Culture Insider: Six things you may not know about Grain Buds

Celebrating silkworm deity birthday

Silkworm rearing is a traditional byproduct for people in regions south of the Yangtze River. During the Grain Buds season, silkworms have cocooned. People begin to cook cocoons and prepare the spinning wheel for reeling silk.

People in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces regard this season as the birthday of the silkworm deity. Those who engage in the silk industry thank the deity by offering sacrifices and staging performances. They pray to the deity for blessings and a boom season for the silk business.

Representatives from the silk field offer sacrifices to the silkworm deity in Suzhou, Jiangsu province.[Photo/jschina.com.cn]