In a sub-leader entitled "Proverbs and the Weather," which appeared in the "North-China Daily News" of February 3, reference was made to my discussion in the previous day's issue of the extreme mildness of the winter this year in the Shanghai area up to January 20, the day of the Great Cold, or Ta Han.
The very ancient Teutonic badger myth was cited with the suggestion that the winter is not yet over and may still prove to be a hard one. This superstition is to the effect that the badger is in the habit of coming out of its burrow, where it has been hibernating, on February 2, which is Candlemas Day, with the object of inspecting the state of the weather. If the weather is fine, then the badger knows that there is going to be another long spell of cold wintry weather, and it goes back into its burrow for another good sleep. If it is overcast, raining or snowing, then it knows that winter is over, and it can safely go abroad in search of food.
In North America amongst the people of European origin, but not, be it noted, amongst the aboriginal Indians, the same superstition prevails, only with the groundhog or woodchuck, a species of marmot, taking the place of the badger. There the myth runs that the ground hog comes out of its burrow on Candlemas Day, and if it sees its shadow, that is, it the sun is shining, it retires once more, knowing that winter is not yet over, The sub-leader pointed out that February 2 this year was a beautifully fine day with bright sunshine and, therefore, according to the badger myth, we may have a spell of severe weather before spring comes. The only objection to this suggestion is that weather and climatic conditions in China are altogether different from those prevailing in England and Europe, so that English weather forecasts expressed in proverbs or folklore rhymes, even if dependable because based on centuries of experience, are not applicable in China. As a typical example of this the well-known English rhyme to the effect that.
"When the wind is in the east, "Tis good for neither man nor beast." may be cited. This certainly applies in England, for there the east wind is cold and uncomfortably dry, because it comes overland from the frozen wastes of Russia. In China the east wind, coming in from the Pacific Ocean, is moist and mild. It is the west or northwest wind here that is good for neither man nor beast.
Even in North America weather rules which might apply in the eastern states could not be expected to hold good for the central or western states. so different are the weather conditions in these different areas.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.