The local name for the cicada is "en'a zi" - let me teach you how to make music with cicadas

Yang Buyi / Text

The summer solstice has passed, the weather is getting hotter and hotter, and something that summer cannot avoid is about to emerge again. You guessed it - the cicada. "Cicada" is the formal term, and it is also called "zhi liao." The ancients said there are three signs of the summer solstice: "First, the deer's antlers shed; second, the cicada begins to sing; third, the pinellia emerges." Actually, in our local dialect, we call them "en'a zi." Because they go "en en a a" - quite annoying.

But for children, "en'a zi" is a really fun thing. For example, catching cicadas! There are many ways to catch cicadas, such as when the cicada nymph has just emerged from the soil before or after molting, or going out at night with a light to catch them in the woods. Of course, these are the methods of artsy kids and reckless kids; ordinary kids just find a bamboo pole, tie a circle bent from a thin bamboo strip to the top of the pole, and smear spider webs (we call them "bo si webs") onto the circle. Then, at noon, while the adults are napping, you brave the sun and follow the sound to find them, and cover them with the spider web - done. Of course, most of the time you miss, first because the branches block the way and it is inconvenient to cover them, and second because "en'a zi" are very alert - sensing danger, they flutter away in an instant.

Once caught, "en'a zi" were usually put in a bottle or a box to play with. But when we were kids, there was a new way to play - making "en'a zi" sing a rhythmic song.

People say "en'a zi" are singers, but that is flattery - they call without stopping, and on a hot day, it is actually quite annoying. The "en'a zi" that can call are male, with a sound-producing organ on the abdomen. The females do not make sound, but they have ears (auditory organs) on the abdomen and can hear the male cicada's call. Do you get it now? Yes, the reason male cicadas call nonstop is that they are in heat, trying to attract female cicadas. You could also say they are singing love songs, hehe.

Once you figure out how the male cicada produces sound, there is a new way to play - pinch the "en'a zi" with your fingers, one finger on the back, one finger on the abdomen, and when it calls, pinch, release, pinch again, release again... This way, the "en'a zi"'s call gains a sense of rhythm. If you understand music, you can even pinch out a song - anyway, it sounds much better than letting it scream hysterically on its own, hehe.

Play with it for a while, then let it go. Actually, the cicada's life is not easy. It is said that its larva burrows underground early to suck sap from tree roots, and has to stay underground for several years or even more than ten years. After emerging from the ground and molting into an adult, its lifespan is only 60-70 days. And in these short two months, they hurry to sing love songs, court (isn't that too...), lay eggs... and then they die. If written as an inspirational piece, this would be truly moving. Spending more than ten years cultivating in darkness, just for the brilliant bloom of these two months of midsummer. Well, I cannot keep writing... (Image from the internet)

About cicadas, "zhi liao," or "en'a zi," what other ways of playing and memories do you have? Come chat!

WeChat official accounts: Yang Buyi (yangbuyig), Our Village er (womencunr); Sina Weibo: @Yang Buyi

Reproduction requires the consent of the author of this Toutiao account; unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.