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CRICKET FIGHTS
, an original form of competition in old China, continued until the present time during local festivals and fairs. They have the character of simple entertainment, usu. held after lunch. 2 crickets are put on a special 'arena', i.e. in a flat bowl, covered with a transparent net so that the fight can be observed. As the cricket does not live long, about 8-10 months, it must be skillfully prepared for the fight. Cricket catching has become a special skill, as when a good specimen is found, its owner can win many times. The innate aggression of male crickets against other male crickets is used. The 'contestants' try to pluck the opponent's legs or feelers. Crickets are trained not only how to attack but also other formats of combat. Cricket fights are often compared to >GONGFU. It is estimated that a well trained cricket can apply about 20 methods of attack.
Cricket boxes, in which they were brought to matches organized by royal courts, made of china, were genuine masterpieces of art. The most original porcelain boxes include ball-shaped ones from the Kangxi period (1662-1722). Most of them, however, were rectangular, as those from the Qianlong period (1736-95). Today ordinary boxes are made of bamboo. Training boxes are differently designed. The basic equipment for catching and training crickets includes: a wide variety of nets - from nets mounted on a long pole, resembling traditional butterfly nets, to small sieves, used to select and quickly cover breeder crickets; different transport cases and containers, 'arenas' and training boxes, the design of which triggers the cricket's natural defensive instincts and permits the trainer's intervention through the holes, containers which protect crickets against the light so as to arouse them by rapid illumination just before the fight etc. As the fight is preceded by a 'concert' given by crickets, the sounds they produce are made more resonant when special metal vibrators (long brass rods coiled at one end) are put into the boxes. The coil intensifies the sound and gives it a musical character. Before the fight the crickets are kept in the boxes at high temperature, the walls are covered with knitted wool, thick felt or thick cloth. During the fight the crickets are stroked with special brushes, made of mouse hair. When the owner has more crickets fighting, multi-storey boxes are built. A fight usu. lasts about 15min. Defeated crickets, without legs and feelers, are simply thrown away. Exceptionally brave crickets are buried with full honors, the funeral resembling funerals of dogs and cats in Great Britain. In many cases, following the court tradition, crickets are buried in special small caskets, which today can be found in many Chinese museums and which were displayed, together with many other implements used during cricket fights, at the exhibition 5,000 years of Sports in China. Art and Tradition (Lausanne 1999).
History. The oldest information about crickets kept by scholars as pets comes from the Tang dynasty (618-906). Cricket fights were organized for the first time in 1000 AD.

They became particularly popular during the rule of emperor Xuande (or Ksuang-zong, 1426-35). The emperor's personal porcelain box for the crickets, decorated with dragons, the symbol of the emperor's family, has been preserved. Cricket fights were also very popular among the lower strata of the population, simply because this was a sport in which everybody could take part.

In the 18th and 19th cent. cricket fights became universal entertainment in China. After WWII the government of the People's Republic of China put a ban, not so much on cricket fights, as on the bets that were placed. Despite this, even today cricket fights are very common, particularly in the suburbs and in smaller towns.
F. Dautresme, 'The Cricket Champion of the Ring', YOSICH, 1999, 118-121.




 
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