| Issue No. |
Issue 43 |
| Title |
An Entomologist’s Interpretation of “Zhongsi and Sizhong” in the Book of Odes. |
| Author |
Akey C. F. Hung |
| Page |
1~41 |
| Abstract |
There has been dispute over the identity of the insect used in the “Zhongsi Poem” from the Book of Odes. Even the words “zhong, zhongsi and sizhong” were used to refer to different insects by different authors. References were cited in discussing the semantic argument over the word “si”. The views of different authors in identifying this insect, the mistake of citing leg-grooming, the error in assuming the sound producing mechanism, and the significance of variations in the contents of different versions of the Annotations by Lu Ji were analyzed from the entomological point of view. However, despite these analyses, it is still not possible to draw a conclusion as to the identity of this insect from such diverse opinions and brief descriptions. Yet these authors were in agreement about the interpretations of the set of three adjectives the poet used to describe this insect. Based on their consensus that this insect was numerous, gregarious and on the wing, it was concluded that this insect belongs to the suborder Caelifera (grasshoppers and locusts) and not in the suborder Ensifera (crickets and katydids). This insect (zhongsi) is very likely a migratory locust that usually causes devastating damage to the crops. Insects in the suborder Ensifera are generally fewer in number, non-gregarious and less destructive.
|
| Keyword |
Book of Odes, zhongsi, sizhong, leg-grooming, femoro-alary stridulation, entomology, morphology, ecology, grasshoppers and locusts, crickets and katydids, migratory locust |
| Attached File |
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