Agricultural proverbs， which are derived from the experience of the working people， are valuable cultural heritage in agriculture. The “Three Powers ” theory， referring to heaven， earth and human， is the core and essence of traditional Chinese agronomy. The rice cultivation experience summarized in the proverbs in Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions conforms to the theoretical viewpoints of the ancient agricultural books， e.g.

Qimin Yaoshu

，

Chenfu’s Nongshu

and

Wangzhen’s Nongshu

， and contains the theoretical thoughts of "Three Powers". "Heaven" factors such as wind， rain， clouds， solar terms and farming seasons， as well as "earth" factors such as land， soil and soil fertility， are important basis to predict the time of rice sowing and reaping ， and harvest or failure of the rice. "Human" factors such as selection of seeds， irrigation， plowing and weeding， pest control and the use of agricultural tools directly determine the rice output. The heaven， earth and human factors in rice cultivation proverbs are an organic whole of the interaction between the natural factors and the human factors. It reflects the philosophical concept of "harmony between human and nature". The rice cultivation proverbs in Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions have been passed down for gene

rations， and are still playing very important application value in modern rice cultivation.