Schedule

Group translation: 1:00 to 4:00 pm

Closing reception: 4:00 to 5:00 pm

Location

In-person: 1 spring st, Language Center, New Brunswick

Online: See zoom link in the module

Project Description

The invasive population of Spotted Lanternfly (lycorma delicatula) has posed a serious threat to U.S. vineyards and gardens. Since its first appearance in Pennsylvania in 2014, this gluttonous planthopper has been spotted in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, and Ohio. It is referred to as “a successful and problematic invader” because it feeds on the sap of more than 70 species of plants, using its mouthpart to withdraw sap, excreting honeydew that develops sooty molds, and thereby weakening the plants. The invasive pest inflicts a huge cost on crop production. In August 2021, New Jersey’s Department of Agriculture issued emergency amendments to deal with the overpopulation of spotted lanternflies. This regulation purports to “prevent the further spread of this exotic insect pest and work to eliminate it from New Jersey.” The slogan—“Stomp It Out!—urges everyone who sees this bug to smash it without hesitation.

While acknowledging the urgency of eliminating the invasive pest, one must admit that the spotted lanternfly’s fancy appearance, with its flimsy grey wings and glaring red undercoat, adds a nuisance to the extermination campaign. As the New York Times columnist Ginia Bellafante notices, it is much easier to stomp out ugly beetles than “violate[ing] something as dazzling in its appearance as the spotted lanternfly.” The aesthetic pleasure offered by a spotted lanternfly may confuse people that attempt to kill it. Its evocation of romantic imagination seems contradictory to its devastating effects on agriculture. As Bellafante observes, this insect seems to have “a natural gift for metaphor.”

Indeed, a native species in East Asia, the spotted lanternfly has been a source of Chinese literary imagination. The first record of the spotted lanternfly appears in The Classics of Poetry, Shijing 诗经 (11^th to 7^th centuries BC). Under the names of Shaji 莎鸡 and Chuji 樗鸡, its appearance in the oldest collection of poetry ensures its popularity as a poetic image for later generation poets. This project traces the presence of spotted lanternflies in Chinese literary works, especially focusing on classic and modern poetry. I compiled seven poems from the Tang Dynasty to the Republican era, most of which have no extant translation. They are “July” 七月 from Shijing, “Thoughts in My Room” 房中思 by Li He, “Poem of Pounding Clothes” 捣衣诗 by Xie Huilian, “Spotted Laternflies” 莎鸡 by Li Jian, “Spotted Laternflies” 莎鸡 by Zhang Lei, “Following the Rhyme of the Liang Canal” 用梁漕韵 by Chen Tianlin, “I Will Come Back” 我要回来 by Wen Yiduo. The translation of this literature illuminates the cultural imagination of this attractive bug while offering local wisdom of dealing with its potential damage. Our translation of these materials helps introduce an ancient Chinese cosmology where a species could be aestheticized into a poetic metaphor and anthropomorphized as a human company. In this sense, this project contributes to the study of human-nature perception in ancient China and illustrates a special type of interspecies relations.

All participants are welcome! We can divide into groups: those with reading knowledge of Mandarin can work together with those who are interested in the subject without the reading skill. Group members can choose the poem they are most interested in and focus on its translation. The translated work will be published online with credits to each contributor. For questions about this project, please contact Xingming Wang (xw367@rutgers.edu)

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