六liù月yuè蓋gài被bèi,，有yǒu穀gǔ無wú米mǐ

What does 六月蓋被，有穀無米 (liù yuè gài bèi, yǒu gǔ wú mǐ) mean?

六月蓋被，有穀無米 (liù yuè gài bèi, yǒu gǔ wú mǐ) is a folk proverb (yànyǔ 諺語). Word for word it reads "Covering with quilts in the sixth month means grain husks but no rice." In use it means: An unusually cold summer, cold enough to need a blanket in the sixth lunar month, foretells a poor rice harvest. The grain heads will form but the kernels inside will be empty. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Fire note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Rooster.

Literally: "Covering with quilts in the sixth month means grain husks but no rice."

The reading

Heat is not merely discomfort during the growing months; it is the engine that fills each grain. When summer fails to deliver its proper warmth, rice stalks may look healthy and the heads may bow as if heavy, yet inside each husk there is nothing. The farmer who shivers under a blanket in midsummer already knows the autumn will be lean. Nature's accounting is strict, and a deficit of warmth cannot be repaid later in the season.

What kind of proverb it is

• Typeyànyǔ 諺語
• FocusLooks ahead
• Element火 Fire
• Zodiac tie雞 Year of the Rooster

Source Traditional rice-farming proverb from southern China, reflecting cold-summer crop failure observations

Sits beside

Keep reading

Return to the Proverb Pond to draw another of the eighty-seven, or hear one read aloud. Read the rest of its chapter in Adversity & Resilience, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Rooster, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.