Job's tears facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Job's tears |
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Coix
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| Species: |
lacryma-jobi
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Job's tears, also known as adlay or adlay millet, is a tall plant that grows grains. Its scientific name is Coix lacryma-jobi. It belongs to the grass family, just like corn and rice. This plant is originally from Southeast Asia.
People started growing Job's tears in places like Northern China and India a very long time ago. Today, you can find it growing in gardens as an annual plant (meaning it lives for one growing season). It has also spread naturally to the southern United States and other warm parts of the world. In its home regions, it grows well in higher areas where other crops like rice and corn might struggle. Sometimes, Job's tears are sold as "Chinese pearl barley."
There are two main types of Job's tears. One type grows wild, called Coix lacryma-jobi var. lacryma-jobi. It has very hard, shiny white, oval seeds. These hard seeds are often used as beads for making prayer beads, necklaces, and other crafts. The other type is grown by farmers, called Coix lacryma-jobi var. ma-yuen. This type has softer seeds. It is harvested as a cereal crop and used in traditional medicine in some parts of Asia.
Contents
- What are the names for Job's Tears?
- Where does Job's Tears come from?
- What does Job's Tears look like?
- A look into the past: Job's Tears history
- How do people use Job's Tears?
- Gallery
- See also
What are the names for Job's Tears?
Job's tears can be spelled in a few different ways, like Job's-tears, Jobs-tears, or jobstears.
It also has other common names in English. These include adlay, adlay millet, coix seed, gromwell grass, and tear grass.
In Chinese, the seeds are called yiyi ren. The word ren means "kernel" or the inner part of a seed. In old medical books, they are sometimes called "semen coicis" or "semen coicis lachryma-jobi."
Where does Job's Tears come from?
The famous scientist Carl Linnaeus gave this plant its scientific name in 1753. He chose "lacryma-jobi" because it means "tear of Job" in Latin. This name refers to the biblical figure Job and the tear-like shape of the seeds.
As of 2015, experts recognize four main types, or varieties, of Coix lacryma-jobi:
- Coix lacryma-jobi var. lacryma-jobi: This type is found across India, Malaysia, and Taiwan. It has also spread to many other places.
- Coix lacryma-jobi var. ma-yuen: This type grows from South China to Malaysia and the Philippines. It is named after General Ma Yuan. Legend says he learned about the plant's uses in Vietnam and brought the seeds back to China.
- Coix lacryma-jobi var. puellarum: This type is found from Assam (India) to Yunnan (China) and Indochina.
- Coix lacryma-jobi var. stenocarpa: This type grows in the Eastern Himalayas and Indochina.
What does Job's Tears look like?
The hard "shells" that cover the seeds are actually part of the plant's structure. They are like a protective case around the flowers.
Inside these shells are the plant's flowers. There are male flowers that stand upright, with yellow parts called stamens. There are also one or two female flowers that hang down from the base.
A look into the past: Job's Tears history
Scientists found traces of Job's tears on old pottery in China. This shows that people used Job's tears to make beer around 3000 BC. This was during a time called the Neolithic period.
Job's tears also arrived in Japan very early, possibly around 4000 BC. Evidence from ancient sites in Japan suggests it was grown alongside rice during the Early Jōmon Period. Later, it was found at sites from the Yayoi Period.
Archaeologists have also found Job's tears in northeastern India. These findings date back to about 1000 BC. Many experts believe it was grown in India between 2000 and 1000 BC.
Today, when Job's tears grains are sent from China, they are sometimes mistakenly called "pearl barley." This is why you might see them sold as "Chinese pearl barley" in Asian supermarkets. However, Job's tears are not closely related to real barley.
How do people use Job's Tears?
Job's tears are used in many different ways around the world.
Crafting with Job's Tears
The hard, white seeds of Job's tears have been used as beads for a long time. People make necklaces and other items with them. What's cool is that the seeds naturally have holes, so you don't need to make them yourself!
In some parts of India, Myanmar, Laos, Taiwan, and Korea, people use strands of Job's tears as Buddhist prayer beads. They are also made into rosaries in countries like the Philippines and Bolivia.
Job's Tears in East Asia
Japan
In Japan, the wild Job's tears seeds are called juzudama, which means "Buddhist rosary beads." Children often make necklaces and playthings with them. Some ancient Buddhist rosaries in Japan were said to use a larger type of Job's tears seed.
Long ago, a scholar named Ono Ranzan said that the soft, edible type of Job's tears came to Japan around the 1700s. Before that, people used a harder type that needed to be cracked open to eat. This means that old Japanese recipes likely used the hard-shelled Job's tears.
Some believe that using these beads in Japan happened even before Buddhism came to the country around 500 CE. Job's tears have been found at very old sites in Japan, dating back thousands of years.
The Ocean Road Idea
A Japanese folklorist named Kunio Yanagita had an idea called the "Ocean Road" hypothesis. He thought that the shiny Job's tears seeds might have been used like cowrie shells. Cowrie shells were used as decorations and money in ancient Southern China and Southeast Asia. Yanagita believed that the use of both cowrie shells and Job's tears beads spread to Japan from these areas.
Later scholars have looked into this idea. They are trying to see if the way Job's tears beads are used matches how cowrie shells were used across Asia.
Job's Tears in Southeast Asia
Thailand and Myanmar
The Akha people and the Karen people live in the mountains near the border of Thailand and Myanmar. They grow different types of Job's tears. They use the beads to decorate many handmade items. Among the Akha, the beads are only used on women's clothing, like headwear, jackets, and handbags. They use beads of different shapes.
The Karen people use the beads only on the jackets of married women. They often choose long, oval seeds for this. Job's tears necklaces have also been found in Thailand and Myanmar. The plant is known as cheik in the Burmese language.
The Wa people and other groups in Shan State, Myanmar, also sew Job's tears seeds onto their clothes and bags.
Job's Tears in Islands of Southeast Asia
Borneo
In Northern Borneo, different tribes like the Kelabit people, Dusun people, and Murut people use Job's tears beads as decorations. The Kayan of Borneo also use Job's tears to make their clothes and war outfits look special.
Philippines
In the Philippines, Job's tears are known by many local names, like tigbí or adlái. The beads are sometimes strung together to make rosaries. They are also used to create bead curtains or woven into baskets and other containers.
Job's Tears in the Americas
In Spanish, the plant was called calandula. In parts of New Spain (which included areas like Puerto Rico), the hard seeds were strung into beads or rosaries.
Among the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, the beads of Job's tears are called "corn beads" or "Cherokee corn beads." They have been used for personal decoration.
Job's Tears as Food
Across East Asia, you can buy dried Job's tears. People cook them like other grains. The cultivated types have soft shells, which makes them easy to cook into porridges or other dishes.
Some soft-shelled types are easy to process, giving sweet kernels. These processed kernels are used in traditional Chinese medicine.
The processed grains are usually round, white, and have a small groove on one end. In Japan, you can also buy unpolished grains, sometimes called yūki hatomugi (organic Job's tears).
In Cambodia, where it's called skuay, the seeds are not often eaten as a grain. Instead, they are used in herbal medicine and in sweet desserts. In Thailand, Job's tears are often found in teas and drinks, like soy milk.
It is also a small crop used for food and animal feed in Northeastern India.
Drinks and Soups with Job's Tears
In Korean cuisine, a thick drink called yulmu cha (Job's tears tea) is made from powdered Job's tears. A similar drink in Chinese cuisine, called yi ren jiang, is made by cooking whole Job's tears in water and sweetening it with sugar. The grains can be strained out or eaten with the drink.
In Japan, roasted Job's tears kernels are brewed into a "tea" called hatomugi cha. This drink is often used for its health benefits.
In southern China, Job's tears are often used in tong sui, which is a sweet dessert soup. One type is called ching bo leung. There is also a braised chicken dish called yimidunji that uses Job's tears.
Job's Tears in Traditional Medicine
Job's tears are used with other herbs in traditional Chinese medicine and folk medicine.
The plant is mentioned in an ancient medical book called Huangdi Neijing, which dates back to between the 5th and 2nd centuries BCE.
Gallery
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An unripened head of Job's Tears
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C. lacryma-jobi plant with flowers and fruit in Nepal
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Job's tears grains
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Yulmu-cha (Job's tears tea) from Korea
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Yulmu-bap (Job's tears rice) from Korea
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Illustration of Coix lacryma-jobi from the Japanese encyclopedia Seikei Zusetsu (1804)
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C. lacryma-jobi seeds in a necklace prepared in the Zulu tradition
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See also
In Spanish: Lágrimas de Job para niños
