Grain in Ear

Introduction

Reap the bearded wheat, sow the bearded rice

Grain in Ear is the ninth solar term, beginning when the sun reaches 75° of ecliptic longitude, around 5–7 June; the name means bearded wheat is to be reaped and bearded rice can be sown, and puns on 'busy sowing'. Its three pentads are mantises hatching, shrikes beginning to call, and mockingbirds falling silent. It is the peak of the summer harvest, sowing and field care, and the Jianghuai and lower Yangtze regions enter the plum-rain season. An old custom was seeing off the flower deities, described in Dream of the Red Chamber.

Timeline

1. 139 BCEOriginThe Western Han Huainanzi (Tianwen xun, c. 139 BCE) sets out the twenty-four terms by the pointing of the Dipper's handle, recording 'fifteen days on, it points to bing: Grain in Ear', the earliest systematic attestation of Grain in Ear.
2. 104 BCEEvolutionWith the Taichu calendar of 104 BCE under Emperor Wu of Han, the twenty-four solar terms entered the official calendar, and Grain in Ear became a fixed term in it.
3. 2021ImpactIn 2021 the Meiyuan Grain-in-Ear ploughing festival of Yunhe, Zhejiang, was added to the national list as an extension of the solar-terms item.

Heritage Listings

1. 2006National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage1st batch · X-68 Twenty-Four Solar Terms of the Lunar Calendar · nominated by the China Agricultural Museum · collective item
2. 2016UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of HumanityThe Twenty-Four Solar Terms · knowledge in China of time and practices developed through observation of the sun's annual motion · collective inscription
3. 2021National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage, extension item5th batch · X-68 Twenty-Four Solar Terms: Meiyuan Grain-in-Ear Ploughing Festival