Imperial Pictures of Tilling and Weaving

Tilling Illustration 11: First Weeding

The lush seedlings stand in orderly rows amidst the clear waves;
I loathe how the weeds grow in clusters—what can be done?
Plants that are not of our seed should be cut and uprooted entirely;
Do not let the tares and weeds ruin the fine grain. original: jiahe, "fine grain" or "auspicious grain," often used in a symbolic sense to represent the prosperity of the state.

Sated with rain, the slender sprouts grow tall;
Cradling the wind, every leaf is soft.
Wearing straw hats, they clear away the wild grasses; original: daici, referring to the straw rain gear or hats worn by farmers for protection against the elements.
Drawing and pouring water, they guide the new stream into the fields.
They find shade beneath trees along the creek;
Their songs echo across the ridges between the fields.
Cooking smoke rises from the village nearby;
On the way home, they slowly drive the oxen.

The new shoots are a pale goose-yellow, looking like waves in the distance;
What of the man who "pulls the sprouts to help them grow" only to see them wither? original: yamiao zhu zhang, a famous idiom from Mencius about a farmer who pulled his rice plants to make them grow faster, unintentionally killing them. It serves as a warning against interfering with natural processes through impatience.
Only through the diligent labor of weeding and hoeing
Can we prevent the thick weeds from harming the maturing grain.

This stage is the first of three scheduled weedings. It is a grueling task performed in the heat of the summer, requiring farmers to move through the mud of the flooded paddies on their hands and knees or using long-handled hoes.