HKFP Lens: Villain hitting at Hung Hom temple marks ‘awakening of insects’ festival

Jingzhe, the “awakening of insects” festival that falls a few weeks after the start of the Lunar New Year, took place on Thursday – marking the third of the Chinese calendar’s 24 solar terms. The festival is named for the awakening of insects from hibernation as spring arrives. A common ritual during Jingzhe is “villain hitting,” where people pay a small fee to a priestess who then beats a paper effigy of a “villain” with a shoe, symbolically warding off bad luck. This year, the ritual was performed at a temple in Hung Hom.