1. "On the Fields"
Cui Daorong of the Tang Dynasty
The fields are white when the rain falls, and we plow the fields in the middle of the night.
The strength of man and cattle is exhausted, but the east is still unclear.
Translation: The spring rain has fallen so much that even the fields at high altitudes are filled with white water. In order to grab seeds, farmers wear raincoats and brave the rain and come to the fields in the middle of the night. farming. By the time the man and the ox had exhausted all their strength, it was still far from dawn.
2. Tian Family
Nie Yizhong in the Tang Dynasty
The father plowed the fields, while the son plowed the mountains and went to the fields.
In June, the crops have not yet shown, and the officials have already built warehouses.
Translation: The father plows the fields on the mountain, and the son opens up wasteland at the foot of the mountain. In the season of June, the rice in the fields has not yet headed, but the official tax warehouse has long been repaired and awaiting collection.
3. Watching the harvesting of wheat
Tang Dynasty? Bai Juyi
The Tian family has few free months, but in May people are twice as busy.
At night the south wind blows, and the wheat is covered with yellow.
The women and aunts carry baskets of food, and the children carry pots of pulp.
They go with them to the salary fields, and the young men and women are in Nangang.
The weather is full of rustic heat, and the sky is scorching on my back.
I am exhausted and don’t know how hot it is, but it’s a pity that the summer is long.
There is a poor woman with a child beside her.
She is holding an earring in her right hand and a basket hanging on her left arm.
Hearing his words of care makes those who hear them feel sad.
My family’s farmland has been exhausted, so I’ll just throw it away to satisfy my hunger.
What merit do I have now? I never did farming or mulberry farming.
The official salary is three hundred stones, and there is more food every year.
I feel ashamed when I think about this, and I will never forget it.
Translation: Farmers have no leisure all year round, and they are even busier in May. The warm south wind blows at night, and the wheat in the fields is ripe and yellow. Women carry food in baskets, and children carry pots filled with water and soup. They go to the fields to deliver meals, and the men work in the southern hills. My feet were fumigated by the heat from the ground, and my back was burned by the burning sun. I’m exhausted and don’t feel the heat, I just appreciate the everlasting summer. I also saw a poor peasant woman following someone with her child in her arms. He holds the picked wheat ears in his right hand, and a broken basket hangs on his left arm. Listening to her talk about her family situation, everyone who listened felt sad for her. In order to pay taxes, he sold all his land and relied on picking wheat ears to fill his hunger. What merit do I have now? I have never cultivated fields and picked mulberries. The annual salary is 300 dan, and there is still some food left at the end of the year. I felt secretly ashamed when I thought of these things, and kept thinking about them all day and all night.