The Ancient Chinese tradition of keeping and competing with crickets
In a Chinese house in Shandong province, you can hear the steady chirping of a cricket, coming not from behind the stove, as many Russian writers wrote, but from attractive ceramic boxes. This is not a random guest, but a pet. And if in other countries it is often considered an annoying insect that interferes with sleep, then in China it has an opposite attitude, which originated so long ago that no one can give an exact date.
Grasshoppers were kept in gilded tiny houses in imperial palaces, Buddhists used their singing for meditation, and then people found another advantage of them: their combative nature. Since then, the era of sports has begun, where grasshoppers, like real boxers in the ring, engage in combat. The fans place bets, and the hunters earn enough money in a season to build a house.
The cricket in Chinese culture: a symbol of wealth and comfort
In China, there are unusual stores that sell live crickets, and the price for them reaches $ 100. But in this case, it’s not about cooking them as a dish; they are pets. People come here to choose someone who will calm them down with their singing or entertain them at sports events. The Chinese people’s love for grasshoppers originated so long ago that no one can tell the exact time, but it is a fact that keeping them as pets has become a tradition for many generations. At first, their singing was appreciated by Buddhists who meditated under the chirping, and then the insects settled in the houses of peasants and imperial palaces.
The calm, even soporific chirping of a grasshopper in China is considered the voice of home and comfort, and is associated with the hearth. It is believed that singing attracts prosperity and happiness. Visit. A F R I N I K. C O M . For the full article. Therefore, it is used as a gift for the New Year, when they want to wish all the best in the coming year. The grasshopper reminds one of summer and the joys it brings, or endows it with the symbolism of rebirth, just as summer comes after winter.
A Chinese pet that makes life easier
Keeping a cricket at home in China has never been considered an oddity or a quirk of the poor who cannot afford a cat or dog. On the contrary, it was an elegant occupation, typical of the educated class. Poets, artists, musicians, and even Buddhist monks. Quiet chirping was appreciated as a way to fall asleep quickly, and they settled into houses as pets. They were kept in small reed boxes and placed near the baby’s bed and cradle. But in the imperial chambers, the grasshoppers lived no less luxuriously than the emperor himself.
They built tiny houses made of precious materials, attached to them a separate servant who had to walk, feed, and bathe the cricket, and special healers had to monitor its health, always having a medicine for diseases at hand. The age of the grasshopper is not so long, but no one threw it away when it died; it was buried with honors in a miniature silver coffin.
Cricket Fights: Non-lethal entertainment
Crickets only seem to be ordinary insects that live in the grass. In fact, they also have features that make you wonder. For example, they hear better than humans, and their ears are on their feet. They can be quiet and loud-voiced, combative and calm. Fighting grasshoppers (chuichu) are a separate category that have received more attention since the Song Dynasty, Jia Sidao, because they began to organize fights.
The Chinese county of Ningjin has become internationally famous as a place where cricket fights are held. It attracts not only participants from different parts of China, but also from other countries. And although there is a ban on gambling involving animals and sweepstakes, there is a loophole for gamblers in this case. Firstly, a grasshopper is not an animal or a bird, and secondly, the battle ends without bloodshed.
The province of Ningjin was not chosen by chance. This is where the best Chuichu “fighters” are found. Once a year, the participants fill it with their wards, and here you can also buy new ones – selected ones. The streets and squares are temporarily decorated with flags and badges with images of grasshoppers; costumed people walk in their image; musicians on instruments make the sounds of a cricket chirping, and to top it off, a flag is raised over the city, not Olympic, but no less significant – with a painted grasshopper. This means that Ningjin is ready to compete: with a ring and a sports commentator challenging a “Ferocious Tiger” or an “Invincible Dragon.” Grasshoppers are given loud nicknames because they are not just crickets, but fighters.
The ring and the “boxers” are actually very small, so that they can be observed directly near the “boxing ground”, because it is the size of a dessert plate, divided by a partition. But the miracle of technology has helped to enlarge the battlefield, and the fight is being watched on big screens. Trainers encourage their grasshoppers with a straw, pushing them and touching their antennae, which they apparently don’t like very much. Therefore, when the partition is removed, they pounce on each other. The fight goes on until one of the crickets begins to retreat, ceding the palm to the opponent.
It never ends with bloodshed, because grasshoppers can’t inflict that much damage; their jaws aren’t that powerful, but they can injure an opponent’s wing or leg. After that, the wounded “fighter” leaves the battlefield forever. The most selected and almost pedigreed grasshoppers with the status of “married” are taken to the competitions, because in a crippled form, especially without a wing, they are no longer attractive to the female. Nature has wisely taken care of the preservation of the code of honor on the battlefield. In the fight, the principle of “do not beat the prone” is used. The winner gives a battle cry, and the fight is over.
The Cricket Market
Nanjing is also famous for the market where you can buy an “athlete” for every taste. They are supplied by residents who catch Chuichu grasshoppers. This is a local landmark. An uninformed person might think that they sell thoroughbred horses there: each seller describes his product in bright colors, its best qualities, and the buyer carefully examines it. They spend hours examining each insect, assessing its coloring, exterior, sound quality, and, of course, it’s fighting potential. Long negotiations are underway, during which the price can skyrocket to thousands of dollars for a particularly promising fighter.
For locals, catching crickets is not fun, but a serious seasonal business. An experienced hunter can earn an amount in a season for which you can buy a house in the same area, even though the time to earn is limited. Fishing begins in late summer, and the grasshopper lives for three months. However, even such small insects bring a lot of money, but they also require care. Hunters and buyers spend at least $20 a day on their care, because they need to be properly fed to stay energetic, washed, and monitored for their health.
Local businesses also benefit from the International Cricket Festival in Nanjing. Everything from restaurants to small hotels and shops that provide services to visitors has an income. So the grasshopper turned into not only an affectionate singer and fighter, but also a breadwinner. And his ability to hear a female several kilometers away still surprises scientists who cannot solve this mystery.
