Bǔ Huáng Kǎo 捕蝗考
Investigation of Locust-Catching by 陳芳生 (撰)
About the work
A specialist treatise on locust-control compiled by Chén Fāngshēng 陳芳生 (zì Shùliù 漱六) of Rénhé 仁和 (Hángzhōu) in the early Qīng. The work synthesizes the locust-control tradition from the Chūnqiū through the late Míng, integrates Yáo Chóng’s mid-Táng locust-program (one of the earliest systematic Chinese pest-control programs), Zhū Xī’s gloss on the Shī Tián tián “qù qí míng tè” passage, and—most substantively—the late-Míng locust-control memorial of Xú Guāngqǐ 徐光啓 (the principal Catholic-convert agronomist) reproduced in full. The work is the principal early-Qīng locust-control text and was reprinted in late-Qīng famine-and-pest manuals.
Tiyao
By Chén Fāngshēng of our dynasty. Fāngshēng, zì Shùliù 漱六, of Rénhé 仁和. Locust calamities (zhōng yuán) appear repeatedly in the Chūnqiū annals. The Shī Dàtián says: “Drive out the míng and tè, the máo and zéi; harm not our young grain. The Field-Lord (Tiánzǔ) has divine power; take them and give them to the bright fire.” Máo and Zhèng glossed yánhuǒ (bright fire) as Yang-bright-vigor, meaning the Tiánzǔ receives no harm but takes them and gives them to fire to be destroyed of themselves—not actual fire. So in Hàn times the locust-control method was not yet known, and the commentators offered this gloss.
When Yáo Chóng 姚崇 became Grand Councilor under the Táng, he dispatched envoys to catch locusts, citing the Shī line as evidence. Zhū Xī’s Jízhuàn follows him. From this, locust-catching methods began to be more often recorded.
This work of Fāngshēng’s gathers the events and discussions from the histories into a single compilation. First: ten clauses on locust-preparation. Then: prior dynasties’ locust-catching methods. Late-Míng Xú Guāngqǐ’s memorial is the most precise; the full text is reproduced. Chén Lóngzhèng’s words and two of Fāngshēng’s own remarks are appended. The work’s principle: pre-emptive preparation in advance; vigorous extermination in the moment; and accountability of local officials for genuine management. Threaded clause by clause, quite full. Although the volume is small, it is genuinely useful.
Abstract
Chén Fāngshēng’s life-dates are not transmitted; the dating bracket here (1660–1700) reflects mid-Kāngxī compilation. The work is undated.
The Bǔ Huáng kǎo preserves Xú Guāngqǐ’s pioneering 1607 Chú huáng shū in its entirety. Xú’s program included: (1) systematic identification of locust-breeding grounds (low-lying flooded fields where the eggs over-winter); (2) coordinated district-level egg-trampling in early spring before hatching; (3) communal capture of nymphs by digging trenches; (4) accountability requirements with penalties for officials who fail. This program—recognizably modern in its preventive-and-systematic character—was one of the first such in any agricultural tradition. Joseph Needham’s Science and Civilisation in China, vol. 6.1, treats Xú Guāngqǐ as the foundation of Chinese applied entomology; Chén Fāngshēng’s preservation of Xú is therefore historically critical.
The catalog meta dates the Bǔ Huáng kǎo to the Qīng dynasty without further specification. The work is reprinted in Liú Lǐng 劉霖’s edition of the Zhōngguó nóngshū jíyào 中國農書集要.
Translations and research
Standard editions: Wényuāngé Sìkù. The work is reprinted in the Cóngshū jíchéng and in modern Chinese-agriculture compilations. Foundational Western: Joseph Needham, Science and Civilisation in China, vol. 6.1 (“Botany”), pp. 522–35; Lillian M. Li, Fighting Famine in North China (Stanford, 2007), pp. 173–211 on the locust tradition. Chinese: Wū Yùnyǔn 鄔運運, Zhōng-guó lì-dài huáng-zāi yán-jiū 中國歷代蝗災研究 (Zhōng-yāng mín-zú dà-xué chū-bǎn-shè, 2008).
Other points of interest
Xú Guāngqǐ’s Chú huáng shū survives in two principal forms: the Bǔ Huáng kǎo preservation here, and the version in the Nóngzhèng quánshū 農政全書 (Xú’s own posthumous agronomic encyclopedia). Comparison of the two recensions shows minor textual variations, suggesting Chén Fāngshēng worked from a manuscript in independent transmission.