The Place of Awakening Cicadas

Time：2024-10-08 10:19:40

The three large characters inscribed on this boulder,  (The Place of Awakening Cicadas), are recognizable, with the second character being a pictographic representation of an insect chirping on a branch—indeed, a cicada. Accompanying these characters are smaller annotations: "Liu Bang hid his flying horse in this valley. When the golden cicadas awakened, they chirped together all over the mountain, serving to mask the sound of the horse's hooves. Hence, it was named 'The Place of Awakening Cicadas'." During the楚汉相争 (contention between Chu and Han) period in 205 BC, after the defeat in the Battle of Pengcheng, Liu Bang managed to break through the enemy lines with only a few dozen men. To evade pursuit by Xiang Yu, the Western Chu Hegemon, Liu Bang hid in Huangcangyu for the second time. It was only the fourth month of the lunar calendar, and the golden cicadas seemed to awaken, chirping together all over the mountain. The chirping of the cicadas masked the sound of Liu Bang's horse's hooves, effectively confusing Xiang Yu's pursuing troops.

Since then, every March of the lunar calendar, spring cicadas have begun to chirp in Huangcangyu, becoming a major spectacle in the Huaibei region. Until August of the lunar calendar, summer cicadas continue their relay chirping. Thus, the spring and summer cicadas in Huangcangyu chirp continuously from March to August, spanning half a year.

[Note: Cicadas, commonly known as "cicadas," are locally called "jingdihou." Ancient people believed that cicadas chirping high on branches gained a far-reaching reputation ("high up, the voice is naturally far"); they lived on dew and were therefore considered pure, endowing cicadas with noble sentiments. In fact, male cicadas chirp to attract female cicadas for mating; cicadas feed on plant sap, using their extremely hard needle-like mouthparts to insert vertically into the trunk of trees to suck the sap from the tree stems. In addition, cicadas symbolize resurrection and immortality in traditional culture, as cicada larvae live underground, and then cicada nymphs emerge from the ground, shedding their exoskeletons to unfold their wings and fly up to high branches. During the Qin and Han dynasties, the jade object placed in the mouth of the deceased was called "yuhan," and the most common shape of yuhan was a cicada, symbolizing the hope that the deceased would burrow into the earth like a cicada, emerge from the soil to be reborn, achieving the desire for spiritual immortality and the continuation of the soul.]