Chinese solar term Awakening of Insects: Earth's 'morning alarm'
(People's Daily App) 14:26, March 06, 2023
Monday marks the start of Jingzhe, or the Awakening of Insects. It is the third solar term of the Chinese lunar calendar.
Awakening of Insects, as the name suggests, refers to insects waking up after hibernation, most often by the sound of thunder in spring, or so people in ancient China believed.
In fact, it is not thunder that stirs the insects, but rising temperatures. As the weather turns warmer, insects, along with other hibernating animals, will gradually wake up and resume their activities.
This solar term signals a rise in temperature and increase of rainfall, which brings farmers into a busy plowing season. It is also the beginning of a series of animal activities.
The traditional Chinese solar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms. Awakening of Insects will end on March 20 this year.
(Video source: Kuaishou; Cover image: CGTN)
(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
