Rice writing is the art and skill of being able to write small enough to write on a grain of

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly '' Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and ''Porteresia'', both wild and domestica ...

History

Rice writing originated in ancient

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The r ...

in Turkey and India. Many rituals and rites use rice as a medium, but at some point in ancient

artisans who were skilled in making miniature paintings decided to turn their skill to making art with what had always been an ancient symbol of prosperity, the oldest example of which lies in Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, Turkey. The artisans would inscribe messages or names on a single grain of rice after it was treated and polished. Grains that were long and flat were favorites as they offered proper surfaces for writing. Apart from Turkey, India also had a large number of artisans skilled in making miniature art including rice art.

Rice art symbolism

Rice art is considered to bring good luck hence some of its most popular forms is good luck pendants, hope bracelets and cell phone charms.

Street art

Within time rice writing and rice art evolved, soon creating rice jewelry where the rice grain was enclosed in a vial with a liquid/oil that magnifies the individual grain making it easier to appreciate the painstaking and intricate details. This went further with rice jewelry like good luck pendants, charm bracelets, anklets and earrings. In modern times most of these artisans and artists set up shop with street side stalls where they can write customers' message or name on a rice grain while displaying their wares and hard work.

Technique

Most modern day rice writers use the following tools: #Common long grain white rice: This rice is a flat cylinder shape. Because it is flat it provides two wide surfaces for writing. #Sharp utility knife: This is used to scrape the rice slightly to remove ridges to provide a smooth surface for writing. This scraping method can also be used to remove minor mistakes. #

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay part ...

: Some people use a utility gripper clay and others use a modeling clay. The clay is used to hold the rice in place while performing the writing. #

Technical pen A technical pen is a specialized instrument used by an engineer, architect, or drafter to make lines of constant width for architectural, engineering, or technical drawings. " Rapidograph" is a trademarked name for one type of technical pen. T ...

: This is a drawing pen with an ultra-fine tip. Most pens used are either size .18 (4x0) or .13 (6x0). These can be purchased online, or at some arts and crafts stores. #Waterproof Ink: This ink is sold with the technical pen. A rare but verifiable art form of writing on rice is from brush also. Once the rice writing is complete, it is usually preserved in a small vial of liquid/oil. Many craftsman mount these vials into

jewelry Jewellery (British English, UK) or jewelry (American English, U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, ring (jewellery), rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be at ...

such as necklaces, bracelets and key chains.

References

{{reflist Writing media Calligraphy Artistic techniques Asian art Rice