Cuzhijing 促織經

Cuzhijing 促織經 is a book on crickets written during the Southern Song period 南宋 (1127-1279) by Jia Sidao 賈似道 (1213-1275). Cuzhi 促織 is an alternative Chinese word for crickets (usually xishuai 蟋蟀).

Jia's original text is not preserved but continues to exist in an enlarged version written by Zhou Lüjing 周履靖 (1549-1640) during the Ming period 明 (1368-1644). The text of 2 juan length describes in detail how to catch, purchase, feed and keep the animals, the ideal shape of each part of the insects' bodies, diseases they might suffer and how to cure them, how to breed crickets, and how to train them for cricket fights. This aspects plays a great role, as cricket fighting was a widespread entertainment in the Song capital Lin'an 臨安 (today's Hangzhou 杭州, Zhejiang), as for instance, described in the book Xihu Laoren fansheng lu 西湖老人繁勝錄. The book discerns between 17 "species” and 51 types of crickets.

Other books on crickets, influenced by Jia's seminal work, were Yuan Hongdao's 袁宏道 (1568-1610) Cuzhizhi 促織志, Liu Tong's 劉侗 (c. 1593-c. 1636) book with the same title, and Li Shisun's 李石孫 Cuzhipu 促織譜 from the early Republican period (1912-1949).

The text of Jia's Cuzhijing is included in the series Yimen guangdu 夷門廣牘, Yingying Yuan-Ming shanben congshu 景印元明善本叢書, Shuofu xu 說郛續 and Sishengpu 四生譜.