The Epic of China’s Agrarian Civilization — A Brief Analysis of The Classic of Poetry · The Seventh Month, Stanza 6

Stanza 6

In the sixth month, they have wine and grape jam;

六月食鬱及薁,

In the seventh, they enjoy malva crispa and beans.

七月亨葵及菽。

In the eighth, they beat down jujubes;

八月剝棗,

In the tenth, they harvest rice.

十月獲稻。

For this they brew spring wine, to bless enduring years with long brows.

為此春酒，以介眉壽。

In the seventh month, they eat melons;

七月食瓜,

In the eighth, they cut the gourds;

八月斷壺,

In the ninth, they gather hemp seeds;

九月叔苴,

They pluck sow thistle, and cut ailanthus for firewood;

採荼薪樗，

Thus are our farmers fed.

食我農夫。

“In the sixth month, they have wine and grape jam; In the seventh, they enjoy malva crispa and beans. 六月食鬱及薁，七月亨葵及菽。”

The phrase “鬱 (yù)” is commonly interpreted as “鬱李 (yù lǐ)”, the wild plum. Its traditional form “鬱” means the fragrant vapor that fills a house when wine is fermenting. In ancient brewing, people would add aromatic herbs to the wine to make it richer in fragrance, because only wine infused with herbs was believed to attract the spirits and ancestors to descend and receive the offering. Therefore, classical dictionaries often gloss “鬱” as “fragrance” or “aromatic vapor,” a sense close to the original meaning.

“薁 (yù)” refers to “蘡薁 (yīng yù)”, the wild grape, which could be made into jam.

蘡薁 wild grape

“葵 (kuí)” refers to malva crispa, an edible herbaceous plant that ripens around the seventh month. Its stems and leaves are edible and highly nutritious, believed to promote lactation and aid digestion.

冬葵 malva crispa

“菽 (shū)” refers to beans—mainly soybeans and peas. “亨 (hēng)” shares its origin with “享 (xiǎng)”, meaning “to enjoy.” Thus, the whole line may be rendered: “In the sixth month, one may drink fragrant wine and eat wild grape jam. In the seventh month, one enjoys winter mallow and bean dishes.”

“In the eighth, they beat down jujubes; In the tenth, they harvest rice. 八月剝棗, 十月獲稻。”

Here, “剝 (pù)” is a loan for “扑(pū)”, meaning “to beat down,” and “稻 (daò)” refers to rice. “春酒 (cūn jiǔ)” means “spring wine”—brewed in winter and matured by spring. “介 (jiè)” means “to seek” or “to obtain,” and “眉壽 (meí shòu)” signifies “longevity,” since the eyebrows of the elderly were thought to lengthen with age.

“壺 (hú)” means “gourd.” “斷 (duàn)” means “to pluck” or “to cut off.” “苴 (jū)” refers to hemp seeds, and “叔 (shū)” means “to gather.” “荼 (tú)” is sow thistle, while “樗 (chū)” denotes the Chu tree (ailanthus), used as firewood.

苴 hemp seeds

Thus, the passage may be interpreted as follows:

In the eighth month, people beat down the jujubes from the trees; in the tenth, they harvest the rice. From rice and aromatic herbs, they brew spring wine that matures by springtime, along with wild grape sauce, all offered to the ancestors in prayer for health and longevity. In the seventh month, they eat melon. In the eighth, they pluck gourds. In the ninth, they gather hemp seeds for oil. They also collect bitter herbs and cut down ailanthus for fuel—these are the foods and provisions that sustain our farmers.

樗 ailanthus

To be continued