In 1990, the tomb of Yu Zhong, M2009, was excavated at the Shangcunling Yuguo Cemetery in Sanmenxia, Henan, which is the largest monarch tomb with the largest shape, the highest specification and the most excavated cultural relics found in this Spring and Autumn cemetery. It was rated as one of the top ten archaeological discoveries in the country in 1991, but the excavation report has not yet been officially published, which is regrettable. More than 3,600 cultural relics were excavated from the tomb of Yu Zhong in M2009, of which as many as 724 pieces of jade, and their complete categories and exquisite materials are also rare in zhou dynasty archaeology.
Among them, there is a piece of Western Zhou round carved mantis jade that is very special, and most materials name it "spider". For example, Jiang Tao's article "Understanding and Research on Jade Artifacts Unearthed from the Cemetery of the Kingdom of Yu" states: "Jade spiders, from M2009, and Khotanese jade, round carvings, convex belly lifts, eyes on the face, long snout opening front end, is a rare treasure." Length 5.1 cm. ”
Looking at this spider with a round belly, a tentacle and four-step foot, it is actually the image of "cockroach" (pronounced die dang), which is one of the earliest written spider species in China. For example, the Erya Commentary, volume Jiuyun: "Wang, maggot, note that is, the mantis, like the moth, in the cave, there is a cover, the people of Hebei now call the maggot ... Sparse, one of the species of this mole also, a cockroach, cave dweller, cloth net cave mouth, cover, Hebei people call the cockroach person is also. ”
The "mole" is a spider, which can be seen as a kind of "Voldemort" who hides himself in the crypt by weaving a web cover and preys on insects that usually pass by.
See also The Tang Dynasty's "Youyang Miscellaneous Tricks" Volume XVII Guangdong Zhi No. 2: "Upside down, before the Chengshi study, after each rain, more upside down, the layman's call is as deep as a worm's nest, the mesh is in it, the soil cover and the ground level, as big as an elm pod." Often look up to its cover, wait for the fly to turn over and cover it, only to enter the re-closure, and the same color as the ground, there is no filament to be found. It resembles a spider like a chaotic mound in the corner of the wall, and "Erya" calls it the king of the maggot, and "Ghost Valley" calls it the mother of the maggot. The children of Qin Zhong said to them: "When the door is guarded, (Worm Wing) (Worm Weng) Kou Ru has nowhere to run." The form is very interesting.
▌ "Erya Commentary"
▌ Tang Duan Chengshi "Youyang Miscellaneous Tricks"
However, this type of burrowing spider was not officially named Ctenizidae by Thorell until 1887, and 118 species of 9 genera are known worldwide, according to the article "New Discoveries of Cockroaches and Lisonites in Sichuan", 12 of which are distributed in China.
However, in April 2018, researchers used molecular means to distinguish the original cetaceae family (9 genera) into Halonoproctidae discoptidoptera (6 genera) and Ctenizinae (3 genera), including the known Chinese trench spider Bothriocyrtum, the cone cockroach conothele, the discopernal spider Cyclocosmia and the latouchia, all of which were classified under the family Ventral arachnids.
This type of cockroach can also be used in ancient China. For example, the Northern Song Dynasty's "Evidence Class Materia Medica": "... poisonous. The Lord has all boils, bone erosion and other sores, carcophylas, burned to the end, and waxing moon pig fat to apply it. It can also be used as an ointment, and the main boil is swollen out of the root. Like a spider, the burrowing soil is a spider. "Erya" cloud: 蛈 (音迭) 蜴 (音荡). Guo Puyun: Cockroach also. There is a cover on the hole, the mouth of the compound cave, now called a bumper worm, the Hebei people call it a spider, the sound leech, is everywhere. Cui Zhi Ti Fang Yun: The main boil is swollen. Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica": "The ephemeral, that is, the "Erya" soil spider also, the soil is clothed with webs."
Regardless of whether there is a real effect, we naturally do not have to turn to it today, but I believe that many friends have encountered the experience of cockroaches. The author once heard friends in Shandong call it "Dingdang Gate" or "Dingdang Mantis", it is said that the use of dog tail grass can fish this thing out of the hole, and now there are nursery rhyme clouds: "Dingdang Dingdang Door, come out and do not close the door", quite a bit of "Youyang Miscellaneous Tricks" recorded the Tang Dynasty Guanzhong nursery rhyme mood.
Finally, talking about the problem of the discontinuation of this round carved cockroach, some scholars regard it as a relic jade of the Shang Dynasty, as mentioned above in the "Understanding and Research of Jade Excavated from the Cemetery of the Kingdom of Yu". The author hereby cautions from the museum. However, the number of Shang Dynasty jade artifacts excavated from the tomb of Yu Zhong in M2009 is indeed huge, including the tomb of the same monarch M2001 Yu Ji is not as good as it, which shows that the Shang Dynasty jade in the tomb of Yu Zhong is not the norm of the Yu Kingdom, or the collection that Yu Zhong himself cherished during his lifetime, and it is not an exaggeration to call it a Shang Dynasty jade collector. (Source: ART Huang Songtao Collection Magazine )