by
Fan Lee
(5th Century B.C., China)
Translated by Ted S. Y. Moo
Chesapeake Biological Lab1
University of Maryland
Solomons, Maryland 20688
Translator's note: “The Chinese Fish Culture Classic” was originally written by Fan Lee, a politician turned fish culturist, in ancient China during the 5th Century B.C.
China has a long history of fish culturing. As long ago as the 12th Century B.C., there were fish rearing records in the Chinese Classics of early Chou Dynasty (1112–221 B.C.). However, Fan Lee's work is the oldest known publication in Chinese literature on fish culture methods. Due to the antiquity of the article, some of the points mentioned in the text do not seem to make any sense. They are therefore not to be taken literally. For fear of second guessing the intent of the original author, however, this translator has tried the rendition rather literally. The purpose of this translation is merely to offer documentation of ancient Chinese fish culture work to Western literature and to give modern fish culturists some insight to the techniques of demesticating the common carp practiced nearly twenty-five hundred years ago.
King Wei of Chi2, upon learning that Chu Kung was visiting in neighboring Lau, invited him over and asked: “I hear that you have been calling yourself a different name every time you visit a different country, and in Yuch you are called Fan Lee. Is it true?” “True,” answered Chu Kung. The King continued, “You live in a very expensive house, and you have accumulated millions. What is the secret?” Whereupon Chu Kung responded: “Here are five ways of making a living, the foremost of which is in aquatic husbandry, by which I mean fish culture. You construct a pond out of six mou3 of land. In the pond you build nine islands. Place into the pond plenty of aquatic plants that are folded over several times. Then collect twenty gravid carp that are three chih4 in length and four male carp that are also three chih in length. Introduce these carp into the pond during the early part of the second moon5 of the year. Leave the water undisturbed, and the fish will spwan. During the fourth moon, introduce into the pond one turtle, during the sixth moon, two turtles: during the eighth moon, three turtles. The turtles are heavenly guards, guarding against the invasion of flying predators. When the fish swim round and round the nine islands without finding the end, they would feel as if they are in natural rivers and lakes. By the second moon of the next year, you can harvest 15,000 carp of one chih in length, 45,000 carp of two chih and 10,000 carp of three chihs.6 The total harvest can render a cash value of 1,250,000 coins. The following year, you can get 100,000 carp of one chich, 50,000 carp of two chih, 50,000 carp of three chich, and 40,000 carp of four chih. Save 2,000 carp that are two chih in length as parent stock and market the remainder. The take will amount to 5,150,000 coins. In one more year, the increase in income is countless.”
2 Chi, a kingdom ruled by King Wei, 378–344 B.C.
3 Mou is a Chinese land measure of area. In today's standard, 6.6 mou is equal to one mile.
Following the advice of Chu Kung, King Wei started a fish pond in his garden. In his first year, the King made more than 300,000 coins. In his pond, there were built nine islands, In addition, eight depressions were excavated. Each depression had two chih of water at the rim and six chih of water in the center. The carp would segregate themselves according to size in these depressions. The reason to raise carp rather than other species of fish is that the carp is not cannibalistic, that it is fast growing, and that it is inexpensive to raise,
Addendum7; Pond fish culture. Carp as large as three chih long are obtained only in the vicinity of large rivers and lakes. If you start with small fish, they would take too long to mature. If you start with the spawn, the method to collect spawn is to go to shore areas of rivers and lakes where large carp gather, Collect the mud at the water's edge, take a dozen loads or so and spread the mud on the bottom of the culture pond. Within two years there will be grown large carp, This is because the mud contains eggs of large carp, which hatch readily in pond water.
7 The addendum section appears only in the Ching version but not in the Ming version.
PUBLICATIONS AND DOCUMENTS OF THE
ASEAN/UNDP/FAO REGIONAL SMALL-SCALE COASTAL FISHERIES DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
(RAS/84/016)
Working Papers
ASEAN/SF/86/WP/1 Rabanal, H. R. Seafarming as alternative to small-scale fishing in ASEAN region. Manila ASEAN/UNDP/FAO Regional Small-Scale Coastal Fisheries Development Project, 1986. 55p.
ASEAN/SF/86/WP/2 Soeyanto, T. The status of Bali Strait fisheries with special reference to Muncar, Kedonganan and Jimbaran coastal villages. Manila, ASEAN/UNDP/FAO Regional Small-Scale Coastal Fisheries Development Project, 1986. 36p.
ASEAN/SF/86/WP/3 Boongerd, S. and S. Chitrapong. Small-scale fishing for squids and related species in Thailand. Manila, ASEAN/UNDP/FAO Regional Small-Scale Coastal Fisheries Development Project, 1986. 44p.
Workshop Reports/Other General Reports
ASEAN/SF/86/GEN/l Report of national consultative meeting on aquaculture engineering held in Tigbauan Research Station, SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department, Iloilo City, Philippines, 2–5 October 1985. Manila, ASEAN/UNDP/FAO Regional Small-Scale Coastal Fisheries Development Project, 1986. 186p.
ASEAN/SF/86/GEN/2 Zabala, P. T. (Comp.) Preliminary annotated bibliography on small-scale fisheries in the ASEAN Region. Manila, ASEAN/UNDP/FAO Regional Small-Scale Coastal Fisheries Development Project, 1986. 41p.
ASEAN/SF/87/GEN/3 Report on the training course on shrimp culture held in Jepara, Indonesia, 2–22 December 1987. Manila, ASEAN/UNDP/FAO Regional Small-Scale Coastal Fisheries Development Project, 1987. (In preparation).
ASEAN Fisheries Manuals
ASEAN/SF/86/Manual No. 1 Suprayitno, H. Manual of running water fish culture. Manila, ASEAN/UNDP/FAO Regional Small-Scale Coastal Fisheries Development Project, 1986. 34p.
ASEAN/SF/88/Manual No. 2 Godardo L. Juanich. Manual on seaweed farming: 1. Eucheuma spp. Manila, ASEAN/UNDP/FAO Regional Small-Scale Coastal Fisheries Development Project, 1988. 25p.
Periodic Progress Reports
ASEAN/SF/86/PR-1 Soesanto, V. Project progress report of the ASEAN/UNDP/FAO Regional Small-Scale Coastal Fisheries Development Project, 5 October 1985–5 April 1986. Manila, ASEAN/UNDP/FAO Regional Small-Scale Coastal Fisheries Development Project, 1986. 9p.
ASEAN/SF/86/PR-2 Soesanto, V. Project progress report of the ASEAN/UNDP/FAO Regional Small-Scale Coastal Fisheries Development Project, 6 April–6 October 1986. Manila, ASEAN/UNDP/FAO Regional Small-Scale Coastal Fisheries Development Project, 1986. 11p.
Technical Reports Contributed to Symposia/Meetings, etc.
ASEAN/SF/85/Tech. 1 Rabanal, H. R. and V. Soesanto. The world fishery and culture of Macrobrachium and related prawn species. Contributed to the National Conference on Prawn Technology, sponsored by the Philippine Fishfarmer's Technical Assistance Foundation, Inc., Manila, Philippines, 27–28 November 1985. 16p.
ASEAN/SF/86/Tech. 2 Rabanal, H. R. and V. Soesanto. Commercial species of shrimps and prawns, their sources and export markets. Contributed to the Seminar on Quality Control in the Production, Processing and Marketing of Frozen Shrimps for Export, sponsored by Food Research Department, Food Terminal Incorporated, Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines, 29–31 July 1986. 64p.
ASEAN/SF/86/Tech. 3 Rabanal, H. R. Status and prospects of shrimp farming in the Philippines. Contributed to the Monthly Seminar Series on Timely and Related Fisheries Issues, sponsored by the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Resources Research and Development, (PCARRD), Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines, 5 November 1986. 24p.
ASEAN/SF/87/Tech. 4 Delmendo, M. N. Fishery administration and policy in the Philippines: Past and present. Contributed to the National Conference on Fisheries Policy and Planning, Baguio City, Philippines, 16–20 March 1987. 35p.
ASEAN/SF/86/Tech. 5 Delmendo, M. N. Milkfish culture in pens: An assessment of its contribution to overall fishery production of Laguna de Bay. Paper read in the Seminar on the occasion of the Fish Conservation Week, BFAR, October 1987. 17p.
ASEAN/SF/87/Tech. 6 Delmendo, M. N. and B. H. Delmendo. Small-scale aquaculture operations in the ASEAN countries. Manila, ASEAN/UNDP/FAO Regional Small-Scale Coastal Fisheries Development Project, 1987. 49p.
ASEAN/SF/88/Tech. 7 Rabanal, H. R. History of aquaculture. Manila, ASEAN/UNDP/FAO Regional Small-Scale Coastal Fisheries Development Project, 1988. 13p.
ASEAN/SF/88/Tech. 8 Rabanal, H. R. and M. N. Delmendo. Organization of the aquaculture industry. Manila, ASEAN/UNDP/FAO Regional Small-Scale Coastal Fisheries Development Project, 1988. 10p.
ASEAN/SF/88/Tech. 9 Rabanal, H. R. Report on the World Aquaculture Society, 19th Annual Conference and Exposition, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A., 4–10 January 1988. Manila, ASEAN/UNDP/FAO Regional Small-Scale Coastal Fisheries Development Project, 1988. 99p.
