Chinese singing insects

Author: Meng Zhaolian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: The author wrote this book not only out of personal deep interest in insects but also out of a sense that playing with insects is a widespread and long-standing form of entertainment in folk culture. It is not only fascinating but also an important part of China's folk cultural heritage. Tracing the historical origins and introducing related knowledge, especially passing these things on to future generations, should be the responsibility of cultural research. During the process of writing this book, the author deeply felt the difficulty of finding materials. The main reason is that this kind of "lowbrow" thing has long been despised by literati in power throughout history, with no one willing to dedicate effort to it, so records are relatively scarce. Meanwhile, folk players only enjoy it for themselves, and few of them can write about it, which is often said to be "those who know how to play don't know how to write, and those who know how to write don't know how to play." The author is both obsessed with the sound of insects and free of the arrogance of a scholar, so he took up this "responsibility" almost unilaterally—yes, sometimes the author really regarded it as his own responsibility. Fortunately, the people around him understood him very well, including his leaders, colleagues, and even his own students, which also brings him great comfort.