Chinese authors and — perhaps an even higher compli- 

 ment — was plagiarized extensively a few years ago by a 

 writer for a leading art magazine. The only other west- 

 ern work of equal stature on Asian cricket-keeping is 

 the marvelous essay "Insect Musicians," on singing 

 crickets in Japan, by Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904). 

 Laufer's somewhat Germanic prose is not the equal of 

 Hearn 's for stylistic beauty, but the breadth and scope 

 of his information is unsurpassed. It is our aim in this 

 essay merely to supplement Laufer's work, providing 

 data that was not available to him and correcting him 

 on some minor details. Interested readers will want to 

 consult the Laufer article for a broader view of the sub- 

 ject (see Suggested Reading, p. 15). A variety of items 

 used in the raising and maintaining of crickets, largely 

 collected by Laufer, are to be seen in Case 4, in the 

 China Hall, on the Museum's second floor. 



Fighting Crickets 



The Chinese keep and sometimes breed many kinds of 

 crickets for purely musical purposes. Hsu Yin-ch'i, one 

 of the few entomologists with an interest in the cultural 

 as well as the zoological aspects of the cricket, identifies 

 three species kept for singing in northern China and at 

 least eight in eastern China. The Japanese, too, keep a 

 number of species of musical crickets, the most noted of 

 which, Homeogryllus japonicus, the sweet-singing 

 "Golden Bell," is also favored by the Chinese. 



Those species kept for fighting are fewer than the 



singers, but authorities disagree on the exact number. 

 Hsu names four: Grylloides berthellus and (sometimes) 

 Gryllus mitratm from northern and eastern China, plus 

 Gryllus chinensis and Liogryllus bimaculatus from south- 

 em China. The latter two, Hsu notes, are much larger 

 than the former. Guo and his associates, on the other 

 hand, regard berthellus and chinensis as varieties of the 

 same species, Scapsipedus aspersus, which ranges from 

 China's subtropical south to the frigid north. Laufer 

 and most subsequent authors appear uncertain about 

 the exact identification of the main kinds of fighting 

 crickets. Recent cricket books usually include long lists 

 of traditional names in one chapter and much shorter 

 lists of scientific names in another, with no attempt to 

 reconcile the two. 



With the help of Field Museum entomologists, we 

 hope eventually to resolve this confusion. For the mo- 

 ment, however, we must be content with the following 

 observations: (1) at least several species are used for 

 fighting; (2) the majority of fighters belong to either 

 one highly variable species or to two closely related spe- 

 cies; and (3) fighting crickets from different environ- 

 ments within China are likely to have quite different 

 habits and life histories. The greatest environmental 

 difference is that between the cold, dry North and East 

 on the one hand and the warm, humid South on the 

 other. As we shall see, that difference is reflected in 

 traditions of cricket keeping. 



In all parts of China, cricket fanciers seem to pre- 

 fer wild to captive-bred insects for fighting purposes. In 



2. Cricket Ticklers, Feeding Dishes, and Plaques, early 20th century. Top: straw ticklers with 

 bamboo tube container and cap, Shanghai: cat 126402. Center: Tickler with ivory handle and rat 

 whiskers, Beijing: cat. 127849B. Bottom: 3 feeding dishes of blue and white porcelain, made in 

 Jingdezhen?: cat. 126385A. 8, C. Right: ivory plaques in shape of double gourd. Name of 

 champion fighting cricket is inscribed on plaque, which is given to cricket owner: 6 cm long: cat. 

 127831. 



