I came across this cricket, one of three, being sold in a music shop in the Gulou area. According to this fascinating article on the “king of insects”, crickets were kept for a variety of purposes. They were kept as pets, as fighters in bouts, as gifts to be sent to the emperor, and as climate alarm clocks to alert farmers to changing seasons.
Cricket fighting is apparently still a popular pastime, although banned by the government. In this article from the Shanghai Star, cricket seller Huang Huoyang describes some of the bouts that he attended:
Huang said he used to visit some cricket gambling dens with a friend. He was shocked to witness the scenes of utter chaos. “I even saw knives thrown over my head. People were fighting alongside the crickets,” he said. “It is understandable because some gamblers had staked everything they owned on the outcome of a cricket fight. If such desperate gamblers suspected foul play, how could they remain calm?”
Finally, fighting crickets were even studied as a way to understand human depression.
06/03/2008 at 1:26 am Permalink
Dood, that is one huge cricket!
06/03/2008 at 10:42 pm Permalink
I know, it’s quite scary, isn’t it?
12/03/2008 at 4:06 am Permalink
Did you watch The Last Emperor? It ended with a cricket regeneration. Pretty powerful image.
13/03/2008 at 12:14 am Permalink
It’s shocking but I haven’t seen that yet!