PureInsight | March 22, 2004
[PureInsight.org]
"The harsh winter has not yet completely gone,
But the spring weather is beginning to chase it away.
As the rosy and purple clouds slowly puff up,
The winter snow shall melt and the spring rain shall soon return."
(From "Awakening Hibernating Insects")
This poem is titled "Awakening Hibernating Insects" and composed by a Falun Gong practitioner with the penname of Hao Han. It was originally published on the Minghui.org website on March 10, 2002.
Today, on the 5th day of March in 2004, it is the first day of "Awakening Hibernating Insects" (or Jing Zhi in Chinese pinyin) for 2004. "Awakening Hibernating Insects" is one of the 24 climatic periods into which the lunar year is divided and it usually begins on March 5 or 6. Each climatic or seasonal period consists of 15 days. Jing Zhiis the day when the spring weather awakens insects from hibernation.
"Awakening Hibernating Insects" always comes after "the Beginning of Spring" (or Li Chun in Chinese pinyin). Li Chun is also the date marking the beginning of one of the 24 seasonal periods in a year. It normally falls on February 4 or 5 in the lunar calendar. Since the first day of Jing Zhi, the temperature starts to rise, along with the advent of spring thunderstorms. The rise in temperature and the spring thunderstorms thus shock awake the insects hibernating under the earth during the wintertime. The insect eggs also start to hatch on the first day of Jing Zhi, and thus they begin their life journeys.
The poem above does justice to the weather in Jing Zhi. After Jing Zhi, everything starts to grow or revive, and fills everyone's hearts with new hope. There is an ancient Chinese saying, "Growth begins with the advent of spring thunderstorms." During the seasonal period of "Awakening Hibernating Insects," the temperature starts to rise and the frequency of rain increases in China. While northern China is still covered with winter snow, spring is already prevalent over the rest of China. The temperature in China during the Jing Zhiperiod rises above 32°F. While the average temperature in northern China rises only slightly, and ranges between 37 and 42°F. In southern China it rises above 46°F. The average temperature in southwestern and southeastern China even rises to a range between 50 and 59°F. Signs of springtime are ambient in southern China. Starting in Jing Zhi, in the great outdoors of southern China the peach trees and plum trees blossom pink, red and white, and birds sit poised on tree limbs, while butterflies flutter.
"Awakening Hibernating Insects" is also the date that marks the breaking of the sod for spring planting. A poem in the Tang Dynasty describes the spring farming activity vividly, "The spring drizzles fresh blossoms." Spring thunder accompanies the arrival of Jing Zhi. Since Jing Zhibegins March 5 or 6, farmers have just concluded a short rest during the winter. Now they will be busy again. The spring thunder arrives at different times throughout China. On average, the spring thunder arrives in southern Yun'nan Province at the end of January every year, while in Beijing it arrives at the end of April each year. [Note: In China, during the spring time there are often thunderstorms where people hear loud thunder but there is no rain. It is hence referred to as "spring thunder."]
It is a mystery whether it is the will of heaven or purely coincidence that each year the National People's Congress and the Political Consultation meeting in China take place around Jing Zhi. Each year the National People's Congress takes place on March 5 and March 3 for the Political Consultation meeting. "Awakening Hibernating Insects" is supposed to be a seasonal period that brings people new hope for the upcoming year, but Beijing has been enveloped with gloom and pressure for the past few years. The beginning of March this year was unusually cold. According to ancient Chinese people's observations, autumn temperatures in spring forebodes floods and wars.
Nowadays, groups of policemen creep around on the streets of Beijing and even bring German Shepherd dogs to popular business districts, which terrify Beijing pedestrians. The traffic police are rarely seen in Beijing when they are most needed, but these days people will unexpectedly meet them all over the streets of Beijing. These traffic police may seemingly appear to be directing traffic but in actuality they are acting as mobile checkpoints to stop and check cars at will. There is an ancient Chinese saying that describes this bizarre phenomenon of policemen in Beijing streets these days: "Since Jing Zhi, it becomes increasingly warm and toads start to come out and loudly croak folk songs of the mountain."
On March 5, 2002, a day before the starting date of Jing Zhi, an earthshaking event took place in northern China. Under the most dangerous circumstances in China, Falun Gong practitioners in Changchun City in Jilin Province successfully broadcast truth-clarification video programs, including "Falun Dafa Around the World" and "Self-Immolation or Staged Act?" over the Changchun cable TV network. These Falun Gong practitioners risked their lives in exchange for an incredible opportunity for Chinese people living in the confines of the Chinese communist government's information blockade to learn the truth about Falun Dafa and the persecution against Falun Dafa. Two years have passed since the March 5 TV broadcast in Changchun City in Jing Zhiof 2002. All Falun Gong practitioners in Changchun City are still enduring the most insufferable tortures for their altruistic, heroic action, and many of them have already been persecuted to death in police custody. However, they did not die or suffer in vain. Their heroic action was like mighty thunder in the middle of a dark, creepy night replacing the ghostly sky with its white light. The earthshaking resonance of the thunder cannot be hidden from the Chinese people's ears. The March 5 TV broadcast is like a fire in the wild prairie, fueling ever-increasing TV broadcasts of truth-clarification programs all over China. Each truth-clarification video program successfully exposes and destroys Jiang Zemin's slanderous lies that are designed to justify and sustain its persecution against Falun Gong.
Two years have passed since the March 5 broadcast in Jing Zhiof 2002. The weather in Jing Zhiof 2004 remains chilly in Beijing, but the people in China are no longer the same, and this is a result of Falun Gong practitioners' invincible truth-clarification efforts. The vicious persecution against Falun Gong is coming to an end because the people in China are growing sick of being the passive victims of Jiang Zemin and his henchmen's vicious lies. In fact, an increasing number of Chinese people are starting to look for Falun Gong practitioners in order to learn more about Falun Dafa. All lives are indeed awakening from hibernation. My heart is trembling and I am breaking into tears, although I am not quite sure why I feel like crying. Perhaps this is not the time for tears. After all, spring has arrived and all lives are truly awakening. With the advent of the new spring, we should increase our efforts to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa to awaken more Chinese people and offer them salvation as the persecution is approaching an end.
It is now midnight. I look up into the night sky, decorated with the tranquil moon and bright winking stars, wondering in what form the people that have learned and will learn the truth about Falun Dafa will choose to immortalize the most unforgettable Jing Zhi in 2002?
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2004/3/5/26098.html
