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Sì Shí Tián Yuán Zá XīngRural Life in Four Seasons (Summer) 四时田园杂兴
Fan Chengda on a farm family in summer; even the children plant melons under the mulberries.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
昼出耘田夜绩麻
zhòu chū yún tián yè jì má
村庄儿女各当家
cūn zhuāng ér nǚ gè dāng jiā
童孙未解供耕织
tóng sūn wèi jiě gōng gēng zhī
也傍桑阴学种瓜
yě bàng sāng yīn xué zhǒng guā
Simplified characters; traditional title: 四時田園雜興.
English translation
By day they hoe the fields, by night they spin hemp;
every son and daughter in the village has a task.
The little grandchildren can't yet plough or weave,
but by the mulberry shade they practise planting melons.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
Fan Chengda on a farm family in summer; even the children plant melons under the mulberries. The scene stays with you.
Background
Fan Chengda on a farm family in summer; even the children plant melons under the mulberries.
Key words
- 昼出 zhòu chū
- going out by day
- 耘田 yún tián
- weeding the fields
- 夜绩 yè jì
- spinning or weaving at night
About the poet: Fan Chengda
Fan Chengda is loved for seasonal farm poems such as the Fields and Gardens series.
Lifetime: 1126–1193. Other famous works: Rural Life in Four Seasons (Summer) (四时田园杂兴); Rural Life in Four Seasons (Early Summer) (四时田园杂兴); Rural Life in Four Seasons (Spring) (四时田园杂兴).