The rice hat is a conical hat made of plant fibers and bamboo, traditionally worn in Vietnam and other East Asian countries. It has practical and decorative functions, protecting workers from the sun and rain. Making a rice hat requires skill and precision, and they are the subject of many legends. Offensive terms like “coolie hat” should be avoided, and more appropriate descriptive terms used.
A rice hat is a conical hat traditionally made of plant fibers and bamboo with an attached cloth strap to hold the hat in place. This style of hat is particularly associated with Vietnam, although variations are also worn in other East Asian countries, as well as India and Mexico. In Vietnam, these hats have both practical and decorative functions. The wide brim of the rice hat is particularly useful as protection for people working in the sun, and the natural fibers can be moistened to cool the wearer by evaporation. These features make rice hats especially practical for field workers and residents of tropical areas.
Making a rice hat requires skill and precision. Many of the materials traditionally used can be replaced with newer, stronger components, but traditional fibers are still typically used for the hat’s woven material. In Vietnam, palm fronds are flattened with irons and then bleached with sulfur and sunlight to achieve a light color. Japanese rice hats use dried sedge as their main woven material. Decorative threads are often used to embroider the hats with brilliant designs, although drawing or painting on the hats is also a common embellishment.
Rice hats are the subject of many legends in Asian countries. In Vietnam, there is a fable about a giant woman who protected people from bad weather with her conical hat made of palm leaves that was as big as the sky. This woman taught her people to farm, and the hats are made in the shape of her own to continue her mission of protecting workers from the sun and rain. Tales like this point to the importance of the rice hat in Vietnamese culture.
There are many names for rice hats, although most of these can be considered offensive to varying degrees. The term “coolie hat,” for example, is particularly offensive due to its use of an outdated and racist term for Asian workers. On the other hand, terms like rice hat or rice collector hat could be considered ignorant of the traditional and decorative uses of these hats, as well as the great skill and craft involved in their manufacture.
The offensive implication of these terms is that anyone who wears such a hat is a rice picker, even though, for example, they are mostly worn by Buddhist monks in Korea. While “rice hat” is the most common umbrella term for this style of hat, it is important to be sensitive to the implications of using this language in place of more appropriate descriptive terms, such as the words used for these hats where they are used. find. worn out.
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