On rural women's labor

See wheat cutting, Tang Dynasty: Bai Juyi

The Tian family has less leisure in the month, and people are twice as busy in May.

In the evening, the south wind rises and the wheat turns yellow.

A woman's husband is hungry and her child is pregnant with pot pulp.

Go with Tian Xiang. Ding Zhuang is in Nangang.

Summer is steaming and rustic, and the back is burning.

I don't know about the heat, but I regret the long summer.

Another poor woman, holding her son,

Grab the ear with your right hand and hang the basket with your left arm.

Listening to his words of concern is very sad.

My family's taxes are gone, so I can take this to satisfy my hunger.

What are my advantages today? I have never been involved in farming and mulberry.

There are 300 stones in the land, and there is surplus grain in the year of Yan.

I am ashamed to read this in private, and I can't forget it every day.

Explanation:

Farmers have no leisure all year round, and they are even busier in May.

A warm south wind blew at night, and the wheat in the field was covered with ridges and ripe yellow.

Women carry food in baskets, and children carry jars full of water and soup.

Men accompany them to deliver meals in the fields and work in Nanshan.

The feet were smoked by the heat on the ground, and the back was baked by the hot sun.

Exhausted, don't feel hot, just cherish summer.

I saw a poor peasant woman, holding her child and following others.

He held the picked ears of wheat in his right hand and hung a broken basket in his left arm.

Listening to her talk about her family made everyone feel sorry for her.

In order to pay taxes, I sold the land and ate my hunger by picking up wheat ears.

What are my advantages now? I have never raised or picked mulberry trees.

The salary is 300 stone a year, and there will be surplus grain at the end of the year.

I am ashamed to think of these things, and I will never forget them day and night.