Locusts are undoubtedly pests, as long as they are green plants, they will not let go of what they can eat. If there are more locusts, it will become a plague. Wherever they pass, the crops or weeds they can eat will be eaten and eaten.
According to state media, on February 11, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) issued an early warning to the world, hoping that the world would be on high alert for the locust plague that is now raging and prevent a food crisis in the invaded countries. The locust plague began in Africa, crossed the Red Sea into Europe and Asia, and is now opposite Pakistan and India, the Pamir Plateau and the Himalayas across from China. According to the analysis, if the locust plague remains uncontrolled in June this year, the locust population may increase by another 500 times, which is the worst outbreak in parts of Africa in 70 years.
Regarding the scourge of locust plague, the Tang Dynasty literary scholar Chen Ziang once described the tragic situation after the disaster, "since the river has been west, can not be red land, follow the long has been north, rarely meet the grass", the growth of locusts, need lake beaches, river beaches, so after the continuous drought or flood will often be accompanied by insect plagues. The reproductive ability of locusts is extremely strong, and once the outbreak is difficult to control, it will aggravate the losses caused by flood and drought disasters, and superimpose on each other, and there will be a tragedy of "cannibalism". In the Old Book of Tang, there are eleven times of "cannibalism" recorded, two of which are related to locust plagues.
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The Ming Dynasty scholar Xu Guangqi wrote in "Eliminating Locusts", "There are three causes of fierce hunger, water, drought, and locusts. "List the locust plague as one of the three major disasters. Since ancient times, locust plagues have occurred frequently in China, and the people of all generations have suffered from them, and the problem of locust control has become the focus of research of ancient and modern scholars. The main scourge of China is the East Asian flying locust, distributed in the Yellow River and Yangtze River basins, found from ancient texts, many agricultural and political scientists, from the practice of drawing lessons and lessons, the locust habits, locust laws, locust eradication technology and other aspects of scientific summary, has become a valuable material for the study of locust plague in China, and made positive contributions to the removal of locusts by the Chinese people.
This year's locust plague originated in East Africa, spread to more than a dozen countries, and now the people of China for this common name grasshopper insects, more as a pet, in fact, before the founding of the Country, locust plagues are still often raging in many parts of North China, until the founding of the Country took positive and effective measures, was eradicated. Nowadays, it has become a delicacy on the table of the Chinese people, and even needs to be artificially farmed to ensure the supply of mouth and stomach.
Today I will talk about the "locusts".
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > the Great Locust Plague in Henan, Shandong during the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty</h1>
In the "Old Book of Tang and the Biography of Yao Chong", it is recorded that in the fourth year of the tang dynasty, a locust infestation was recorded, "the people worshiped and worshipped, and sat and watched the seedlings not dare to catch", and the people were superstitious and sat still. At that time, the imperial court had two completely different views on this disaster, one was the "main war faction" represented by Yao Chong, the prime minister, who proposed to use scientific methods to control the locust plague, restore social production, and recover the losses of the people; on the other hand, the "lord and faction" represented by Lu Huaishen, the internal servant of the Yellow Gate, believed that the disasters caused by heaven were irresistible by manpower, and that "there are many insects and insects, and there will be hostility and harmony", and it is best to let it go and end naturally. In the face of such negative remarks, Yao Chong's attitude was resolute, he refuted the ridiculous statement of the Huangmen supervisor, took the initiative to undertake the task of curing the disaster, and said to Lu Huaishen, "If you indulge it, the valley will be exhausted, such as the people? Killing insects and saving people, the evil is attributed to reverence, not to the public."
The strategy of "eliminating locusts" given by Yao Chong comes from the ancient book "Book of Poetry" in the "Bing Pi Cockroach Thief, Paying for the Fire", believing that locusts are insects that fear people, and the affected fields have their own masters, organize each person to protect their own fields, set up fires at night, dig ditches next to them, burn locusts and directly fill them after landfill, which is bound to succeed. The so-called "ancient people have to get rid of those who are invincible, and special people do not need to kill their ears", as long as they work together from top to bottom and eliminate all difficulties, they will certainly be able to achieve victory.
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji, heeded Yao Chong's advice and appointed the imperial court to go to various places to serve as "locust catchers" to organize and carry out the task of fighting disasters and saving the people. At that time, there was a local official, Shi Ruoshui of Bian Prefecture, who resisted Yushi's disobedience to the order, and wrote to the imperial court that "those who remove natural disasters should be moral, and Liu Cong's removal of locusts will be worse and worse." In the face of this absurd theory of "subduing insects with virtue", Yao Chong replied, "The ancients were good at guarding, and the locusts avoided their situation,......, now sit and watch the seedlings, endure but do not save, because there is no year, what is the meaning of the thorn history? "To satirize Ni Ruoshui's mediocre incompetence and corpse vegetarian meal is dereliction of duty. Ni Ruoshui, fearing that the imperial court would be guilty, quickly organized local implementation measures, and unexpectedly "obtained 140,000 locusts (stones), and those who threw themselves into the canal were invincible", in the Tang Dynasty, the weight of one stone was about 53 kilograms. This is also the achievement of a place in Bianzhou.
Such a huge amount of hunting locusts, at that time, the imperial court criticized the resumption, thinking that the hunting and killing was too dry, Li Longji was shaken in his heart, and then asked Yao Chong for advice. Yao Chong replied, "The locusts cannot be exhausted, and they will not be able to raise them more than they will be left behind," reminding them of the principle of "eliminating evil and doing everything possible." Li Longji was pleased, and Yao Chongli, against all opinions, urged the emperor to resolutely and thoroughly carry out the anti-disaster work, and finally eliminated the locust plague, which once again verified the correctness of man's victory over heaven.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > "Liu Xiucai" in the Qing Dynasty masterpiece "Liaozhai"</h1>
Mr. Pu Songling's brushwork is all-encompassing, and his book records a very interesting short article about the "locust god". Share it here too.
The story should be in the Ming Dynasty, when there was a locust plague in the area of Qingzhou and Yanzhou, that is, today's Weifang and Jining cities, which gradually spread to Yi County (now part of Linyi), and Yi County at that time made people very worried, on the one hand, worried about the production and life of the people, on the other hand, they were also worried about their own political achievements, and they were worried all day long.
On this day, YiXian Ling rested in the back hall of the county magistrate's office and went to sleep in a trance. Suddenly, a person dressed as a talent came to visit, wearing a high crown, wearing a green coat, with a slender posture and a good temperament. He stated to Yixian That he had a strategy to deal with the locust plague. YiXian Ling was overjoyed and hurried to ask for advice. The green-robed scholar replied that tomorrow on the southwest official road, there is a woman riding a female donkey to yixian side, this woman is the locust god, can go to the road to stop, plead with her bitterly, please honor the god to let go of the small city of Yixian County, or it may be effective, can avoid this disaster.
YiXian Ling Daxi sat up, it turned out to be a daytime dream. Thinking about it carefully, I would rather believe that there was, that is, arrange for the dispatchers in the bureau to buy a table for wine and dishes, and wait by the side of Chengnan Road in the early morning. After waiting for a long time, I saw a woman in the distance, slowly coming north across the black donkey, exactly as described by Xiucai in green.
The county order hurriedly came forward to greet him, so he asked the woman to rest, telling Yi County that it was a small rule, and the people were in difficulty, and he was willing to ask the god to raise his noble hand and pity the place not to bring disaster. After the woman listened, she sneered, I said which rap is more than enough, it turned out that it was Liu Xiu who leaked my whereabouts. It's just that my family has a large number of sons and daughters, and they can't be hungry. Since the county order opened its mouth, I let Liu Xiucai suffer for others, and it was enough not to damage the crops of your county town. After drinking three glasses of water and wine from the county order, he blinked his eyes and even disappeared with a donkey.
Soon the locusts flew in, covering the sky and the sun, and Yixian County ordered people to inquire around, and sure enough, the locusts did not fall on the crops, but they also acted strangely, only concentrating on the willow trees to nibble on the leaves and eat the branches and leaves. Yixian County Ling suddenly realized that liu Xiucai, who reported the letter, was the willow tree god of Yixian County. I just don't know why he fed the tiger with his body to help the people survive the disaster.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > "locust" is a symbol of the prosperity of the ancient Dingkou</h1>
As early as the three emperors and five emperors period, the folk paid attention to the insect genus, and the "Dayu" famous for controlling water, the "Yu" in the ancient text is the meaning of "insect". The Qing Dynasty Jiajing scholar Hao Yixing recorded in the "Erya Yishu" that "worms are insects, ants are also sound, and the sounds of words are also", this kind of insect that can make sounds, at that time, was the synonym for all the sound insects, commonly known as grasshoppers, grasshoppers, locusts, also among them. The "Yu Jump" recorded in the later Xunzi, the "Wubu Duoyu" mentioned in YangXiong's "Fa Yan", and even the "Bu Gang Ta Dou" when the Taoists set up altars, also known as "Yu Bu", are said to be grasshopper-like jumps used in the worship of the God Yu.
The customs handed down in ancient times have no hatred for this insect, and the earliest poetry collection in China, the Book of Poetry, which contains "July", "Grass Worm", "GrassHopper", etc., is the earliest text that records grasshoppers. The ancients referred to the grasshopper as "ant", and the Sayings say, "Locusts, ants also." From the worm, the royal voice".
In the poem "Ant", it is written, "Ant Feather, Slanderous." Yi'er descendants, Zhen Zhenxi. Ant feathers, grasshoppers. Descendants of Yil. Rope rope. Ant Feathers, Whips. Yi'er's descendants, stinging. "Yi" means "many". "Yi'er descendants" is to bless many children and grandchildren. "Zhen Zhen Xi" describes the appearance of prosperity and excitement; "rope and rope" is a lot of and cautious looks; "sting" is the quiet appearance of Heji. Such a depiction of an insect is rare in historical anthologies.
"Ant" adopts a bright rhythm, telling the ancients to praise the prosperity of the descendants of the ant, yearning for strong reproductive ability, expressing the desire of the labor-oriented agricultural society for life reproduction, which gave rise to auspicious languages such as "Ant Si Yanqing". The Ming eunuch Ruo Yu mentioned in the "Palace Record" that there are two palace gates named after grasshoppers in the palace, known as "Hundred Generations" and "Thousand Babies", and the street gate of the Sixth Palace of the Western Court in the Forbidden City is also named after "Ant", which is intended to borrow its characteristics of being able to grow and be good at singing, and praying for the royal family to have many children and grandchildren, and emperor Zuo yongyan.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the hands of the ancients</h1>
Chinese have a tradition of eating and playing, and many seemingly boring things can be famous in the hands of the Chinese people and make learning. The Chinese people have always regarded the grasshopper as a play pet, in the Song Dynasty, some people began to try to raise grasshoppers, and in the Ming Dynasty, the court to the folk cultivation of grasshoppers has been very common, into the Qing Dynasty, the whole society has set off an unprecedented grasshopper fever, and even become a popular fashion for the nobles, and derived many ancillary products about the grasshoppers, such as mud pots, cages and other storage utensils, exquisite materials, expensive value, shocking.
For playing pet grasshoppers, even if they are as noble as emperors, they are not exempt from vulgarity. In the Qing Dynasty alone, from Kangxi and Qianlong to Xuantong, many people were fond of the songbird of the grasshopper, qianlong who loved poetry, and "ya like Chang'an copper finch noise, generally waiting for the west wind", to praise this song insect. Empress Dowager Cixi's favorite emerald jade cabbage, with the insects carved on it, where is the shadow of half a pest?
This unique Cultural Experience of China shows the inclusiveness of national culture from the side, even if it is a pest that plagues the people, from the gray-brown of disgust, it can also be tamed into a charming verdant and pampered in the arms of the king, and this culture is still continuing in the blood of Sinology. It is said that the price of high-quality summer grasshoppers is high, and there are many criteria for judging, if it is a winter grasshopper, the value is higher, around 2000, a high-quality winter grasshopper unit price exceeded 1,000 yuan.
Imagine that in the mid-winter season of March 9, everyone is wrapped in silver, everyone is wrapped in clothes and shrinks their sleeves, and suddenly emits a few "inclusive" insect sounds in the crowd, highlighting the superb skills of the holders, and carrying the spring feeling that will not be issued, how rare and auspicious and festive.
All the stories and inspirations of "Stone Lion's Jiao'ao Notes" come from the hometown of the editor, some photos and pictures come from the Internet, if you have any comments and ideas, welcome to leave a message to discuss.