A Chinese ink painting of spring ploughing. [Photo/artron.net]

Spring ploughing

The Awakening of Insects is an extremely important time for farmers and is widely seen as the beginning of the busiest time for agricultural work. During this period, most parts of China experience the quickest rise in temperatures, with the average level reaching above 10 degrees Celsius, and there is a marked increase in sunshine, which provides good natural conditions for farming.

Old Chinese sayings such as "once the Awakening of Insects comes, spring ploughing never rests" reveal the importance of this term to farmers.