<書評論文>マレー半島における稲作の展開とその地域性

Abstract

Rice in Malaya aims to relate the historical changes and regional diversity of rice cultivation in the Malay Peninsula to the geographical and socioeconomic situation there from prehistoric times to the beginning of the twentieth century. Rice in the prehistoric and early historic cultures of Southeast Asia is described in the first two chapters, which cite archaeological and historical evidence for the age and area of origination of rice cultivation and its spread to the Malay Peninsula. Rice cultivation had become widespread throughout the peninsula by the beginning of the nineteenth century, and chapter 3 illustrates the cycle of operations involved in shifting, semipermanent and permanent cultivation at that time. It also describes land tenure and the gradual changes in the concept of land as real property in Malayan society. As a means to understand the diversity of development of rice cultivation, the author proposes that four major regions of rice cultivation emerged between the nineteenth and the early twentieth century. The first is the northern region centered upon Kedah, the colonized lands of Penang and Province Wellesley, and Kelantan, Trengganu. Perak, apart from the tin-mining areas in the south, is also included and offers a fine example of development under British rule. Second, the southern region includes the plain of Malacca, which is largely non-Minangkabau in its techniques, tradition and law, together with the contrasting Minangkabau lands of Negri Sembilan. The third region, which includes southern Perak, the whole of Selangor and Pahang, comprised the 'marches' areas, where rice-growing was of little importance. The fourth region, that of the hill peoples, was only partly known during the nineteenth century. The remaining chapters focus mainly on the northern and southern centers of rice cultivation, dealing with the traditional or common cultivation methods and their distribution; acreages of paddy fields, with many statistical data on land-ownership and the races engaged in rice-growing; the socioeconomic background; and schemes for expansion of rice cultivation, the motives behind them and the fates they met. The discussion on the expansion of cultivated area in relation to the regional pattern of economic development in a colonized area indicates that large-scale development succeeded more often under Malay initiative than British. Finally, the author proposes a typological scheme which comprehends all the spatial patterns of rice-growing in the Malay Peninsula. The scheme could be used to classify the ecotypically varied pattern of rice-growing, but difficulty remains in its application to evolutional development, because multi-ancestral and different types of rice-growing were introduced into the peninsula in different ages and in different areas. On the origin and dispersion of cultivated rice in the Malay Peninsula and adjacent areas, a more detailed and precise theory should be provided by recent studies in this field. Throughout this volume, the author has successfully combined geographical and historical approaches in depicting rice in Malaya.