小xiǎo暑shǔ一yī聲shēng雷léi,，倒dào轉zhuǎn做zuò黃huáng梅méi

What does 小暑一聲雷，倒轉做黃梅 (xiǎo shǔ yī shēng léi, dào zhuǎn zuò huáng méi) mean?

小暑一聲雷，倒轉做黃梅 (xiǎo shǔ yī shēng léi, dào zhuǎn zuò huáng méi) is a folk proverb (yànyǔ 諺語). Word for word it reads "One thunderclap at Minor Heat, and the weather reverts to plum rain." In use it means: If thunder is heard during the Xiaoshu solar term, the region may experience a return of the humid, rainy conditions typical of the earlier meiyu plum rain season, disrupting the normal summer drying period. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Water note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Dog.

Literally: "One thunderclap at Minor Heat, and the weather reverts to plum rain."

The reading

The calendar may declare that summer heat has arrived, but a single rumble of thunder can pull the season backward. Farmers in the Yangtze Delta knew this reversal well: just when stored grain should be drying, the air turns thick and wet again. Accepting that weather does not always move forward in tidy stages is part of working honestly with the land. The best preparations account for the possibility that what seemed finished may circle back.

What kind of proverb it is

• Typeyànyǔ 諺語
• FocusLooks ahead
• Element水 Water
• Zodiac tie狗 Year of the Dog

Source Yangtze Delta weather proverb from Jiangnan farming almanacs, specific to the meiyu reversion phenomenon

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 Nature, Seasons & Health, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Dog, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.