Nightshade, Cordia dichotoma, and taro enter the songs; "Wild Lotus Leaves the Village" sings of rural food heritage

(Continued from previous article) When Taiwan, China joined the WTO in 2002, the Labor Exchange Band created "March of the Night Chrysanthemums," with Lin Sheng-xiang singing the elegy of rural transformation, and lyricist Zhong Yong-feng profoundly writing out the farmers' lament. 18 years later, the two collaborated again on "Wild Lotus Leaves the Village," paying tribute to rural life in the post-WTO era.

Zhong Yong-feng observed that the way rural areas sought alternative outlets was not by planting internationalized crops, but by finding a native aquatic wild vegetable: wild lotus. "I wanted to describe a rural life closer to the self through writing about food and plants, and that became the album 'Wild Lotus Leaves the Village.'"

The following content is presented as a first-person oral account from Zhong Yong-feng's interview.

"Taro Cake," discussing the rural ecology in children's rhymes, and the mother's love invested in food

As just mentioned, Meinong would not give up good land to crops other than rice. Meinong grows betel nut taro, which needs a lot of water, but they do not want it to take up too much rice paddy area, so it is commonly seen at the foot of mountains or on irregular plots below road embankments. In these places with a big drop from the ground level, where water flows year-round, women plant some taro.

These places usually also have loaches, eels, water snakes, and white-breasted waterhens, so the places where taro is planted are actually small ecological habitats, also accompanied by some fireflies, dragonflies, and butterflies. These ecological experiences became the subject matter of many rural children's rhymes.

Moreover, taro cake is made during the Ghost Festival in Meinong customs, used to "worship ancestors and good brothers." Many taro cakes made in the communal kitchens are made very thick, actually so that the children who return home to pay respects can take some back with them. During the Ghost Festival when we go back, we all get a very thick piece. I later felt this seems like a kind of mother's blessing, heavy, like a spiritual ballast stone, allowing children who travel far to go far and go steadily.

"Taro Cake"

Ghost Festival, the grain, oh the grain is dressed up
Mother quickens her step, the big stove steams taro cake
In the hall, we worship, oh we worship the ancestors
Taro fragrance hooks the nose, good brothers cross to deliver the lonely (: to hook and string together)

The wagtail, flies, oh flies over the ridge
Mother's heart, hopes her child returns to taste
Taro cake, thick, oh thick year after year
Like a stone pressing the boat, steady in travel and far in journey

"Monochoria vaginalis without Hollow Stems," "Black Nightshade," "Pigeon Pea," the culture and village significance recorded in wild vegetables

When Meinong farmers used to weed among the rice, two kinds of vegetables would be picked out separately: "Monochoria" (Monochoria vaginalis, also called duck-tongue grass) and hollow-stemmed plants (Sphenoclea zeylanica). Farmers collected them to take home and cook as wild vegetables. To remove the astringency of the wild vegetables, Meinong people used lard to release the aroma and added bean paste.

At the time I was thinking, why can they eat wild vegetables for so long without getting tired of them? It is the effect of time and distance just mentioned. Wild vegetables become a food memory, and after enough time, they become a very important dish in the family.

From the early period, wild vegetables were a very important source of food fiber in rice culture. Because what was gathered was for the farming family itself to eat, the habit of eating wild vegetables allowed farmers to naturally restrain the amount of pesticide sprayed.

Nightshade, called "black nightshade" in Hakka, has both leaves and fruit that can be eaten. For dryland farmers, it is a very important plant companion. South of Japan's latitude, this crop has all kinds of ways of being eaten and names.