Chapter 9: The Phenological World of Guyu (Part Three) — The Hoopoe Descends Upon the Mulberry: The Heaven-Ordained Destiny of Sericulture and Women's Work

Section 1: "The Hoopoe Descends Upon the Mulberry" — What Bird Is the Hoopoe$19 What Does Its Descent Mean$20

Guyu's third pentad is "the hoopoe descends upon the mulberry." The "Explanation of the Seasonal Instructions" chapter of the Lost Book of Zhou records: "Five more days pass, and the hoopoe descends upon the mulberry."

The hoopoe (daisheng) is a bird of highly distinctive appearance: atop its head grows a magnificent crest of feathers that can open like a crown, resembling a sheng—a splendid headdress worn by women in ancient times—hence its name "daisheng," "wearer of the sheng." Its beak is long and downward-curving, and its plumage is vividly patterned. "Descends upon the mulberry" means that the hoopoe, at the season of Guyu, flies down and alights upon the mulberry tree.

Why did "the hoopoe descends upon the mulberry" become a hallmark phenological marker of Guyu$21 The key lies in that character "mulberry." The mulberry is the lifeline of sericulture—silkworms feed on mulberry leaves and spin silk, and silk can be woven into cloth, the very foundation by which the ancients clothed the world. And the hoopoe's "descent upon the mulberry" occurs precisely at the season of Guyu, when the mulberry leaves are newly sprouted and the work of silkworm-rearing is about to begin. When the ancients saw the hoopoe alight on the mulberry, they knew: the mulberry leaves could now be gathered, the silkworms should now be reared, and the great yearly affair of women's work and sericulture had reached its beginning. Thus the hoopoe's descent upon the mulberry was Heaven's "order for the work of silkworms," issued to the women of the realm.

Section 2: Mulberry and Silkworm — The Foundation of Clothing the World

To understand the weight of "the hoopoe descends upon the mulberry," one must first understand the supreme standing of the "mulberry" in the life of the ancients.

If "grain" was the foundation of the ancients' "food," then "mulberry" was the foundation of the ancients' "clothing." "Men plow, women weave" was the most fundamental division of labor in Chinese agrarian civilization—men tilled the fields and grew grain, to resolve the matter of "food"; women gathered mulberry leaves and reared silkworms, reeling silk and weaving cloth, to resolve the matter of "clothing." Grain and mulberry, food and clothing, were the two great pillars supporting the entire civilization. And the solar term of Guyu is precisely, at one and the same time, the crucial juncture for "grain" (rain giving birth to the hundred grains, sowing) and the beginning of "mulberry" (the hoopoe descending upon the mulberry, the start of silkworm-rearing)—it single-handedly bears the two great foundations of food and clothing, and its weight may be seen in this alone.

The "King Hui of Liang, Part I" chapter of the Mencius, depicting the ideal realm of kingly rule, opens with these words: "Let mulberry trees be planted about the homesteads of five mu, and those who are fifty may be clothed in silk." Homesteads of five mu, planted with mulberry trees—those fifty years of age may then be clothed in silk. That Master Meng speaks of "planting mulberry—rearing silkworms—being clothed in silk" as a matter of the very first importance for kingly rule, for the peaceful and contented life of the common people, shows plainly the foundational standing of mulberry and silkworm in the hearts of the ancients. And the starting point of all this lies precisely at Guyu—the late-spring season when the hoopoe descends upon the mulberry, the mulberry leaves are first gathered, and the work of silkworms begins to flourish.

Section 3: Gathering Mulberry Leaves in the Book of Songs — A Poetic Depiction of Guyu's Women's Work

The matter of mulberry and silkworm at the season of Guyu has left behind, in the Book of Songs, a wealth of moving images—China's earliest "mulberry-gathering poems."

We have already cited, from "Qiyue" in the "Odes of Bin": "The spring days grow warm; the oriole sings. The maidens take up their deep baskets, and follow the little paths, seeking the tender mulberry leaves. The spring days grow long; the artemisia-gatherers move busily about." In the warm sun of spring days, the oriole sings; the girls carry their deep baskets, and follow the small paths to gather the tender mulberry leaves; the spring days stretch long, and the gatherers of mugwort move about busily, many in number. This is precisely a true silhouette of the mulberry-gathering maidens' labor around the time of Guyu: carrying deep baskets in hand, walking along the field paths, all for the sake of gathering those tender mulberry leaves to feed the silkworms.

"Shi Mu Zhi Jian" ("Between the Ten Mu") in the "Odes of Wei" likewise says: "Between the ten mu of mulberry field, the mulberry-gatherers move at ease; let us go home together, you and I." Amid the ten mu of mulberry field, the mulberry-gatherers move unhurriedly and at ease; let me go home together with you. This depicts the leisurely scene of people returning home together after their mulberry-gathering labor, a picture warm and full of the texture of everyday life.

These mulberry-gathering poems elevate the women's work and sericulture of the Guyu season from mere labor into a poetic scene of life, full of human warmth. They record not merely the act of gathering mulberry leaves, but the toil, the ease, the companionship, and the sentiment of the mulberry-gathering maidens. That "gathering mulberry" later became an enduring image in poetry and song has its very source in these Guyu-season scenes of mulberry recorded in the Book of Songs.

Section 4: The Rite of the First Sericulturist — The Profound Meaning of the Queen Consort's Personal Mulberry-Gathering, Between Heaven and Humanity

The weight of mulberry and silkworm at Guyu was so great that even the queen consort had to personally take part—this was the rite of "the queen's own sericulture" (qincan, gongsang), together with the sacrifice to "the First Sericulturist" (the spirit of silkworms).

As cited earlier, the governance of the third month of spring in the "Monthly Ordinances" of the Book of Rites: "The curved frames, upright posts, round baskets, and square hampers are prepared; the queen consort fasts and purifies herself, and faces east to gather mulberry leaves with her own hands." The tools for silkworm-rearing are made ready; the queen consort fasts and purifies herself, and faces east to gather mulberry leaves with her own hands. What solemnity this is! That the mother of the entire state should fast and bathe in purification, and personally go down into the field to gather mulberry leaves, so as to set an example for all the women of the realm, encouraging and sanctifying the work of sericulture.

Why was the queen consort's personal mulberry-gathering so important$22 Because it corresponds to the Son of Heaven's "personal plowing" (personally guiding the plow to till the field, so as to encourage farm work), together constituting the sacred demonstration, at the state's very highest level, of "men plow, women weave." The Son of Heaven personally plows the southern suburban field (the "sacred field," jitian), to give weight to "grain"; the queen consort personally gathers mulberry leaves (personal sericulture, sacrifice to the First Sericulturist), to give weight to "mulberry." One plowing, one mulberry-gathering; one food, one clothing; one yang, one yin—the Son of Heaven and queen consort, leading by their own example, proclaim to the entire realm that agriculture and sericulture are the very foundation upon which the state is established, a matter that not even the sovereign dares to treat lightly.

As for "the First Sericulturist" (Xiancan), this is the silkworm spirit who first taught the people to rear silkworms (according to legend, perhaps Leizu of the Xiling clan, consort of the Yellow Sovereign). Sacrificing to the First Sericulturist and performing the rite of personal sericulture around the time of Guyu was a way of giving thanks to that ancestor (or deity) who bestowed upon humanity the art of mulberry and silk, and of praying that this year's silkworm-rearing would go smoothly and yield an abundant harvest of silk.

This system of ritual elevates the matter of mulberry and silkworm at Guyu from mere labor in the fields into a solemn ceremony bearing upon Heaven and humanity, upon the very altars of the state. Behind this small pentad, "the hoopoe descends upon the mulberry," lies connected the queen consort's fasting, the sacrifice to the First Sericulturist, and the very foundation of the state altars—the minuteness of phenology and the weight of ritual propriety merge here into one.