The Ancient Chinese People's Wants and Means to Predicting the Weather

The ancient Chinese people predicted weather by using their senses to observe their
surroundings, observing animal behavior, and finding patterns in weather over time. Agriculture
was very important for this society. Peasant farmers used proverbs to pass down their wisdom
of the environment down generation to generation. Although the farmers did not have formal
science education, the proverbs are their observations of scientifically valid climate phenomena.
These proverbs allowed farmers to know when to plant and harvest. Predicting weather also
allowed them to predict disasters such as floods. This benefited the whole society because
agricultural products were vital to the survival of all the people.
China covers a lot of land area so it encompasses a few different climates. Chinas first
communities settled in river valleys in the northwest. This area has rich soil that could support
farming. There are two major rivers: the Yellow River and the Yangzi River. These rivers can
overflow and cause floods that damage cities and farms. Since the land near the rivers is low
and flat, the flood waters can cover huge areas (Anderson 2005).
Climate and geographical location determines what farmers can plant and how many months of
the year they can grow. Only about 20% of Chinas land area could be used for agriculture
(Anderson 2005). The climate of the south is sub-tropical. Since it is warm and wet, rice is
grown in paddies and farmers can have multiple harvests a year. The northern area by the
Yellow River has cold dry winters. The growing season is shorter there. Farmers planted cereals
such as wheat. Millet is grown in the west. The water in the two major rivers flows away from the
west to the east. This is one reason that the area is so dry and therefore more susceptible to
drought (Wiethoff 1975).
Peasant farmers were treated badly but the Chinese rulers knew the importance of agriculture.
They had low taxes and the government made them rotate crops to keep the soil healthy. Even
in ancient times, China had a large population (Anderson 2005). According to the scholar Chao
Tso, a wise ruler was considered one who focused the energies of his people on agriculture. He
also stated that agriculture can be the root of crime. Crime begins in poverty; poverty in
sufficiency in food; insufficiency in food in neglect of agriculture (Fitzgerald 2006). Agriculture
was considered important because it kept everyone alive and was a strong tie that bonded
humans to the Earth.
Something that is unique about China compared to other ancient civilizations is that they took a
more humanistic outlook on things. Instead of a story of creation with deities, their creation myth
was a story of mankind. Granted, their creation myth was based on the Ying and Yang forces,
but since legends were so realistic to them, it became part of their human history (Fitzgerald
2006).
There were several dynasties and different philosophies. Confucian philosophy impeded
scientific development and Taoism philosophy included beliefs in magic. They also invented
pseudosciences such as Feng Shui. Taoism was a philosophy that had interest in mans

mastery of the environment (Fitzgerald 2006). They believed that humans were not the most
important creatures on earth and were capable of damaging the worlds natural order (Anderson
2005).
In the Shang Dynasty, people who were able to use their eyes and ears to predict weather with
their senses were considered amazing. These people were able to claim high government
positions. Those in these positions predicted the weather and reported it to the king (How Did
Ancient People Forecast Weather).
Astronomers kept track of the days and months. Knowing the passage of time allowed them to
compile weather data over many years to find patterns. They were able to refer to these
patterns to predict when the seasons or tide would change. This became the standard for how
the society predicted weather (The Ancient Art of Weather Predictions 2013).
In the Zhou Dynasty, people learned to forecast weather by observing animal behavior. For
example, if they saw a dragonfly flying low they believed heavy rain was coming. This ancient
wisdom on animal behavior was passed down through the generations in the form of proverbs.
(How Did Ancient People Forecast Weather).
They also had proverbs about wind, clouds, fog, rain, snow, dew, frost, seasons, skies,
temperature, animals, and plants (Institute of Atmospheric Physics). The majority of the rural
population did not have a formal education, but they had a lot of wisdom on their environment.
Nongyan means peasant proverbs, or peasant sayings. Most of them have to do with farming
matters: weather, soil, geography, plants etc. It was easy for peasants to pick them up because
the proverbs were short and they rhymed.
The peasants observed changes in weather and the environment around them and made
forecasts. The results were remarkably accurate (Hung 1985).Even though the peasants
couldnt explain things in a scientific fashion, their conclusions did have accurate scientific
implications (Hung 1985). For example, they observed the behavior of crickets chirping, but they
did not know the thermodynamics behind why temperature change influences the cricket chirp.
Some proverbs were just superstition, but not all. For example, proverbs about snow showed
that farmers understood the importance of snow to agriculture. In 1952, there was a study of
these weather proverbs. Out of 408 proverbs, 75% were accurate predictors. The proverbs
[told] farmers when to plant, when to harvest, and how to predict and avoid disasters (Hung
1985). These sayings were determined to be objects of scientific interest.
The Chinese Institute of Atmospheric Physics compiled a list of proverb examples and tied each
one to the scientific principles behind the phenomena the proverb described. They have not yet
published an English translation of their findings.
One example the Institute of Atmospheric Physics gave is of the proverb: Gu Sun means a
crazy typhoon soon. Gu Sun means theres a bunch of orange under the yellow sun. .The

ancient Chinese peasants were scientifically correct in their observation of the relationship
between red skies and the physics of pressure systems signaling weather coming in or out.
Some proverbs were regional since what was true about climate for one region was not
necessarily true for another. Many of them forecasted rain by observing when the various
underground animals came out. Proverbs described things such as drought, rainfall,
precipitation, cold air activities, high winds, hail, and typhoons. They want to know things such
as when the cold is coming because those temperatures have an effect on crops such as rice.
They cared a lot about the typhoon weather proverbs. There was a common one that stated:
when the ants build their nests up, a storm is coming (Institute of Atmospheric Physics). So,
they observed ant behavior. Ants are capable of detecting gas emissions and carbon dioxide
gradients with their chemoreceptors (Oskin 2013). When the farmers saw ants building up their
mounds higher, they predicted rain. According to the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, when
there is bad weather, air stream increases and pressure lowers causing more water vapor to be
in the air, causing the soil in the ant hill to become damp and humid. Ants build their mounds
above ground level when they want to keep themselves warm and dry (Mississippi State
University 2014). Scientists are still figuring out more about the biological and chemical process
of exactly why ants react to weather but current scientific findings support the claim of the
proverb (Oskin 2013).
Predicting the typhoon mattered because it has an effect on the flowering of rice in the summer
or early harvest time. This is important information to know (Institute of Atmospheric Physics).
In conclusion, the ancient Chinese people predicted weather by using their senses to observe
their surroundings and found patterns in weather over time. Agriculture was very important for
this society and although the farmers did not have formal science education, they passed
around proverbs describing scientifically valid climate phenomena. This benefited the whole
society because it helped them to successfully produce their agricultural products which were
vital to the survival of all the people.

References
Anderson, D. (2005). Ancient China. Chicago, Ill.: Raintree.
Fitzgerald, C. (2006). Ancient China. New York: IBooks :.
How Did Ancient People Forecast Weather? (n.d.). Retrieved from: http://kaleidoscope.culturalchina.com/en/10Kaleidoscope4379.html
Hung, C. (1985). Going to the people: Chinese intellectuals and folk literature, 1918-1937(pp.
145-147). [Google Books] Cambridge, Mass.: Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard
University.:
Mississippi State University. (n.d.). Biology of Fire Ants. Retrieved from:
http://msucares.com/insects/fireants/biology.html
Oskin, B. (2013, April 13). Study: Ants May Be Able to Predict Earthquakes. Retrieved from:
http://www.weather.com/science/nature/news/ants-sense-earthquakes-20130413
The Ancient Art of Weather Predictions. (2013, July 15). Retrieved from:
http://ancientstandard.com/2013/07/15/the-ancient-art-of-weather-predictions/
Wiethoff, B. (1975). Geography. In Introduction to Chinese history: From ancient times to 1912
(pp. 34-35). Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press.