06 / 24
Grain Rain
Grain Rain calls forth fresh green; a cuckoo sings across the fields.
Solar term date
Dates follow the Hong Kong Observatory’s calendar. They are civil dates, rather than precise astronomical times.
About this solar term
Grain Rain, at solar longitude 30°, is the final solar term of spring. Its name expresses the importance of timely rain for growing crops.
Traditional signs include duckweed, calling doves and hoopoes in mulberry trees. These are regional seasonal images rather than forecasts.
In parts of China, the term is associated with spring tea, peonies and fieldwork. The right time to sow or harvest still depends on local weather and the crop.
Seasonal signs
Duckweed grows, doves preen, and hoopoes alight in the mulberries.
Traditional seasonal signs combine observation with historical imagination. Weather and wildlife vary by region and year.
A reading of the poem
Grain Rain opens on a spring morning, the hills and rivers dark green. Hoopoes call among leaves and duckweed spreads across the water. Silkworms hatch in warm rooms, the breeze draws up wheat stems, and the restless dove beats its wings with a call that is hard to bear.
Tang dynasty · Traditionally attributed to Yuan Zhen
咏廿四气诗·谷雨三月中
Poem source