The cicada is the most familiar sound of summer and one of the most easily overlooked small creatures. It has accompanied humanity for thousands of years—from the singing cicadas of the Book of Songs and the Songs of Chu, to the Tang poem's famous line "perched high, its voice carries far," to Fabre's Insect Life account of "four years of labor in darkness, a month of joy in the sun." The cicada has always been both a concrete insect and a cultural image written about again and again. This book uses the cicada as a thread, reading natural history and human history side by side: on one hand, it traces the cicada's life cycle, species distribution, song, molting, and other biological habits, helping readers understand how this insect lies dormant underground for years and completes its life briefly and loudly in summer; on the other hand, it traces the cicada's changing image in Chinese and other cultures—from the ritual significance of bronze and jade cicadas in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, to the purity and integrity symbolized by the "cicada cap" in the Han and Jin, to the self-expression through cicadas in poems across the ages, and the traces left in folklore, objects, and painting. In approach, the book follows the New Knowledge Library formula of "emerging topics, legendary stories, and universally interesting specialized history," balancing informational density with readability. It does not reduce the cicada to a mere entomological entry, nor does it pile up anecdotes; instead, it lets readers see, through concrete and vivid details, how a species and human intellectual history shape each other. After reading, listen again to the cicadas outside your window in summer—the sound will have many more layers. (Note: The division of chapters and arrangement of details should be based on the physical book.)
夏天最不缺蝉鸣，最缺的是一种“听得懂”的耳朵。这本小书做的正是这件事：它把蝉从“吵人的虫子”还原成一个真正值得被观察的对象，也把它放回中国人的精神生活史里。 书里有硬知识——蝉为何要在土里待上数年乃至十几年，为何只有雄蝉高歌，为何蜕壳总选在夜间，古人为何会在器物上反复刻画蝉纹。这些内容既有博物学的严谨，又保留了大量可供想象的场景细节。更难得的是它不止于“知识”，还进一步回答了文化层面的疑问：《荀子》说“饮而不食者，蝉也”，古人真的相信蝉只喝露水吗？玉蝉为什么会被放进死者口中？陆云《寒蝉赋》里那些“文、清、廉、俭、信”的美德是怎样被安到一只虫子身上的？ 对于习惯了碎片化阅读的人来说，这本书的好处是可以随手翻、随手停：任何一个片段都自成一体，却又共同织出一张网。它不制造宏大结论，只是把自然、器物、诗文与民俗摆在一起，让读者自己看见这层隐秘的关联。若你曾在一个夏夜被蝉声吵得睡不着的经历，这本书会给你一个重新认识那段声音的机会。
SDX Joint Publishing Company is a publisher known for its humanities and social science titles, covering classics, culture, history, social fiction and politics. Its catalogue of 826 books includes Chinese and foreign literary classics such as The Scholars, Camel Xiangzi and Selected Short Stories of Chekhov, scholarly works such as Studies of Chinese Cave Temples, A Study of the Tuoba History (Revised Edition) and The Nine-Rank System: A Prehistory of the Imperial Examination, and translations such as Red Star Over China and Notes from the House of the Dead. Its authors include renowned Chinese and foreign writers such as Wu Jingzi, Lao She, Su Bai and Chekhov, as well as scholars and translators such as Chen Xiaoming, Wang Benhua, Guo Changbao and Zhu Xiansheng. Its publishing character lies in balancing the popularisation of classics with academic depth, with attention to textual quality and the transmission of knowledge.
