--FILE--Chinese cricket fighting lovers tease two crickets during a fight at an insect and pet market in Jinan city, east Chinas Shandong province, 30

--FILE--Chinese cricket fighting lovers tease two crickets during a fight at an insect and pet market in Jinan city, east Chinas Shandong province, 30 Stock Photo
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Image details

Contributor:

Imaginechina Limited / Alamy Stock Photo

Image ID:

W9BTGB

File size:

17.2 MB (478.9 KB Compressed download)

Releases:

Model - no | Property - noDo I need a release?

Dimensions:

3000 x 2000 px | 25.4 x 16.9 cm | 10 x 6.7 inches | 300dpi

Date taken:

30 August 2009

Photographer:

Imaginechina

More information:

--FILE--Chinese cricket fighting lovers tease two crickets during a fight at an insect and pet market in Jinan city, east Chinas Shandong province, 30 August 2009. Cricket fighting can be traced back to more than 2, 000 years in China where it was popular with emperors, cricket masters and ordinary citizens. There is a whole cricket folk culture around the fighting insects, as well as those that are kept for their singing abilities and charming company. Artwork, painting, literature and poetry are inspired by crickets. Cricket houses or cases can be works of art; slain heroes, with titles, of course, have been buried in elaborate caskets. There are still ceremonies to honor valiant deceased crickets. Today, after hundreds of years, cricket fighting is still popular, especially in eastern China. Though gambling is officially banned, fighting flourishes and cricket culture is increasingly appreciated. More people are getting to know about the art, literature and poetry surrounding crickets, as well as the insects themselves, their habits and habitat.