The fifteen-ied of the Chinese Nature calendar known the Hsizo Men, which begins on May 21, is usually interpreted as that of "Ripening Grain." Literally it means the "Lesser Fulness," which would be a better name for this period than the foregoing, for it is not so much a matter of the grain's ripening at this time as it is that the grain in the ear is filling out to its proper fulness before ripening. The actual ripening of the grain takes place in the next fifteen-day period, called Mang Chung, or "Full Ear," which begins on June 6.
Once again it must be noted that the working out of the Chinese Nature calendar took place in the area in which this coun culture developed, namely, in the middle valley of the Yellow River, and the valley of 1t" great tributary the Wei River, thet is to say in the northern part of Honan, the central part of Shensi and the western part of Shantung. In this region the season for growing crops is later than in the lower valley and estuary of the Yangtze River, in the latter of which Shanghai is situated. Thus in the lower valley of the Yang and southward wheat and barley, which are the cereals referred to in the two periods here mentioned, have either been harvested already or are about ripe for this operation. In the region of the basin of the Yellow River and northward to the Mongolian border they will not be ready for harvesting til the advent of the Mang Chung, or "Full Ear," period.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.