Baraza

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Aug 02 2009 | By: paula

Hello friends. This is another post from China which is a reflection of the cultural differences that really shocked and disturbed me. I had expected to be exposed to new things but I had no idea it would be this bizarre.

We first came across a caged cricket in our hostel. I tried to release by asking kindly to the staff - who gave me incredulous looks as if what I was proposing was sacrilege. Cruelty to a cricket does not resonate. The poor screaming creature gave me nightmares.

The friendly hostel staff told me that crickets are important in Chinese superstition, - they are thought to reflect intelligence and to bring good fortune.  In fact, if a person were to harm a cricket, it would bring great misfortune.

So how does holding a cricket in a tiny cage not equate to harm?

We found hundreds of caged crickets in the markets. These miniature cages are hand made from various materials wood and reeds.  The cages are tiny, measuring only about 3×4 inches.  The crickets sing or is it cry, all day and all night.

Cricket keeping in China dates back 2000 years. During the Tang Dynasty from 500 BC to 618 AD, crickets were captured and kept in cages so their songs could be heard all the time.  In the Song Dynasty from 960 to 1278 AD, “cricket fighting” began as an important sport. It was so popular that hundreds of people committed suicide because of a losing or injured cricket.

Crickets are also used to tell the time to start preparing the fields for the spring harvest.  This indicator of climate change is called Jing-Zhe, or “Walking of the Insects”.

It’s hard to believe that the cricket is so revered in China yet they are eaten and are kept in tiny cages. It’s like a noise cricket prison camp.

I doubt that cricket welfare is on the radar in China, there are much more serious animal welfare concerns that many have noted. In a future post I’ll tell you about food street in Wangfujing, also in Beijing where you can buy all manner of wildlife including endangered species like Tibetan antelope, silk worm chrysalis, cicadas, water beetles, centipedes, seahorses, star fish, sea urchins, scorpions, bee larvae and strange body parts of sheep.

Tags: China, Crickets, cruelty, Insects, wildlifedirect

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