Sweeping silkworm flower fields is one of the traditional folk customs and national intangible cultural heritages in Deqing County, Zhejiang Province. The main artists who sweep silkworm flower fields are concentrated in Deqing area. When a ceremony is held to sweep silkworm flowers, a woman in disguise usually sings and dances with a small gong. Performers often make a series of actions related to sericulture production, such as sweeping the floor, pasting windows, dusting silkworm ants, picking mulberry leaves, feeding silkworms, catching silkworms and changing plaques, and picking cocoons on the mountain. This kind of folk activity has a long history and has preserved a very rich traditional cultural connotation.
The formation and evolution of the silkworm flower field has a long time span, which has a history of 100 years, according to the old artists. Sweeping silkworm flower fields is a widespread silkworm custom in Hu Jia from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China. It originated in Deqing county, Zhejiang province, and the main performers of the ceremony concentrated in Deqing area. From the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, in order to pray for a good harvest of sericulture, sericulture farmers in Deqing invited professional or semi-professional artists to their homes to hold a ceremony to sweep silkworm fields during the Spring Festival, Lantern Festival and Tomb-Sweeping Day, which gradually evolved into a song and dance performance.