1. The Tian family has a quiet month, but in May people are twice as busy. At night, the south wind blows, and the wheat is covered with yellow.
From: "Guan Miao Wheat" by Bai Juyi in the Tang Dynasty.
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.
2. Working in the fields during the day and harvesting hemp at night, the children of the village are all responsible for their own affairs. The children and grandchildren are still working for farming and weaving, and they are also learning to grow melons near the mulberry tree.
From: Fan Chengda of the Song Dynasty, "Pastoral Miscellany in the Four Seasons: Thirty-one".
Translation: Weeding in the fields during the day and twisting twine at home at night. Men and women in the village each have their own housework. Although the children did not know how to plow the fields and weave, they still learned to grow melons under the shade of the mulberry trees.
3. The rain is enough and the fields are white, and we are plowing in the middle of the night. The strength of men and cattle is exhausted, but the east is still unclear.
From: "Tian Shang" by Cui Daorong of the Tang Dynasty.
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.
4. The mountains are green and the rivers are white, and the rain is like smoke in the sound of the rules. There are few idle people in the countryside in April, so they are planting sericulture and planting fields.
From: "April in the Countryside" by Weng Juan of the Song Dynasty.
Translation: The hillsides and fields are lush with vegetation, and the color of the water in the rice fields complements the skylight. The sky is misty and rainy, and the cuckoos are singing. April is the busiest time in the countryside. The sericulture work has just ended and it is time to transplant rice seedlings.
5. It’s noon on the day of hoeing, and the sweat is dripping from the soil. Who would have thought that every meal on the plate is hard work?
From: "Hoeing" by Li Shen of the Tang Dynasty.
Translation: Farmers are working hard in the fields at noon, and drops of sweat fall into the soil under the crops. Who knows that every grain of rice on the plate is the hard work of farmers.