Edward W

占四時甲子雨

This is a poem from the Complete Tang Poems about weather prediction. The Jiazi day refers to the Wood Rat day, the first day in the 'sexagenary cycle', a 60-day cycle used in the chinese calendar. https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/全唐詩/卷880#占四時甲子雨

占四時甲子雨

JUDGMENTS ON RAIN ON THE JIAZI DAY IN THE FOUR SEASONS

春甲子雨,赤地千里

If it rains on a Jiazi day in Spring; scarlet land for a thousand miles (i.e. drought)

夏甲子雨,撑船入市;

If it rains on a Jiazi day in summer, boats will be rowed into market.

秋甲子雨,禾頭生耳;

If it rains on a Jiazi day in autumn, ears will grow on the rice-tops

冬甲子雨,牛羊凍死

If it rains on a Jiazi day in winter, cows and goats will freeze to death

鵲巢下地,其年大水。

When Magpies nest on the ground 下地, big flooding that year