A World with Worms —— Reading Zhu Yingchun's Next to the Worm

Zhu Yingchun is a book designer, artist and book planner. The Bug next to it is his first graphic work. From a unique perspective, the author shows the legendary stories in the micro-world in the form of words and photos, and describes the "changes in human feelings" and "changes in things" in the insect world.

The author said that he spent his childhood in the country. At that time, there were no toys or books. I was only interested in the flowers and plants around me and the insects on the ground. Sometimes I look at it for a long time, as if I have become a bug. ? Later, I came to the city to study and work, and I was in a state of exhaustion all day. All kinds of memories about insects are slowly sealed. With the growth of age, the increase of work pressure and the change of physical health, the author has to slow down the pace of running, even stop what he is doing, slow down and look at all kinds of bugs around him, which is completely different from when he was a child.

What puzzles the author most is how to look at the various struggles between insects. Spiders weaving webs, snails with shells, hornets with thorns, ants cooperating with Qi Xin, who should we help? The author reflects that nature has its own law of balance, and every bug has its own way of life, and all this should be decided by nature. However, the author tends to be weak.

Most of a worm's life begins with an egg. Many bugs can't see their mother after coming out of the eggshell, but their mother has already chosen a place when she gave birth to it. Either it is hidden and not easy to be found by birds; Either come out of the eggshell and you can find food easily.

In the short life of worms, they often fight, plunder, disguise and kill for a grain of rice, a dung ball and a similar corpse ... Seeing this, the author's competitiveness is slowly extinguished. The worm world is like a mirror, looking at itself from time to time. Humans also hunt for food like bugs and run for survival.

The world of bugs is so small that we can ignore and forget it, but in the author's eyes, bugs, like us humans, have a thrilling life. Ants were broken by falling dead branches; Although the snail wanted to have a nice nap in summer, he failed to do so. A millipede is stuck in a crack in the road, even if it has 1000 legs, it won't help. ...

In the world of insects, a puddle is an ocean, a leaf is an umbrella, a flower is an island, a grain of rice is worth your life and death, and the stone slab on the roadside can become a battlefield full of corpses ... They are calm and serious, and they talk endlessly.

Every spring, the first bug I see must be an ant. Although the peach blossom has blossomed, it is chilly outside in spring. The ants set out in line, busy looking for food to survive. Watching ants crawl under their feet, how can you not let people pay tribute from the heart?

The broad-winged wax cicada cleverly hides itself with a white corolla. They have never seen their mother, and they have gone through the wind and rain alone, foraging independently, and they can only cope with all kinds of natural enemies. They didn't escape by jumping off a building or pretending to be dead, nor did they intimidate their natural enemies by their ugly and weird appearance. It is really amazing to choose elegant and realistic mimicry clothes and spend your childhood safely.

"The bugs take a leisurely walk after dinner, meet occasionally, give way politely and keep a comfortable distance from each other. On a pleasant morning, there was only a group of calm bugs, who did not fight for it. Here, it is their happy moment. " In the author's Zen-indifferent words, I saw his compassion for "worms", and people and worms really meet on an equal footing.

In the bug world, there are conflicts and escapes, narrow roads and safety, teamwork and single-handedness, ignorance and wisdom, and even detachment and Zen. With simple shooting techniques and childlike style, the author shows the thrilling romantic beauty of the ant's life. It is a tiny poem and a rare poem.

The cicada singing outside the window makes the midsummer even hotter. Ants crawling around the flower beds in the north window and scary cockroaches poking around the corner of the kitchen in the middle of the night seem to completely ignore our human existence. The book Next to Insects eased my anxiety and fear of insects. As the author said, "When I look at the insects on the ground, is there another higher life on my head, just like I look at insects?"