Spring · No.3
Awakening of Insects
Jing Zhe
Thunder rolls, insects and animals wake from their winter sleep, and pest control arrives alongside spring ploughing.
Once Awakening of Insects arrives, thunder becomes common in the south and warm air returns fast. Frogs, snakes and beetles leave their winter burrows. Peach trees open their first blossoms, orioles call, and the field work multiplies at once: wheat needs feeding and weeding, orchards need pruning and pest checks. Farm households used to scatter lime and smoke the corners of rooms to drive ants and moths out. Many regions eat pears on this day, a pun on leaving pests behind, and dry-fry soybeans so the crackle sounds like thunder in the pan.
Three pentads
- 1
Peach trees open their first pink blossoms
- 2
Orioles begin to sing, clear and bright
- 3
Hawks grow scarce as cuckoos take their place
What people eat now
pear
Pears come in around Awakening of Insects, and northern families eat one, punning on li to wish field pests away.
fried soybeans
Families fry soybeans until they crackle like spring thunder around the second lunar month, an old custom of this term.
spring chives
The first chives are cut around Awakening of Insects, narrow-leaved and pungent; stir-fried with egg they taste of early spring.
What people wear
Thunder arrives and the air warms, but the wind still has an edge. Swap the padded coat for a light quilted jacket over a long-sleeve shirt, and add or remove it as the day shifts. Keep trousers on the heavier side and cover your ankles. Frosty or foggy mornings deserve one extra layer, shed once the sun is up.