A fascinating story of a subject central to South-East Asian cultures, this book shows how rice shapes the landscapes that the people of South-East Asia see around them and how it contributes to the ordering of their lives. Not only is rice the staple food in most of the region, but the rice-farm determines the rhythm of the year as its major ceremonials mark the changing seasons. Not surprisingly, rice has come to represent fertility, and folk beliefs about how to farm and store rice and their associated rituals are a corner-stone of South-East Asian cultures. In this highly illustrated work, Jacqueline M. Piper details the tremendous impact rice growing has made on the land over millennia, converting mountain, hill, and valley to rice-fields, and providing, through the implements of rice cultivation, many opportunities for craftsmanship, design, and decoration.