rivers and development of water conservation projects. Sunshu Ao of the 6th century BC and Ximen Bao of the 5th century BC are two of the earliest hydraulic engineers from China, and their works were focused upon improving irrigation systems. These developments were widely spread during

Jola people - Misplaced Pages Continue

3780-427: The konting , khalam , and the nkoni (which was noted by Ibn Baṭṭūṭah in 1353) may have originated in ancient Egypt. The khalam is claimed to be the ancestor of the banjo. Another long-necked lute is the ramkie of South Africa." Griots also wrote stories that children enjoyed listening to. These stories were passed down to their children. Many griots today live in many parts of West Africa and are present among

3870-452: The oral tradition , with the narrative accompanied by a musical instrument. They are an essential part of many West African events such as weddings, where they sing and share family history of the bride and groom. It is also their role to settle disputes and act as mediator in case of conflicts. Respect for and familiarity with the griot meant that they could approach both parties without being attacked, and initiate peace negotiations between

3960-470: The sacred Serer sites . [REDACTED] Media related to Diola at Wikimedia Commons Wet rice A paddy field is a flooded field of arable land used for growing semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro . It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in southern China, associated with pre-Austronesian and Hmong-Mien cultures. It

4050-523: The tanety , which literally means "hill," is also growing upland rice, carried out on the grassy slopes that have been deforested for the production of charcoal (139,337 ha). Among the many varieties, rice of Madagascar includes: Vary lava - a translucent long and large grain rice, considered a luxury rice; Vary Makalioka - a translucent long and thin grain rice; Vary Rojofotsy - a half-long grain rice; and Vary mena , or red rice, exclusive to Madagascar. Paddy fields can be found in most states on

4140-515: The 1970s, and favors protectionist policies regarding cheaper imported rice. Arable land in small alluvial flats of most rural river valleys in South Korea are dedicated to paddy-field farming. Farmers assess paddy fields for any necessary repairs in February. Fields may be rebuilt, and bund breaches are repaired. This work is carried out until mid-March, when warmer spring weather allows

4230-647: The Austronesian voyages into Micronesia and Polynesia ; however, wet-field agriculture was transferred to the cultivation of other crops, most notably for taro cultivation. The Austronesian Lapita culture also came into contact with the non-Austronesian ( Papuan ) early agriculturists of New Guinea and introduced wetland farming techniques to them. In turn, they assimilated their range of indigenous cultivated fruits and tubers before spreading further eastward to Island Melanesia and Polynesia . Rice and wet-field agriculture were also introduced to Madagascar ,

4320-742: The Batad Rice Terraces, the Bangaan Rice Terraces, the Mayoyao Rice Terraces and the Hapao Rice Terraces. Griot A griot ( / ˈ ɡ r iː oʊ / ; French: [ɡʁi.o] ; Manding : jali or jeli (in N'Ko : ߖߋ߬ߟߌ , djeli or djéli in French spelling); also spelt Djali ; Serer : kevel or kewel / okawul ; Wolof : gewel )

4410-636: The Early Neolithic populations of Lijiacun and Yunchanyan in China. Evidence of possible rice cultivation from ca. 11,500 BC has been found, however it is still questioned whether the rice was indeed being cultivated, or instead being gathered as wild rice. Bruce Smith, an archaeologist at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., who has written on the origins of agriculture, says that evidence has been mounting that

4500-629: The Early Mumun pottery period (c. 1100–850 BC). KUM has conducted excavations, that have revealed similarly dated paddy field features, at Yaeum-dong and Okhyeon, in modern-day Ulsan . The earliest Mumun features were usually located in low-lying narrow gullies, that were naturally swampy and fed by the local stream system. Some Mumun paddy fields in flat areas were made of a series of squares and rectangles, separated by bunds approximately 10 cm in height, while terraced paddy fields consisted of long irregular shapes that followed natural contours of

4590-499: The Jola Karon, Jola Mlomp, Jola Elinnkin, Jola Caginol, Jola Huluf, Jola Jamat, Jola Joheyt, Jola Bayot, Jola Brin, Jola Seleky, Jola Kabrouse, Jola Jiwat, and Jola Foni. Jolas are also able herbal medicine practitioners. Their high adaptation to nature and the environment allowed them to be able to create a civilisation centred on music, natural medicine, and most important of all, rice cultivation, which they do effectively by using

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4680-444: The Jola although outside influence has made these more common in certain villages. The ekonting is a three-string gourd instrument, the folk lute of the Jola people. It has an internal pass through body dowel stick with a round gourd body and its sound box is made of a hemispherical calabash, with a nailed goatskin. Before the invention of nails, palm tree thorns or wood pegs were used as nails. The three strings, which are attached to

4770-510: The Jola people of Casamance and the Gambia. Below is a list of few Jola instruments. Note: The Jola language of Thionck Essyl is used to name them. Their names may differ somewhat in other villages ' languages . The Jola are widely considered the first inhabitants of the lower reaches of the Casamance and Gambia rivers . The megaliths and stone circles of the area may have been built by

4860-604: The Middle Jeulmun pottery period (c. 3500–2000 BC) in the Korean Peninsula . Ancient paddy fields have been carefully unearthed in Korea by institutes such as Kyungnam University Museum (KUM) of Masan . They excavated paddy field features at the Geumcheon-ni Site near Miryang , South Gyeongsang Province . The paddy field feature was found next to a pit-house that is dated to the latter part of

4950-608: The Monsoon . The paddy cultivation plays a major role in socio-cultural life of rural India. Many regional festivals celebrate the harvest, such as Onam , Bihu , Thai Pongal , Makar Sankranti , and Nabanna . The Kaveri delta region of Thanjavur is historically known as the rice bowl of Tamil Nadu , and Kuttanadu is called the rice bowl of Kerala . Gangavathi is known as the rice bowl of Karnataka . Prime Javanese paddies yield roughly 6 metric tons of unmilled rice (2.5 metric tons of milled rice) per hectare . When irrigation

5040-688: The Soninke-Marabout war, they honour the traditional use of palm wine in their rituals. They have one God that they associate with the natural phenomena like sky, rain, and the year, Emit or Ata Emit, literally, "To Whom Belongs The Universe" or "The Master-Owner Of The Universe". They have charms and sacred precincts that they honour and with which they communicate (but do not worship). The Jola people believe that spirits called Bakin or Eneerti (Mandinka Jalang ) can protect their families, their villages, and their rice fields; and can even protect them from conversion to Islam and Christianity. Before

5130-402: The Yangtze cultures and their sizes increased, leading some archeologists to characterize them as true states , with clearly advanced socio-political structures. However, it is unknown if they had centralized control. In the terminal Neolithic (2500 to 2000 BC), Shijiahe shrank in size, and Liangzhu disappeared altogether. This is largely believed to be the result of the southward expansion of

5220-513: The Yangtze was probably the site of the earliest rice cultivation. In 1998, Crawford & Shen reported that the earliest of 14 AMS or radiocarbon dates on rice from at least nine Early to Middle Neolithic sites is no older than 7000 BC, that rice from the Hemudu and Luojiajiao sites indicates that rice domestication likely began before 5000 BC, but that most sites in China from which rice remains have been recovered are younger than 5000 BC. During

5310-500: The Yangtze, but by 1250, 75% of China's population lived south of it. Such large-scale internal migration was possible due to introduction of quick-ripening strains of rice from Vietnam suitable for multi-cropping. Famous rice paddies in China include the Longsheng Rice Terraces and the fields of Yuanyang County, Yunnan . India has the largest paddy output in the world and is also the largest exporter of rice in

5400-474: The ancestors of the Serer people or of the Jola. Around the 11th century, in response to a progressively drying climate, Jola farmers created a padi system for growing rice, impounding rain and stream water during the wet season in padis. The Serer and Jola people believe in a common ancestry and have a joking relationship with each other which they assign to their ancient shared cultural heritage. According to

5490-454: The arc's string, while the other hand holds one end of the arc and adjusts the tune with the thumb. The other end of the arc rests in the mouth of the player, who sings. The vibration from the player's song on the string of the arc and the beating with the fine flexible string leads to the pleasant and characteristic sound of the galire. The exile of young people to cities has led to the stark decline in usage of this traditional instrument among

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5580-532: The archaeological site of Matsutaka in Mie Prefecture that dates to the late 2nd century. Ta ( 田 ) is used as a part of many place names as well as in many family names. Most of these places are somehow related to the paddy field and, in many cases, are based on the history of a particular location. For example, where a river runs through a village, the place east of the river may be called Higashida ( 東田 ), literally "east paddy field." A place with

5670-693: The area along and the delta of the Kaladan River , and the Central plains around Mandalay , though there has been an increase in rice farming in Shan State and Kachin State in recent years. Up until the later 1960s, Myanmar was the main exporter of rice. Termed the rice basket of Southeast Asia, much of the rice grown in Myanmar does not rely on fertilizers and pesticides, thus, although "organic" in

5760-589: The early Sino-Tibetan Longshan culture . Fortifications like walls (as well as extensive moats in Liangzhu cities) are common features in settlements during this period, indicating widespread conflict. This period also coincides with the southward movement of rice-farming cultures to the Lingnan and Fujian regions, as well as the southward migrations of the Austronesian, Kra-Dai, and Austroasiatic -speaking peoples to Mainland Southeast Asia and Island Southeast Asia . The spread of japonica rice cultivation and paddy field agriculture to Southeast Asia started with

5850-476: The eastern coast of Brazil , the Artibonite Valley in Haiti , Sacramento Valley in California , and West Lothian in Scotland among other places. Paddy cultivation should not be confused with cultivation of deepwater rice , which is grown in flooded conditions with water more than 50 cm (20 in) deep for at least a month. Global paddies' emissions account for at least 10% of global methane emissions . Drip irrigation systems have been proposed as

5940-471: The ensuing Warring States period (403–221 BC), culminating in the enormous Du Jiang Yan Irrigation System engineered by Li Bing by 256 BC for the State of Qin in ancient Sichuan . During the Eastern Jin (317–420) and the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420–589), land-use became more intensive and efficient, rice was grown twice a year and cattle began to be used for plowing and fertilization . By about 750, 75% of China's population lived north of

6030-404: The farmer to buy or grow rice seedlings. They are transplanted (usually by rice transplanter ) from the indoors into freshly flooded paddy fields in May. Farmers tend and weed their paddy fields through the summer until around the time of Chuseok , a traditional holiday held on 15 August of the Lunar Calendar (circa mid-September on the Solar Calendar). The harvest begins in October. Coordinating

6120-399: The harvest can be challenging because many Korean farmers have small paddy fields in a number of locations around their villages, and modern harvesting machines are sometimes shared between extended family members. Farmers usually dry the harvested grains in the sun before bringing them to market. The Hanja character for 'field', jeon ( Korean :  전 ; Hanja :  田 ),

6210-437: The hostile parties. Francis Bebey writes about the griot in African Music, A People's Art : The West African griot is a troubadour, the counterpart of the medieval European minstrel... The griot knows everything that is going on... He is a living archive of the people's traditions... The virtuoso talents of the griots command universal admiration. This virtuosity is the culmination of long years of study and hard work under

6300-444: The influence of Islam and Christianity in their ways of beliefs, all Jolas placed great respect in the proper observation of funeral ceremony, and still today some do, for they are of the belief that it enables the dead person's soul to go to its final destination to join his or her ancestors. It was and still is strongly accepted by those Jolas who still practice their ancestral religion that without performing these funeral sacred rites,

6390-412: The influence of the nearby Mandinka people . As a result, many Jola no longer speak their own language and more than half are now Muslims. Unlike the dominant cultures of West Africa, most Jola communities lack any social or political stratification, being organised into families or neighbourhoods. However, some communities have a central authority, a king, whose role resembles more that of a priest than of

6480-636: The land at various levels. Mumun Period rice farmers used all of the elements that are present in today's paddy fields, such as terracing, bunds, canals, and small reservoirs. We can grasp some paddy-field farming techniques of the Middle Mumun (c. 850–550 BC), from the well-preserved wooden tools excavated from archaeological rice fields at the Majeon-ni Site. However, iron tools for paddy-field farming were not introduced until sometime after 200 BC. The spatial scale of paddy-fields increased, with

6570-511: The legend of Jambooñ and Againe (an ancient Serer and Jola legend), two sisters boarded a pirogue with their parties. Due to act of nature , the pirogue broke into half at the Point of Sangomar . Those who headed south became the ancestors of the Jola (descendants of Agaire) and those who headed north became the ancestors of the Serer people (descendants of Jambooñ). The Point of Sangomar is one of

6660-720: The limited village environment gave them the possibilities to develop a political system based on collective consciousness, which they worked through their initiation rites. In a sense, the Jolas' political achievement in the village was socialism. It was totally tied to their religious belief in the Bakin. This political achievement is not easy to reach if the society that runs it does not have well-defined rules of administration and penalties. Jolas have many traditional economic activities like fishing, farming groundnuts, tapping palm wine, and processing palm oil: their most intensive economic activity

6750-572: The migrations of the Austronesian Dapenkeng culture into Taiwan between 3500 and 2000 BC. The Nanguanli site in Taiwan, dated to ca. 2800 BC, has yielded numerous carbonized remains of both rice and millet in waterlogged conditions, indicating intensive wetland rice cultivation and dryland millet cultivation. From about 2000 to 1500 BC, the Austronesian expansion began, with settlers from Taiwan moving south to migrate to Luzon in

6840-700: The northern portions of West Africa. In African languages, griots are referred to by a number of names: ߖߋ߬ߟߌ jèli in northern Mande areas, jali in southern Mande areas, guewel in Wolof , kevel or kewel or okawul in Serer , gawlo 𞤺𞤢𞤱𞤤𞤮 in Pulaar (Fula) , iggawen in Hassaniyan , arokin in Yoruba , and diari or gesere in Soninke . Some of these may derive from Arabic قَول qawl -

6930-419: The paddy field the most productive farming method. Paddy fields are represented by the kanji 田 (commonly read as ta or as den ) that has had a strong influence on Japanese culture. In fact, the character 田 , which originally meant 'field' in general, is used in Japan exclusively to refer to paddy fields. One of the oldest samples of writing in Japan is widely credited to the kanji 田 found on pottery at

7020-696: The pre-Austronesians and possibly also the Kra-Dai , and associated with the Kuahuqiao , Hemudu , Majiabang , Songze , Liangzhu , and Maquiao cultures . The second is in the middle Yangtze River, believed to be the homelands of the early Hmong-Mien speakers and associated with the Pengtoushan , Nanmuyuan , Liulinxi , Daxi , Qujialing , and Shijiahe cultures . Both of these regions were heavily populated and had regular trade contacts with each other, as well as with early Austroasiatic speakers to

7110-586: The production of rice. It was for that reason, that people usually built their houses next to paddy fields. The very spicy chili pepper that is often eaten in Malaysia, the bird's eye chili , is locally called cili padi , literally "paddy chili". Some research pertaining to Rainfed lowland rice in Sarawak has been reported. Rice is grown in Myanmar primarily in three areas – the Irrawaddy Delta ,

7200-749: The regular use of iron tools, in the Three Kingdoms of Korea Period (c. AD 300/400-668). The first paddy fields in Japan date to the Early Yayoi period (300 BC – 250 AD). The Early Yayoi has been re-dated, and based on studies of early Japanese paddy formations in Kyushu it appears that wet-field rice agriculture in Japan was directly adopted from the Lower Yangtze river basin in Eastern China. Although China's agricultural output

7290-655: The rice bends with age". Most of the rice planting and harvesting is done by hand. The rice is then threshed and stored, ready for the mills. In Nepal, rice (Nepali: धान, Dhaan) is grown in the Terai and hilly regions. It is mainly grown during the summer monsoon in Nepal . Paddy fields are a common sight in the Philippines. Several vast paddy fields exist in the provinces of Ifugao , Nueva Ecija , Isabela , Cagayan , Bulacan , Quezon , and other provinces. Nueva Ecija

7380-414: The skin of the sound box and it is always held in position by the pressure of the strings when it is in playing position. The galire is a one-string instrument of the Jola of Thionck-Essyl, with its strings stretched across a single 1-meter curve made of fine mangrove wood. At first sight, it looks like a hunter's bow. It is played with one hand holding a flexible fine string (made of palm leaves) beating on

7470-485: The soul is prevented from entering the presence of the creator (Ata Amit), and the ancestors. Jolas believed strongly in living a good humanistic life in this world. They believe that if one lives a bad life in this world, when the person dies the soul of the dead person is punished to become an exile spirit with no bed to lie on. In the Jola Cassa subgroup this exile spirit is called a Holowa . This exile spirit becomes

7560-421: The term jeli . Today, the term and spelling "djali" is often preferred, as noted by American poet Amiri Baraka and Congolese filmmaker Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda . Historically, Griots form an endogamous professionally specialised group or caste , meaning that most of them only marry fellow griots, and pass on the storytelling tradition down the family line. In the past, a family of griots would accompany

7650-420: The tuition of a teacher who is often a father or uncle. The profession is by no means a male prerogative. There are many women griots whose talents as singers and musicians are equally remarkable. The Mali Empire ( Malinke Empire ), at its height in the middle of the 14th century, extended from central Africa (today's Chad and Niger ) to West Africa (today's Mali , Burkina Faso and Senegal ). The empire

7740-640: The west, and early Kra-Dai speakers to the south, facilitating the spread of rice cultivation throughout southern China. The earliest paddy field found dates to 4330 BC, based on carbon dating of grains of rice and soil organic matter found at the Chaodun site in Kunshan . At Caoxieshan, a site of the Neolithic Majiabang culture , archaeologists excavated paddy fields. Some archaeologists claim that Caoxieshan may date to 4000–3000 BC. There

7830-420: The world as of 2020. In India, West Bengal is the largest rice producing state. Paddy fields are a common sight throughout India, both in the northern Gangetic Plains and the southern peninsular plateaus. Paddy is cultivated at least twice a year in most parts of India, the two seasons being known as Rabi and Kharif respectively. The former cultivation is dependent on irrigation, while the latter depends on

7920-467: Was believed to have power in its capacity to recreate history and relationships. Despite the authority of griots and the perceived power of their songs, griots are not treated as positively in West Africa as may be assumed. Thomas A. Hale wrote, "Another [reason for ambivalence towards griots] is an ancient tradition that marks them as a separate people categorized all too simplistically as members of

8010-636: Was founded by Sundiata Keita , whose exploits remain celebrated in Mali today. In the Epic of Sundiata , Naré Maghann Konaté offered his son Sundiata Keita a griot, Balla Fasséké , to advise him in his reign. Balla Fasséké is considered the founder of the Kouyaté line of griots that exists to this day. Each aristocratic family of griots accompanied a higher-ranked family of warrior-kings or emperors, called jatigi . In traditional culture, no griot can be without

8100-470: Was spread in prehistoric times by the expansion of Austronesian peoples to Island Southeast Asia , Madagascar , Melanesia , Micronesia , and Polynesia . The technology was also acquired by other cultures in mainland Asia for rice farming, spreading to East Asia , Mainland Southeast Asia , and South Asia . Fields can be built into steep hillsides as terraces or adjacent to depressed or steeply sloped features such as rivers or marshes . They require

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