10. Cricket Fighting Arenas from Lumu. 

 near Luzhou in eastern China (I to r. |- Cylin- 

 drical earthenware cricket ]ar. probably 

 used as an arena. The surface is light 

 brown A seal on lid underside reads "Lumu 

 Town, outside the Gate of Qi. Gusu 

 (Suzhou). " A seal on the outside of the base 

 gives the potter's name. Xu Yuanshun: 

 diam. 11.5 cm: late 19th-early 20th cent.: 

 cat. 126393. Hexagonal earthenware arena 

 with trimmed edges. Body is gray, lid and 

 internal dividing wall are black. Vertically 

 sliding door at the side is also black, but of 

 wood. Seal on lid top reads \u (to bow 

 down): another, inside the lid. gives the 

 workshop location: "The lower bank north of 

 Nanguangwei Bridge. Lumu Town, outside 

 the Gate of Qi. Gusu (Suzhou). " On the out- 

 side of base is a third seal: "tvlade by Wang 

 Yungiao ": diam. 1 0. 6 cm: early 20th cent. : 

 cat. 126388. 



1 1 . Earthenware Cricket 

 Beds with both ends open. 

 Early 20th century. Lett: Fan- 

 shaped cricket bed. with lid 

 removed (foreground), of gray 

 clay. A seal reading yang 

 ("male ") is impressed inside 

 the base and on the lid. which 

 is decorated with two mirror- 

 image butterflies: Lumu'i': cat. 

 1 12640-4 Top right: Gray, fan- 

 shaped cricket bed. Finial of 

 lid IS inscribed with phrase 

 "Hall of Peace and Perma- 

 nence. " Beijing? 4 cm high: 

 cat. 127833. Center: Coffee- 

 colored cricket bed. with floral 

 design on top. Lid is not 

 removable. Lumu'': cat. 

 233190-10. Lower rigtit: Red- 

 dish cricket bed. Same as 

 above except that lid is not 

 removable. Lumu'': cat. 

 233190-8. 



The Future of Cricket Keeping 



Cricket fighting and singing are still popular forms of 

 amusement in China. Many men appear to have kept 

 crickets as boys, and a surprising number continue to 

 have an active interest as adults, despite official dis- 

 approval of anything that smacks of gambling and de- 

 spite the bad public image of the sport. Over the 

 centuries, Chinese attitudes toward cricket keeping 

 have been rather like those of small-town Americans 

 toward pool halls or racetracks: the sport is for idlers 

 and ne'er-do-wells, undermining family finances and 

 corrupting the youth. But cricket lovers continue to 

 resist these pressures, and the sport remains popular, 

 even fashionable. The markets are still crowded during 

 the fighting season, and men of all ages continue to 

 meet and chat endlessly about arcane details of cricket 

 lore. True, the equipment involved is less costly and 

 elaborate now than in former times, and it may be that 

 the finest singers and fighters command lower prices. 



But for all that, cricket keeping seems very likely to 

 survive, in China and perhaps in other countries where 

 Chinese live. Fli 



Suggested Readings 



All are available in the Field Museum Library 



Cammann, Schuyler. 1967. "Chinese Impressed Gourds Reconsi- 

 dered." Orienta/ Art, 4:217-224, London. 



Hsu, Yin-chi. 1929. "Crickets in China." PelcmgSociet)io/ Natural 

 Hisurry Bul/etm, Vol.111, Part 3:5-41, Beijing;. 



Laufer, Bertold. 1927. "Insect Musicians and Cricket Champions 

 of China." Field Museum of Natural History Leaflet 22 (Anthro- 

 pology), Chicago. 



Li, Shisun. 1930. Xis/iiwipu [Cricket Treatise], 1931, Beijing. 



Shen, S.J., Zhou, Y.Y., Guo, YC. and Ding, YD. 1984. 'Xishuai 

 shangwan [Cricket Games and Appreciation], Hefei. 



Soloman, Barry J. 1984. "The Cricket Story." Arts o/A.sia, Nov.- 

 Dec: 76-87, Hong Kong. 



Tsang, G. and Moss, H. 1983. "Chinese Decorated Gourds" in 



International Asian Antiques Fair, p. 49-80, Hong Kong. 15 



