Week 40: “Farmers Drain Fields”

September 30 – October 06 is the 40th week of 2024. In the northern hemisphere, we are now in meteorological and astronomical fall.  The Solar Term for this week is Autumn Equinox (Sept 22 – Oct. 08), and the micro-season for this week is “Farmers Drain Fields” (Oct 03 – Oct 07).

Basho, Issa, Buson, and Reichhold wrote the poems selected for this week.

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The 24 Solar Terms 

The 24 solar terms were created by farmers in ancient China  (206 BCE and 24 CE) to help guide their agricultural activities. Each solar term is 15 days long and is based on the climate around Xi’an, the capital of China during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE to 220 CE). ⁽¹⁾

Autumn Equinox 

Autumn Equinox, the sixteenth Solar Term of the year the fourth Solar Term of Autumn. Qiufen (秋分) is the Chinese name for this season.  Qiufen (秋分) signifies the mid-point of autumn.⁽²⁾

During Autumn Equinox there is a noticeable change in the weather, and often a significant difference between day and night temperatures. Also during this time, the farmers begin to harvest their crops and prepare for winter.⁽²⁾ 

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The 72 Seasons

The 72-season calendar was established in 1685 by Japanese astronomer Shibukawa Shunkai.  Each season lasts for about 5 days and offers “a poetic journey through the Japanese year in which the land awakens and blooms with life and activity before returning to slumber.”⁽⁴⁾

The micro-season for this week is “Farmers Drain Fields” (Oct 03 – Oct 07).

About “Farmers Drain Fields”

“Farmers Drain Fields” is the third, and final, micro-season of the year dedicated to rice farming.

The rice farming cycle begins in late April with “Last Frost, Rice Seedlings Grow,”. This season marks the start of the growing season. During “Last Frost, Rice Seedlings Grow” farmers prepare the soil and plant their seeds.

The second rice-related micro-season is “Rice Ripens” (Sept 2–Sept 7). This season signals that the rice is nearing maturity. However, at this time, the rice is not yet ready for harvest.

In “Farmers Drain Fields,” which is the last stage of the rice farming cycle, farmers drain the paddies and start the harvest. After the rice is harvested, the hull (or chaff) will be removed. The hull is the fibrous, inedible outer coating of the rice kernel. It needs to be removed before the rice is ready to be eaten.

To learn more about the life cycle of a rice plant visit “Week 36: End of Heat” (Sept 2–Sept 7). To learn more about how rice fields are prepared for the planting, visit “The Frost Stops” (Apr 25–Apr 29).

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Haiku, Kigo, and Saijiki

The kigo, or season word, is one of the key parts of the haiku. A kigo “a poetic device used in haiku to denote a season.”⁽⁶⁾ It can “conjure up many allusions, historical references, spiritual meanings, and/or cultural traditions.”⁽⁷⁾ When used in a haiku, it is “especially effective because of this power to expand its meaning beyond the literal and to create a larger aura of seasonal mood, historical/ literary context, and/or cultural implications.”⁽¹⁰⁾

A saijiki is a dictionary of season words, or kigo, paired with haiku using that season word.  A saijiki is a reference and tool for the poet that is divided into five seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, and New Year) and separated into seven categories.

In The Five Hundred Essential Japanese Season Words selected by Kenkichi Yamamoto, each of the five seasons has seven categories of words.

• Seasons
• Heavens
• Earth
• Humanity
• Observances
• Animals
• Plants

While this document doesn’t include haiku for each season word, it is helpful in understanding what words may be kigo.

In  A Dictionary of Haiku, Jane Reichhold presents an English language saijiki. It represents her location and experiences. She follows the five seasons structure, with some slight differences in categories.  Reichhold’s categories are:

• Moods
• Occasions
• Celestial 
• Terrestrial
• Livelihood
• Animals 
• Plants

Both Reichhold’s Dictionary and Yamamoto’s Essential Season Words are helpful in understanding the role and use of kigo in haiku.

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This Week’s Kigo and Haiku

In The Five Hundred Essential Japanese Season Words as selected by Kenkichi Yamamoto, “rice cutting”,  “rice harvest” and “new rice” are relevant kigo for this week. These kigo come from the Humanities category of Yamamoto’s list. 

In Jane Reichhold’s A Dictionary of Haiku, “harvest” and “canning” are relevant kigo.  These kigo icome from the Livelihood category of Reichhold’s list.

Now, let’s read some haiku. 

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Basho

rice threshing 
an old woman celebrated 
with mum flowers 
(translated by Jane Reichhold)  

Winter chrysanthemums 
blanketed with fresh rice bran 
beside the hand mill 
(Translated by Sam Hamill)

Husking rice, 
a child squints up 
to view the moon. 
(translated by Lucien Stryk)

Issa

dropped on the bridge
by harvesters...
ears of rice
(translated by David G. Lanoue)

draining the rice field--
a fish also
heads home
(translated by David G. Lanoue)

the rice thresher's
extra partner...
a duck
(translated by David G. Lanoue)

Buson

Rice drying on a rack
the wind also passes through
an old pine tree
(translated by Allan Persinger)

Lightening
anchors the hard dry rice field
to the evening sky
(translated by Allan Persinger)

Reichhold

chestnut burrs
open and defenseless
after harvest

huckleberry jam
all the tiredness
up in jars

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Haiku invitation

This week’s haiku invitation is to write a haiku or senryu about an autumn harvest.

Share your haiku in the comments below, or post on your page and link back. I can’t wait to read what you write! 

Formatting Note:  To eliminate the spaces between the lines of your haiku, hit shift-enter at the end of the line.  For example,

one (shift-enter)
line two (shift-enter)
the third line (shift-enter)

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Thank You!

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A Local Saijiki Project

The Yuki Teikei Haiku Society, explains that a saijiki is useful for poets, “naturalists, and people interested in the natural and cultural history of an area.”  The saijiki contains seasonal words, plus haiku that demonstrate the poetic qualities of the words.

The creation of a local saijiki, one that represents an individual community, always felt like a big, daunting, and yet worthwhile project.  So, I have decided to try and create my own saijiki. I am not sure how this will turn out, but if you are interested in joining me and creating your own saijiki, I have created a saijiki worksheet to get you started.  If nothing else, this is a good exercise in noticing the natural world and writing haiku. Let’s see where this project takes us! 

• Saijiki Worksheet (PDF file)
• Saijiki Worksheet (Google Doc)

About Today’s Haiku

Basho’s haiku were retrieved from “Matsuo Bashō’s haiku poems in romanized Japanese with English translations” Editor: Gábor Terebess. Issa’s haiku were retrieved from David G. Lanoue’s Haiku Guy. Buson’s haiku was retrieved from Foxfire: the Selected Poems of Yosa Buson, a Translation by Allan Persinger. Jane Reichhold’s haiku was retrieved from the Dictionary of Haiku.

References:

1. “The 24 Solar Terms”; China Educational Tours
2. “6 Solar Terms of Autumn”; China Educational Tours
3. “24 Solar Terms: 8 things you may not know about White Dew”. English.gov.cn
4. 72 Seasons App
5. “Japan’s 72 Microseasons”; Nippon.com