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四曰── |
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后稷曰：子能以窐為突乎？子能藏其惡而揖之以陰乎？子能使吾士靖而甽浴土乎？子能使保溼安地而處乎？子能使雚夷毋淫乎？子能使子之野盡為泠風乎？子能使槁數節而莖堅乎？子能使穗大而堅、均乎？子能使粟圜而薄糠乎？子能使米多沃而食之彊乎？無之若何？ |
| | Hou Ji said: "Can you make a hollow into a prominence?" "Can you conceal your faults and greet them with obscurity?" "Can you make my people peaceful while they bathe in the soil of ditches?" "Can you enable the moist to dwell securely on the land?" "Can you make the Huan Yi refrain from excess?" "Can you make your fields all become cold winds?" "Can you make the withered stalks have many joints and strong stems?" "Can you make the ears of grain large, firm, and even?" "Can you make the millet round with thin husks?" "Can you make the rice rich in nourishment and strong when eaten?" What can be done if not?
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凡耕之大方：力者欲柔，柔者欲力。息者欲勞，勞者欲息。棘者欲肥，肥者欲棘。急者欲緩，緩者欲急。溼者欲燥，燥者欲溼。 |
| | The general principle of plowing is: what is strong should become soft, and what is soft should become strong. What is at rest should desire labor, and what is laboring should desire rest. What is thorny should become fertile, and what is fertile should become thorny. What is urgent should become relaxed, and what is relaxed should become urgent. What is moist should become dry, and what is dry should become moist.
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上田棄畝，下田棄甽。五耕五耨，必審以盡。其深殖之度，陰土必得，大草不生，又無螟蜮。今茲美禾，來茲美麥。是以六尺之耜，所以成畝也；其博八寸，所以成甽也；耨柄尺，此其度也；其耨六寸，所以間稼也。地可使肥，又可使棘。人肥必以澤，使苗堅而地隙；人耨必以旱，使地肥而土緩。 |
| | For high-quality land, abandon the ridges; for poor land, abandon the furrows. Five plowings and five weedings must be carefully and thoroughly carried out. The depth of cultivation should be measured so that the dark soil is surely obtained, weeds do not grow, and there are no pests such as borers or insect larvae. Now this fine grain, later this fine wheat. Therefore, the six-chi plowshare is used to create ridges; its width eight cun, so as to form furrows; the weeding tool's handle one chi long—this is its standard measurement; its blade six cun long, so as to space the crops. The land can be made fertile, and it can also become thorny. Fertilizing the soil must involve moisture, making the seedlings strong and the earth loose; Weeding must be done during dry conditions, so as to make the land fertile and the soil soft.
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草諯大月。冬至後五旬七日，菖始生，菖者百草之先生者也，於是始耕。孟夏之昔，殺三葉而穫大麥。日至，苦菜死而資生，而樹麻與菽，此告民地寶盡死。凡草生藏日中出，狶首生而麥無葉，而從事於蓄藏，此告民究也。五時見生而樹生，見死而穫死。天下時，地生財，不與民謀。 |
| | Grasses flourish in the large months. Fifty-seven days after the winter solstice, the chang grass begins to grow; chang is the first of all grasses to sprout, and at this time plowing begins. On the day before the beginning of summer, when three-leaf plants are killed, the barley is harvested. When the sun reaches its southernmost point (the winter solstice), the bitter mustard dies and new resources arise; at this time, hemp and soybeans are planted, indicating to the people that all treasures of the land have perished. All grasses grow and hide at midday; when the xishou plant sprouts, wheat has no leaves, and people begin to store provisions—this is a sign to the people of the end. At five times when life appears, planting occurs; when death appears, harvesting takes place. The time of the world comes, and the land produces wealth without consulting the people.
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有年瘞土，無年瘞土。無失民時，無使之治下。知貧富利器，皆時至而作，渴時而止。是以老弱之力可盡起，其用日半，其功可使倍。不知事者，時未至而逆之，時既往而慕之，當時而薄之，使其民而郤之。民既郤，乃以良時慕，此從事之下也。操事則苦，不知高下，民乃逾處。種稑禾不為稑，種重禾不為重，是以粟少而失功。 |
| | In years of good harvest, bury soil; in years of poor harvest, also bury soil. Do not lose the people's proper time, and do not make them serve beneath. Knowing poverty and wealth, wielding sharp tools—everything is done when the time comes, and ceases when thirst does. Therefore, even the strength of the old and weak can be fully utilized; their workday is only half, yet their accomplishments can be doubled. Those who do not understand affairs act against the time before it arrives, long for it after it has passed, and undervalue it when it is present, thereby causing their people to resist it. When the people resist, one laments the lost good time—this is the conduct of an inferior official. Handling affairs leads to hardship; not knowing high from low, the people then overstep their proper place. Planting early-ripening millet does not yield an early harvest; planting late-ripening millet yields no late harvest—thus, the grain is scarce and labor is wasted.
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