Women's work

Seedling Planting Maids by Ching dynasty poet Chen Wensu (1771-1843)

Morning, see the seedling planting maids,
Dusk, see the seedling planting maids.
Rain fall, don't think cold,
Sun strong, don't think hot.
Two legs like duck gull,
All day in the wet lands.
Seedlings from one acre wide,
Spaced into ten acres about.
Water low, worry seedling whither,
Water high, fear seedlings rot.
Highland already threshing wheat,
Lowland still growing millet.
April gives way to May,
More prayers for dragon rain.
Infant set on the roadside,
Have kid, no time to nurse.
Now believe, plate's food,
Grain by grain, hard work and suffering.