The etymology of traditional Chinese characters is very revealing – here is the background to ‘cicada’. The character is pronounced ‘chan’ [second tone] or ‘shan’ [second tone]. The left half of the character provides the meaning, while the right half provides the sound. The left half is defined as ‘insects, worms’ and is KangXi radical number 142. The right half is defined as ‘single, individual, lonely, lone’. The right half of the character is further divided into top half and bottom half. The top half represents the mouth radical repeated twice and is defined as ‘mouth, open end, entrance, gate’ – this part is presumably emphasising the song of the cicada. Below the two mouths are four squares sitting on top of a cross. The four squares represent the radical that is defined as ‘field, arable land, cultivated’ and the lower radical, the cross, represents ‘ten, tenth, complete, perfect’. Source – English Chinese dictionary at yellowbridge.com
Thinking about the business card – highly regarded in Asian countries, and I want to have some of my info in Chinese on the card. Have looked up my surname in the very useful online Chinese dictionary at yellowbridge.com and have found a direct translation for the word 'clover': In pinyin this is mu [fourth tone] and the entomology of the character is described as grass [Kang Xi radical 140] which is the top section of the character, plus the bottom section of the character describing eye, look, see, division, topic.
Apparently during the Han Dynasty of China [206BC-AD220] both jade and cicadas were seen as protection for the deceased during the afterlife. Amongst other things, cicadas made of jade were placed on the tongue of the body. I wonder if this physical placement was intended to assist the vocal capacity of the spirit in the afterlife through the song of the cicada. [Mind you, the song of the cicada is not vocal. All these insects sing via mechanical production. Crickets sing via the rubbing of body parts, or stridulation and cicadas use the tymbals, organs specially for the job].
It seems odd for a blog that there are no options for user feedback – oh well, it is certainly good to be in an arts context on this blog. I am, however, interested in feedback so do send any comments to info[at]ciclover[dot]com.
In preparation for the residency, I am collecting as many stories about singing insects as I can, and would appreciate all contributions from you wonderful and avid blog readers. Please access info and a form from the link below and pass it on to anyone interested – thanks very much! http://www.ciclover.com/docs/singing%20insects%20story%20form.doc
