第37期：Red sky at night

　　Red sky at night…shepherds delight

　　(2006-2007学年第37期)

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　　By Geoff Lemon

　　Zing and Roman “shoot the breeze” about folklore traditions.

　　Roman:Wow…what a special time of year. The weather is so nice.

　　Zing: Yeah. To be honest I’d be happy if it didn’t get any hotter.

　　Roman:I know what you mean. The seasons are so striking here in China.

　　Zing: Well summer is hot and winter is cold, that’s for sure. But did you know in the old days there were 24 distinct “seasons” in the calendar.

　　Roman:Are you kidding? Who would have a use for 24 seasons? That’s ridiculous.

　　Zing: No, really. In fact it was very useful. You have to take into account the value of these traditional calendars.

　　Roman:Hah！ They’re for telling you the date, right?

　　Zing: Yes, but for telling you the date of things!

　　Roman:What things?

　　Zing: Well, one of the primary uses of the calendar was to mark some distinct seasonal changes that would tell farmers when to plant and when to harvest.

　　Roman:Oh， that’s right. I’d forgotten about that. I know in the West we mark changes in the seasonal position of the sun and the moon. I think these are called the Equinox and the Solstice.

　　Zing: Correct. All ancient people were great observers and they would pay particular attention to things like “Excited Insects,” the state of plants, and distinct micro-changes in the weather. Here in China there are 24 Solar Terms and we’re just about to move into one called Mangzhong.

　　Roman:Oh…Mangzhong? What does that mean?

　　Zing: Oh, it translates to something like “Grain in Ear.” It’s a busy time of the year for farmers because it marks the optimum time to harvest the grain. You can imagine it involves a lot of work in the hot sun, but it’s also a very happy time of the year because everyone is involved in the harvest.

　　Roman:Maybe with all that cutting, and carrying, and hand threshing of the grain it would be inevitable that you wind up with a grain in your ear?

　　Zing: I wouldn’t be surprised. Anyway, right now the season is still mellow but we’ll soon move forward to a progressively hotter summer.

　　Roman:Aha… So we better enjoy the fresh air and sunshine while we can.

　　Zing: Well if you were a farmer in your country I think the term is “make hay while the sun shines.”

　　Roman:That’s right and here’s hoping that the weather stays predictable with this global warming trend.

　　Zing: I sure hope so too. Well, best enjoy it while we can.