A time of thunder and renewal

On the traditional Chinese calendar, today is the day of Jingzhe, or Awakening of Insects, the third of the Twenty-four Solar Terms following Start of Spring that fell on Feb 4 this year and Rain Water 14 days ago.

Over millennia, Chinese people observed that on this particular day, thunder rumbled and insects that hibernated in winter climbed out of their hiding places, thus giving it an animated and imaginative name Jingzhe－the rolling thunder that awakens sleeping insects.

During Jingzhe, usually spanning 15 days, warm humid air from the south becomes active and rising temperatures are often accompanied by drizzle.

Chinese people in ancient times observed that in the first five days, peach blossoms bloomed, in the second black-naped oriole birds started singing, and in the third eagles hid but pigeons and doves appeared.

In warm and humid weather, crops grow faster, which requires more water and fertilizer, so Jingzhe is an important time for agriculture, especially the second day of the second Chinese lunar month, or "Eryueer" that often falls around Jingzhe.

People centuries ago observed that there are 28 stars on the ecliptic. They divided them into four constellations according to their positions. On the east side were seven stars that formed the shape of a dragon spanning the sky, so people named this constellation Azure Dragon, which was not always visible due to the movement of the Earth around the sun.

On Eryueer, the Azure Dragon reappeared in the east sky starting from the star representing the dragon's horns. People back then described this celestial phenomenon as "On Eryueer, Azure Dragon raises its head". For them, it marked the arrival of spring, and the time to plow the land and transport fertilizer to the field. They celebrated it as a festival.

Folklore in the north of China has it that Empress Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) offended the Jade Emperor so that he banned rainfall for three years. Soon one of the dragon kings that were in charge of rain, hearing people weeping and seeing people dying of famine, defied the order and was confined under a mountain.

The imprisonment would not end until gold beans cracked. Trying to save the kind dragon king, people looked around for gold beans. By the Eryueer of the next year, when they were tedding corn kernels, they found they looked like gold beans and would crack if heated. Then people all fried corn kernels and presented them on altars to the Jade Emperor. The dragon king was released and resumed his job. As a tradition, in the north, people ate popcorn on Eryueer.

Since insects appeared, it was also a time that reminded people that harmful insects such as centipedes and scorpions could enter dwellings, so they needed to light a fire to illuminate walls and beams to find them and get rid of them.

As time moved on, especially when people relied more on science and technology, many customs were forgotten. Today, many people celebrate Eryueer by going to the hairdressers because they choose not to cut their hair in the first lunar month or else their maternal uncles would experience misfortune.

For some, traditional practices on Jingzhe or Eryueer have become a connection with their childhood memories which urge them to reflect on their current life.

When Jia Nan, 43, was a child, she spent most time with her grandmother in a town in the western part of Northeast China's Liaoning province. She remembers, her grandmother would tell her the origins of related rituals and their meanings, either for blessings or to prevent misfortune.

Born in 1920, the grandmother believed all her life that with a pious heart, prayers would come true, Jia says.

She remembers her grandmother always counted to the exact time when Start of Spring arrived. At that moment, she would join her grandmother to take a bite of radish while humming auspicious incantations, wishing for a smooth healthy year for the family.

"As a child, I found such a ritual was fun and warmhearted," Jia says.

Growing up in a small town, a land of black soil, Jia could see vast fields when she was little. In her free time, she would run over the hills together with classmates to see multifarious plants and birds, such as kingfishers and woodpeckers.

Time passed and each passing day was marked when a calendar leaf was ripped off. The calendar would also tell what day tomorrow would be and what one should or should not do.

"Ripping a calendar leaf every day and witnessing changes in the nature gave me a very concrete sense of time," she says.

In Jia's hometown, in winter, snow keeps falling and accumulates on roofs. About 55 days after Winter Solstice, the frozen surface of rivers cracks, and gradually melts, which signals the end of winter.

In early March, the vast land of the north is still shrouded in coldness waiting quietly for the message of the approaching spring. Jia remembers that on the day of Awakening of Insects that falls on March 5 or 6, her grandmother always told her to listen carefully for the rumble of thunder.

"She said it's a thunder from nowhere. It's to awaken sleeping insects and animals," Jia says.

"In some years, I did follow her instructions. I really heard muffled thunder."

On the day of Jingzhe, Jia's grandmother would observe the weather very carefully and refer to the farmers' proverbs such as "If north wind blows on Jingzhe, we're to live through another winter", or "If it's cold on Jingzhe, it will be warm on Spring Equinox".

"It's a pity that I haven't verified what she told me, but now it's not too late to act," she says.

On Eryueer, the grandmother would get up early and before daybreak, she would shovel some ashes to draw a circle in the yard, praying for good harvests. The family would also go to the reservoir to worship the dragon king, praying for a good year for the family.

In the days that followed, the short buds of grass came up. Assorted wildflowers sprouted everywhere from nowhere. Jia says she would get very excited at seeing them. Then wild vegetables, dandelions, winter jasmine, magnolia, cherry blossoms and peach blossoms would color the landscape.

Now living in Beijing, Jia says that she can still hear thunder faintly on the day of Jingzhe despite the noise of traffic and construction in the city. However, modern life and the noise of the industrialized society have impacted the natural rhythm on this old land, together the customs "that contain ancient people's wisdom", she says.

"Even if many of us are now living in cities, we can't and should not separate from nature. Even the magnolia in the streets or parks can always give us a break from our busy life," she says.

Now when it comes to days of Twenty-four Solar Terms, Jia will practice some rituals and find her connections with nature.

In spring, she will go to Yuyuantan Park to see cherry blossoms, or Olympic Forest Park to see the miscellaneous trees and plants, first cherry blossoms, then apricot blossoms, peach blossoms, roses and so on. In autumn, she will go to the avenue near Diaoyutai State Guesthouse to see the golden ginkgo leaves.

"On the days of Twenty-four Solar Terms, I always think of my grandmother. Although she has passed away, she will be in my heart forever. At such time, I will totally forget my age and go back to my warm childhood that I spent with her," she says.

For 25-year-old Wu Jiajie in Foshan, South China's Guangdong province, Jingzhe is a good time to observe insects.

Working close to a wetland park, he often goes there to observe insects, especially during nights when many insects and animals come out to hunt.

"Jingzhe is a turning point. Perhaps it's because rainfall increases and temperature rises, and it's a better time for insects' activities. I can see more insects as well as other small animals like snakes and frogs since Jingzhe," he says.

"We don't have many customs here. For me, Jingzhe means the insect season has arrived, so I observe nature more frequently," he says.

On the night of Jingzhe in 2021, Wu took photos of cockchafers, crickets, the larva of Papilio polytes, millipedes, toads, frogs, semi-slugs and the harmful red imported fire ant. He happened to catch the moment when a cockchafer climbed out of the soil.

A fan of Pokemon, Wu started nature observation after graduating from senior middle school. For him, to discover a new insect in nature is like collecting a Pokemon, recording unknown species and discovering the mystery of the world, he writes in one of his blogs.

"In some sense, I don't just like insects, but all the creatures in the world," he writes.

In another blog, he recorded his observation of some wild grass on the roof of his home.

"Many people might think these are obscure wild grass, so why bother to notice and observe them?" he writes.

"But through observation we know that there are so many different plants living around us and even the most common plant bears its unique flowers and fruits. So we get to know of another side of the millions of creatures around us," he writes.

"Just like a quote that I came across before: natural observation is most useless, so the happiness it brings about is the purest," he writes.