How should we understand the saying "The rice will turn green quickly when the seedlings wither" correctly?

(Baothanhhoa.vn) - This is a popular proverb, widely circulated, and recorded in many dictionaries and books.

- Vietnamese Proverb Dictionary (Nguyen Duc Duong) explains: "If the rice seedlings are left to wither (before being planted), the rice will quickly turn green."

- Dictionary of Vietnamese idioms and proverbs (Vu Dung-Vu Thuy Anh-Vu Quang Hao): “Withered rice seedlings, the rice will quickly turn green [Withered rice seedlings, the rice will quickly turn green]. An experience in farming: yellow (withered) seedlings are old, strong, when planted in the field, they will quickly take root, and the rice will grow well.”

- The book 1575 idioms and proverbs that need further discussion (Le Gia) explains: “When the seedlings are withered, the rice will quickly turn green, the seedling will be fertile, why don’t you care: “Withered seedlings”: seedlings are pulled up and left for a long time, the leaves have started to turn yellow, and when they are planted, the rice will quickly turn green because at that time the roots will no longer have to nourish those yellow leaves but will focus on the seedlings, making the seedlings grow new shoots, sprouting new green leaves. Therefore, people have to pull the seedlings the day before, sometimes leaving them for 3 or 4 days, then transplanting. Especially in high fields with sandy soil, the first few days the seedlings are so dry that they can be burned, but only a few days later the rice plants will become surprisingly green.”

In our opinion, Nguyen Duc Duong's understanding that "If the seedlings are left to wilt (before planting), the rice will quickly turn green", or Le Gia's understanding that "the seedlings must be pulled out the day before, sometimes left for 3 or 4 days, before planting", has no scientific or practical basis.

What is "withered" plating?

The seedlings are sown in temporary fields, and when they are ready to be transplanted, people pull them up or dig them up. With digging up seedlings (called “dún” in Thanh Hoa dialect), the seedlings are usually duân as they are transplanted. As for pulled seedlings, because this step takes a lot of work, people have to pull them up in advance and bundle them into bundles. If the pulled seedlings are transplanted in time, after a short period of time, the leaves will wither and shrivel (about a session or a day), and overnight to the next day, the rice plants will absorb water, then take root and turn green, sprouting new leaves, without going through the yellow leaf stage.

However, if unfortunately after the seedlings are pulled out, it rains heavily, the water in the field is too deep, or there is a drought for a week, the seedlings have to wait in the field. People have to arrange the seedlings in a shady place and water them daily to keep them moist.

When the seedlings are pulled out, their roots are broken. If they are not transplanted in time, the leaves will start to turn yellow. If left for a while, they will look like dead seedlings. However, in reality, only the old leaves of the seedlings will turn yellow, while the stem and the inner part of the seedlings will remain green, while the new roots will start to crack and grow white. Accordingly, “yellow seedlings” cannot be understood as “yellow seedlings are old and hard”, as explained by Vu Dung’s group (hard seedlings, leaves have the yellow color of ginger leaves, turmeric leaves).

When the wilted rice seedlings are transplanted, because they do not have to go through the initial wilting stage, and have new roots, they take root and grow green, producing new leaves immediately. That makes people feel like "the rice is greening faster". While in fact, the rice seedlings have to wait in the field for too long, which will affect the growth process, the rice plants will "get sick again", the recovery time cannot be as good or fast as when the seedlings are pulled out and transplanted promptly. Scholar Roberquain himself in the book Thanh Hoa Province was very astute when commenting on the rice cultivation techniques of Thanh Hoa farmers as follows: "If there is a lack of rain, this work must last until early September, but it is usually completed by mid-August because if the rice is planted late, it is often sparse and the harvest is poor. After being pulled up and transplanted elsewhere, the seedlings wilt, requiring meticulous care to gain strength"...

Thus, the reason why there is the saying "Withered rice seedlings quickly grow green rice", or the song "Withered rice seedlings quickly grow green rice/ A fertile girl, why are you indifferent", is because people use this somewhat "exaggerated" way of speaking to convey an experience: withered rice seedlings are not discarded; withered rice seedlings still have their advantages, which is to take root immediately, just like "rich girls", "rich girls" will easily give birth to children; similar to the saying "Old wife sweet soup", or "Fortunate to marry an old wife, clean house, clean house and sweet soup".

Man Nong (CTV)

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/nen-hieu-cau-ma-ua-cay-lua-chong-xanh-nbsp-nhu-the-nao-cho-dung-253021.htm