Tilling Illustration 3: Harrowing

Whenever I eat late at night original: ganshi, a term describing a ruler so busy with state affairs that they have no time to eat until sunset, I think of the people’s livelihood. Throughout the three seasons of labor in the southern fields, I ensure their needs are not neglected. We have already seen the deep plowing; now comes the easy harrowing. In the drizzling rain, the green straw cloaks and bamboo hats are seen everywhere.

Farming tasks are urgent now; the spring tide reaches the level of the dikes.
The mist encloses the tall willows in darkness,
and the wind chases away the light-winged gulls.
The shadow of the clouds hangs low over the pressed-down hats;
the sound of the rain splashes rhythmically against the straw cloaks.
The harrow is as steady as a boat;
standing diagonally upon it, the farmer shouts at the ox to move.
By Lou Shou (1090–1162). He compares the harrow to a boat because, in flooded paddy fields, the farmer often stands on the tool as the water buffalo pulls it through the muck.

Within the nine-fold palace referring to the Forbidden City, I work from dawn to dusk to secure the people’s welfare;
I calculate the shade and the sun, ensuring nothing goes awry.
The misty mountains are ethereal, their tree colors blurred;
leaning on the harrow in a green straw cloak, the farmer works through the drizzling rain.
By the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1661–1722). This poem mirrors Lou Shou’s imagery while emphasizing the Emperor’s role as the ultimate overseer of the agricultural cycle.

Top right of painting

The term harrowing (耙, ba) refers to the use of a heavy frame with teeth to break up soil clods. The term weeding (耨, nou) here refers generally to the secondary cultivation of the soil before the crop is established.