The Chinese solar calendar, on the other hand, is as accurate as the Gregorian "calendar, and coincides: with it almost exactly, Thus the days marking the commencements of the 24 fortnightly periods also. fall approximately on the same, dates each year in the Western calendar. This system may be known as the The Chinese have always evinced 1 great interest in insects. Remarkably life-like -earvings in bone of such insects as the eleada and the praying mantis dating from the Shang Dynasty. (1716-1122. B.C.) indicate! that already in that far' distant period, over 3,000 years ago, the! people of this country were wont 10) watch and study the habits of -these strange forms of animal life. Indeed, {in the decorative art of the Shang' period there occurs an oft-repeated design derived from the' cicada, which, by its extreme. conven-Wlonalization, indicates that it was! even then an old art-motif sind, like all Shang art, probably had been handed down' from the preceding Hsia, period, of which there is now other trace.
From these carly days of China's culture all down through th cages, Insects have formed a strong motif in the art of the country, and. we know how important economically was at least one species—the silk worm, the valuable product of whose body ied to China's contact with the: Romans in the Han period (206 B.C—220 A.D.) and the opening of a great overland trade route through Central Asia. It should be noted, however, that silk was known and extensively used in the Shang Dynasty' fifteen centuries before this, In Shang writing there are pictographs of the silkworm, and on clay moulds ex~ cavated from tombs of this period the imprint of woven silk' fabrics may still be seen.
Especially did the cicada seem to appeal to the Ancient Chinese: It is believed by some that they asoselated with the idea of resurrection from the grave, for which reason they placed a jade carving of this Insect the mouths of the deceased jotits In Decorative Art The Bobbing Grasshopper farmers' calendar, for it is by following tt that the Chinese husbandman knows when to prepare his ground, when to sow his grain and when 10 start harvesting his crop.
In the course of their long history the' Chinese have noticed certain. natural' phenomena coinciding with certain seasons in this solar} fealandar of theirs, and have named the fortnightly periods accordingly. 'This system provides a very accurate chart' of the seasons, which anyone living in China would do well to need, It would be a good idea for printers of foreign calendars for use In Chinato mark these periods on. them. This might prevent many cases of pneumonia, since the warn-Ings. of weather changes thus supplied could always be regarded os Accurate, As a matter of interest the '24 fortnightly periods are included in the list of festivals in the "China Hong List" issued annually by the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.