The Blue and White Cricket Jar with a Peony Pattern

THE BLUE AND WHITE CRICKET JAR WITH A PEONY PATTERN:

From the Aesthetic Pattern and Making Material to Cricket Fighting in Suzhou during the Ming Dynasty

By Feng Lingyun

2023 Spring

Blue and White Porcelain Cricket Pot with Flowers Inscribed with Xuande Period of Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 A.D.). Photo by the author.

The blue and white cricket jar with a peony pattern, displayed in Suzhou Museum West Hall, was made in Jingdezhen royal equipment Factory during the reign of Xuande in the Ming Dynasty.[1] As a cultural object designed for cricket fighting, this cricket jar shows rich cultural meanings in its aesthetic values, delicate craftsmanship, and direct connection with the entertainment activity of cricket fighting in Suzhou during the Ming Dynasty.

With a height of 11 centimeters, the diameter of the jar mouth is 13.8 centimeters, the diameter of the jar belly is 14.3 centimeters, and the bottom diameter is 12.3 centimeters. The cricket jar has a cylindrical shape, and its mouth and bottom are a little shrunk, making the jar looks like a small drum. The entire body of this cricket jar is white but has a faint tinge of pale green, which makes its texture look elegant and mild, and this also indicates its outstanding making material, blue and white porcelain. There is an atroceruleous decoration pattern on the side wall of the jar, which is a picture of a peony blossom in the center, with flourishing branches and leaves surrounding it. At the bottom of the jar, the outermost circle seems dark and worn, showing the frequent usage and long history of the jar. At the center of the jar bottom, there is a circle within which written the traditional Chinese characters “Daming xuandenian zhi” 大明宣德年制 [Made in the Xuande year of the Ming Dynasty], indicating the manufacturing time of this cultural relic. Apart from the major cricket jar, there are also seven little side dishes displayed together with the cricket jar, which are also made of blue and white porcelain, but have seven distinctly different shapes and sizes, and they each also have diverse patterns inside, such as some kind of plants.

Regarding the decoration pattern of peony blossoms on the side wall of the jar and the plant design in the side dishes, they are frequently used in traditional Chinese decorations. As peony blossoms are much larger compared with other flowers, and their color is quite magnificent, peony blossoms represent wealth and honor.[2] Additionally, the appearance of flowers and plants like orchids on the inner surface of the side dishes corresponds with people’s pursuit of elegance and high quality, similar to the frequent use of botany like bamboo and orchid by Suzhou’s literati in their gardens for the expressions of feelings and aspirations during the Ming and Qing dynasty.[3]

Additionally, for the outer appearance, the use of porcelain rather than other materials like wood and clay infers the special state of porcelain products in Suzhou at that period, and porcelain’s unique function in the cricket fighting activity. As one of the few blue-and-white porcelain surviving from the Ming Xuande period, this object also coordinates with the golden age of blue-and-white porcelain in Yongle and Xuande period of the Ming dynasty, especially, Jingdezhen, which was the place of production of this cricket jar, became the famous porcelain capital at the Ming dynasty,[4] while its appearance in Suzhou infers the commodity circulation between these regions. Additionally, about the purpose of this object, the porcelain jar is suitable for the cricket fighting activity as the porcelain texture makes it easier for people to clean it, especially compared with those made of clay because the food and water for cricket can easily adhere to the clay-made bottom, but not the porcelain-made one. In short, the material of this cricket jar endows it with both aesthetic values and practicability.

After analyzing the outer appearance of the cricket jar, now it is time to turn to the actual function of this cricket jar, and further explore the cricket fighting activity in Suzhou during the Ming dynasty. The entertainment activity where the cricket jar is used is called cricket fighting, which also includes cricket raising. The cricket jar is the place for cricket to stay, and cricket fighting can also happen in it, while the seven small side dishes such as cribs and troughs are auxiliary means in this activity to reduce the difficulty of raising cricket and add spice.[5] As a Chinese folk activity, cricket fighting originated during the Tang Dynasty, and prevailed in the Song Dynasty.[6] As only male cricket fights, and they are aggressive and will struggle with each other for territories or mates, people will catch male crickets from the wild, raise them and finally let crickets fight one-to-one in wares such as the cricket jar.[7] Before the fight starts, the crickets will be weighed to ensure equity, and the result is decided by one round of the game. During the fighting process, there will also be audiences aside, who can bet money guessing which cricket will win the fight. If both crickets make sounds in the fight, then it is a draw; however, if only one cricket does that, then that side loses half of the game. Moreover, if one cricket loses its combativeness, then the other side naturally wins; nevertheless, if both have combativeness, the game will continue until one side eventually wins the fight.[8]

As this blue and white cricket jar with a peony pattern is displayed in Suzhou Museum West Hall, and apart from this piece, there are also other cricket jars on show, it indicates that cricket fighting was an important component of Suzhou people’s entertainment activity, which also influenced the regional economy. At that time, cricket fighting mostly prevailed among commoners and was promoted by this social group.[9] The popularity of cricket fighting in Suzhou during the Ming dynasty was backed up by the prosperous economy and stable society at that time, when Suzhou was honored as China’s most flourishing city,[10] but the conduct of this activity also influenced the economy in turn. The cricket fighting affected the local economy in mainly two ways. Firstly, cricket collectors earned much from selling crickets, and those farmers taking up this business got even more income from cricket selling than their farming.[11] Furthermore, the manufacturing industry and selling of cricket-raising and fighting-related tools also thrived, which was a boost to handicraft development and commodity circulation in Suzhou and nearby regions.[12]

Nevertheless, besides the positive influence of cricket fighting on the local economy, cricket fighting, as an entertainment activity, brought negative effects as well. As cricket fighting involves money betting, it could lead to people gambling away their fortunes, and even getting addicted to this kind of gambling.[13] Differing from one entertainment activity popularizing at the same time which is bird raising[14], cricket raising and fighting involves pecuniary exchange, and is similar to shaking elbows and purchasing a lottery ticket nowadays to some extent. Without appropriate regulation, the popularity of cricket fighting can negatively influence economic and social development. For example, once people find that they can earn a lot from people’s betting money, they can get addicted to raising the most strong and competitive cricket. Consequently, there will also be more people occupied in searching for the best cricket. If that happens, the labor necessary for the development or even normal function of other industries will be insufficient, further threatening the national economy, which is disadvantageous not only for rulers’ governing but also for civilians’ living conditions especially. Moreover, although it may not be that serious, some negative effects of gambling in current society can also be applied to cricket fighting. For instance, gamblers may be in debt, leading to worsened physical and mental health, which can further cause job losses and friction in marital relations, adding difficulty to social regulation.[15] In this way, the prevailing cricketing fighting causes aggregate social wealth to decrease, which can be counted as a social cost.[16]

As a collection displayed in the museum, the blue and white cricket jar with a peony pattern outwardly shows its aesthetic values with the decoration pattern and porcelain material, which can be felt by visitors directly; nevertheless, as a physical object, it also embodies the ample cultural, historical, economic and social meanings of cricket fighting, which is the occasion where the cricket jar is used for at a deeper level, indicating the diverse images that a cultural relic represents.

Notes:

1. “百度百科——全球领先的中文百科全书,” baike.baidu.com, accessed May 12, 2023, https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E9%9D%92%E8%8A%B1%E7%BC%A0%E6%9E%9D%E7%89%A1%E4%B8%B9%E7%BA%B9%E8%9F%8B%E8%9F%80%E7%BD%90/4847369?fr=aladdin.
2. Youn-Soon Lee and Dan Chen, “A Study on Creating Textile Design Applied a Peony Blossom of Chinese Traditional Pattern,” Journal of the Korea Fashion and Costume Design Association 12, no. 1 (2010): 1–10, https://koreascience.kr/article/JAKO201013363798290.page.
3. “Artistic Conception of Chinese Classical Gardens – ProQuest,” www.proquest.com, accessed May 17, 2023, https://www.proquest.com/docview/2588488108?https://www-nclive-org.proxy.lib.duke.edu/cgi-bin/nclsm?rsrc=328&parentSessionId=yRoVgi7f%2BBD38jl4rGGxBNLpOMxdBPbJcxqJ0OmP4P4%3D&pq-origsite=summon&accountid=10598.
4. Hsu Wen-Chin, “Social and Economic Factors in the Chinese Porcelain Industry in Jingdezhen during the Late Ming and Early Qing Period, Ca. 1620–1683,” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland 120, no. 1 (January 1988): 135–59, https://doi.org/10.1017/s0035869x00164196.
5. X.-B. Jin and A.L. Yen, “Conservation and the Cricket Culture in China,” Journal of Insect Conservation 2, no. 3 (December 1, 1998): 211–16, https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009616418149.
6. Yutaka Suga, “Independent Paper. Chinese Cricket-Fighting,” International Journal of Asian Studies 3, no. 1 (January 2006): 77–93, https://doi.org/10.1017/s1479591405000239.
7. Suga, “Independent Paper. Chinese Cricket-Fighting,” 77–93.
8. Jin and Yen, “Conservation and the Cricket Culture in China,” 211–16.
9. Suga, “Independent Paper. Chinese Cricket-Fighting,” 79.
10. 張素貞, “Moments in Earthly Paradise: Urban Life of the Cultural Elite in Ming Suzhou,” 健康與管理學術研討會, November 24, 2007, http://ir.lib.ypu.edu.tw/ir/handle/310904600Q/2302?mode=full&submit_simple=Show+full+item+record.
11. Jin and Yen, “Conservation and the Cricket Culture in China,” 214.
12. Jin and Yen, “Conservation and the Cricket Culture in China,” 214.
13. Desmond Cheung, “Urban Pleasures: Leisure Consumption and Spatial Transformation in Jiangnan Cities during the Ming-Qing Period,” Ming Studies 2018, no. 77 (January 2, 2018): 74, https://doi.org/10.1080/0147037x.2018.1449926.
14. “浅谈鸟食罐的收藏历史_青花,” www.sohu.com, accessed May 17, 2023, https://www.sohu.com/a/329236664_182897.
15. Douglas M. Walker and A. H. Barnett, “The Social Costs of Gambling: An Economic Perspective,” Journal of Gambling Studies 15, no. 3 (1999): 183, https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1023089111024.
16. Walker and Barnett, “The Social Costs of Gambling: An Economic Perspective,” 185.

Bibliography

www.proquest.com. “Artistic Conception of Chinese Classical Gardens – ProQuest.” Accessed May 17, 2023. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2588488108?https://www-nclive-org.proxy.lib.duke.edu/cgi-bin/nclsm?rsrc=328&parentSessionId=yRoVgi7f%2BBD38jl4rGGxBNLpOMxdBPbJcxqJ0OmP4P4%3D&pq-origsite=summon&accountid=10598.

baike.baidu.com. “百度百科——全球领先的中文百科全书.” Accessed May 12, 2023. https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E9%9D%92%E8%8A%B1%E7%BC%A0%E6%9E%9D%E7%89%A1%E4%B8%B9%E7%BA%B9%E8%9F%8B%E8%9F%80%E7%BD%90/4847369?fr=aladdin.

Cheung, Desmond. “Urban Pleasures: Leisure Consumption and Spatial Transformation in Jiangnan Cities during the Ming-Qing Period.” Ming Studies 2018, no. 77 (January 2, 2018): 73–80. https://doi.org/10.1080/0147037x.2018.1449926.

Jin, X.-B., and A.L. Yen. “Conservation and the Cricket Culture in China.” Journal of Insect Conservation 2, no. 3 (December 1, 1998): 211–16. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009616418149.

Lee, Youn-Soon, and Dan Chen. “A Study on Creating Textile Design Applied a Peony Blossom of Chinese Traditional Pattern.” Journal of the Korea Fashion and Costume Design Association 12, no. 1 (2010): 1–10. https://koreascience.kr/article/JAKO201013363798290.page.

www.sohu.com. “浅谈鸟食罐的收藏历史_青花.” Qiantan niaoshiguan de shoucang lishi_qinghua[A brief discussion on the collection history of bird seed_pot blue and white]. Accessed May 17, 2023. https://www.sohu.com/a/329236664_182897.

Suga, Yutaka. “Independent Paper. Chinese Cricket-Fighting.” International Journal of Asian Studies 3, no. 1 (January 2006): 77–93. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1479591405000239.

Walker, Douglas M., and A. H. Barnett. “The Social Costs of Gambling: An Economic Perspective.” Journal of Gambling Studies 15, no. 3 (1999): 181–212. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1023089111024.

Wen-Chin, Hsu. “Social and Economic Factors in the Chinese Porcelain Industry in Jingdezhen during the Late Ming and Early Qing Period, Ca. 1620–1683.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland 120, no. 1 (January 1988): 135–59. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0035869x00164196.

張素貞. “Moments in Earthly Paradise: Urban Life of the Cultural Elite in Ming Suzhou.” 健康與管理學術研討會, November 24, 2007. http://ir.lib.ypu.edu.tw/ir/handle/310904600Q/2302?mode=full&submit_simple=Show+full+item+record.