Zhejiang University of Agriculture, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, PR China (Collective Essays on Agricultural History Research 1999:398-400. China Agricultural Pub. Co. Transl/interpr. by Dr. W. Tsao, 9/24/2002; ed. by B. Gordon)
Southern Song Dynasty's (1127-1280) famous book "Meng Liang Lu" (1274) by Wu Zimu details social life in Lingan (now Hangzhou). Chapter 20 lists popular products, including 9 rice cultivars - Zao Zhan Cheng, Hong Lian, Lei Ni Niao, Xue Li Pen, Chi Dao, Huang Xian Mi, Du Nuo, Guang Nuo, and Man Nuo (nuo=glutinous rice).
The Lingan Xianchun period (1265) Topography lists 10 rice cultivars, the aforementioned 9 and Jin Chai Nuo. Here, "Du Nuo" recorded as "She Nuo" is likely a typo due to similar shapes and strokes of the written characters "duo" and "she". Whether"Du Nuo" or "She Nuo" is correct the character for "large" is pronounced "du" in Hangzhou local dialect ("da" in Mandarin), so some researchers suggest "Du Nuo" is "large sticky rice", but I think otherwise.
The above "Meng Liang Lu" is in collected 1950's articles by Classic Literature Publications. A search of the Zhejiang Provincial Library's classic book section reveals different stories in various "Meng Liang Lu" publications.
"Du Nuo" is used in 6 different books where "Meng Liang Lu" is quoted, but "She Nuo" is in the oldest available book, a handwritten copy proofread by Wu Yifeng. As Wu is famous for printing early Qing Dynasty books where "She Nuo" is undescribed, it is believed "She Nuo" is correct. This finding coincides with the Lingan Xianchun period Topography record and proves "She Nuo" was mistaken for "Du Nuo" for many years.
As "She" is a "kitchen deity" worship day, farmers pray for good harvest on "spring she" and pay tribute on "autumn she". "She Nuo" is so-named because it ripens about "autumn she" and the new harvest is often used for worshiping the "kitchen deity". In ancient times, "she" day was often used to indicate the day for sowing; e.g., "Qi Min Yao Shu's" wheat and barley section says "the best wheat and barley sowing time is before the first 'wu' day worship in 8th lunar month, then before late 'wu' day worship; and finally, late 'wu' day worship".
Autumn worship day is calendrically unfixed but on the 5th "wu" day after "Liqiu" festival (autumn onset) or 50 days after the 1st day of autumn in the ancient calendar. As the number of days between the 1st day of autumn and 1st "wu" day varies yearly and the 5th "wu" day may come 40-50 days after the festival, autumn worship occurred before or after the "Qiufen" festival (Autumn equinox ca. September 23).
It was very common to name rice cultivars by growth period; e.g.s, "La Nuo" (la=12th lunar month, nuo=glutinous rice), "Chan Ming" (chan=cicada, ming=singing) and "Qiu feng nuo" (qiu=autumn, feng=wind) are common names for late, early, and middle ripening, respectively. From its name, middle-ripening "She Nuo" is near the "Qiufen" festival. "Wu Lin Jiu Shi" (Old Affairs in the Martial Arts Society) names cakes and pastries popular in Lingan in Southern Song Dynasty; e.g.s, "she gao" (gao=cake) and "cong yang gao" (cong yang=festival to respect elders on 9th day of 9th lunar month) represent cakes of certain festivals, with "she gao" having the same meaning as "She Nuo".
Rice variety "She Jiao Nuo" in the Yufeng (now Kunshan, Jiangsu) Chunyou period (1251) Topography and in Lungquan, Zhejiang records in late Qing Dynasty, also means "She Nuo". "She jiao" is near autumn worship. The Lingan Xianzhun period (1265) Topography records "four glutinous varieties with names Jin Chai, She, Guang Tou and Man". As punctuation is absent I wonder if "Jiao" was missed after "She", whereby "She" should be "She Jiao". In Zhejiang local dialect, "late" is pronounced "man" (comparable with Mandarin pronunciation "wan"), the last variety "Man" in this list indicating a "late ripening variety".
In the 12 Song Dynasty topographies (covering what is now Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and Fujian), I found 301 local rice cultivar records, 213 Xian and Keng and 88 Nuo varieties. Most Nuo cultivars (>26.7% of total 301) reflect their rich source and important agricultural position. As bread, biscuits or other western foods were absent, "gao" (cakes, pastry), "bing" (pancakes, crackers), "tuan" (dumplings), "ci" (a sticky steamed pancake made of rice powder), "zong" (rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves), "zhou" (congee or porridge), etc., are all made of glutinous rice. The famous "Shao Xing Lao Jiu" (Shao Xing=Shaoxing, Zhejiang, Lao=old, dependable, Jiu=wine) can only be brewed from quality glutinous rice. In addition, many other uses (e.g.s, construction, tombs, sizing of brush paintings, etc.) also require large amounts of good quality glutinous rice. The selection of good cultivars from this kind of rice to satisfy its multiple uses was therefore very important.
As Nuo cultivars diminished rapidly because their planting continuously shrank and their use limited to festivals, historically famous Nuo places in Jiangsu and Zhejiang imported foreign Nuo. Current brewers of yellow (rice) wine sold in Hangzhou City had to change to Keng rice, with higher protein content, turbidity and acidity in brewed wine products. As it is wasteful for the Hangzhou Wine Manufacturing Company to use Keng instead of Nuo rice to make inferior yellow wine, it imports good quality Nuo from distant Jiangsu and Anhui to brew quality wine. Historically abundantly planted in Hangzhou, Nuo cultivar Jin Chai Nuo was famous for making good wine. The Wuxing Jiatai period (1201-1205) Topography says "its grain is slender, long and good for brewing", while Ming Dynasty Huang Zhen's "Rice Variety" says its long grain produces twice the amount of alcohol". The Suzhou Prefecture Daoguang period (1821-1851) Topography also describes its "long grain and brewing quality". But cultivars like Jin Chai Nuo and She Nuo became famous for their name sake. Verification of the name "She Nuo" and recent development of the aforementioned cultivars show the importance of resource conservation.