When the time came to plant, a Chinese farmer would have hundreds of different varieties to choose from.

一旦到了种植季节，中国的农民就需要在100多种稻种之中选出适合今年种植的稻种。

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.

因为每种稻种在收益上都会有轻微的不同，所以农民需要衡量不同稻种在产量上的差异和成长速度上的快慢、遇干旱时的长势或在贫瘠土地上的长势。

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.

一个农民可能会同时播种12种甚至更多种类的稻子，来平衡季节以及气候将给稻田收成带来的影响，降低播种失败所带来的风险。

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.

农夫或农妇（实际上，一般都是整个家庭在参与，因为种植稻谷是整个家庭的事务）将根据不同的品种选择特定的种床来培植稻种。

After a few weeks, the seedlings would be transplanted into the field, in carefully space rows six inches apart, and then painstakingly nurtured.

经过几个星期的培植之后，稻种将被转移到田地里，每垄地间隔6英寸，然后辛苦的劳作就此拉开序幕。

Weeding was done by hand, diligently and unceasingly, because the seedlings could easily be choked by other plant life.

手工除草的工作必须一直持续，不能停下来，因为一旦养料被其他的植物吸收了，种子就会因缺少养料而死掉。

Sometimes each rice shoot would be inpidually groomed, with a bamboo comb to clear away insects.

有些时候有些稻穗还需要用竹刷梳理，以便驱赶害虫。

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，农民们还需要不断检测稻田的水位是否合适，以确保夏季里的水温不会太高。

And when the rice ripened, farmers gathered all their friends and relatives and, in one coordinated burst, harvested it as quickly as possible,

当稻田成熟的时候，农民们经常找亲戚朋友来帮忙收割，同时进行第二次播种，

so that they can get the second crop in and harvest it before the winter dry season began.

为此可以在冬天来临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.

在中国的南方，人们的早餐通常都以稀粥为主，白米粥配上莴苣、小咸鱼和笋丝。

Lunch is more congee. Dinner is rice with "toppings."

午餐就是喝过多的粥而已。晚饭则是米饭加菜。

Rice was what you sold at the market to buy the other necessities of life.

大米通常都拿到市场上去卖，以换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.

在当地，大米是衡量财富和地位的一种标准，它揭示了人们每天的工作程度。

"Rice is life," says the anthropologist Goncalo Santos, who has studies traditional south Chinese village.

“民以食为天，”一位研究中国传统的南方乡镇生活的人类学家孔卡洛·桑托斯（Goncalo Santos）说道，

"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."

“没有粮食，你就无法存活，如果你想在中国的南方取得某种社会地位，你就必须拥有很多粮食，粮食使社会运转。”