[Baien Gyohin Zusho] (13) Icefish / Scorpionfish / Jellyfish

Icefish (Shirauo)

Icefish (Shirauo, Shiraiho)
Silver fish
King fish (Ogyo) - from "Compendium of Materia Medica"

Icefish are abundant in Edo. They are scooped up with nets in the Ryogoku River, the Nakagawa River, and also in Ogu.

"Bencao" (Compendium of Materia Medica) does not list icefish in the scaleless section. This is scaleless. The noodlefish is the same, scaleless.

It is a great mistake for the common people to use the characters for 'icefish' to write 'sasugo'.

The common people learn this without investigation and pass on the error. The common people learn this without investigation and pass on the error. In the 'Compendium of Materia Medica, Volume 44', the collective commentary on icefish says that 'shirasugo' is not scaleless, but has scales. Large ones are one shaku in length. Also, the noodlefish is called 'shirauo' in the customs of Tsukushi. It is one or two sun long and small. Its cleanliness and whiteness are the same as the icefish. In the third month, they come up from the sea into the river, and fishermen catch them using weirs.

According to my own investigation, in various provinces, Omi Province, Tanakami, Katata, and also Suruga Province, they are gathered and dried flat like paper and sent to distant places.

This is called 'dried whitebait' (shirasuboshi). Also, there is something called 'tatami-iwashi' (folded sardine) which should be considered separately.

The noodlefish is called 'bera' in the Kanto region. It is very similar to the icefish. It is incorrect for the common people to write 'icefish' as 'white fish'. The white fish is the 'migoi' (a type of carp). This is the fish that flew into King Wu's boat. The 'Wamyosho' says the 'shirauo' is called 'haku-gyo'.

* "Oshu" is Omi Province.
* "Sunshu" is Suruga Province.
* "Flew into King Wu's boat" refers to the 'Records of the Grand Historian', 'Annals of Zhou': 'King Wu crossed the river. In the middle of the stream, a white fish leaped into the King's boat. King Wu bowed, took it, and used it for a sacrifice.'
Reference: "Records of the Grand Historian, Part 1 (Kanbun Sosho; No. 12)", "Continued National Translation of Chinese Classics, Classics/Philosophy/History Section, Vol. 4"

Scorpionfish (Kasago)

Scorpionfish
One variety is black in color; this is called the black scorpionfish.
Also, black rockfish.

* "Mengchun" refers to the beginning of spring, or another name for the first month of the lunar calendar.

Jellyfish (Kurage)

From "Shui": Jellyfish
Also known as: Sea snake. From "Sekikyo"
Choura-gyo. From "Shui"

The sea snake (jellyfish) lives in muddy seas. Therefore, it is found in Bizen and Chikugo. There is also the Chinese jellyfish. It is prepared using alum water, spread out on a bamboo blind to dry, and becomes white.

It is said that the jellyfish has no eyes and swims using shrimp as its eyes. Therefore, it lives among the mysid shrimp.

Cui Yuxi's "Shijing" says: Sea moon
Also known as: Jellyfish (Kurage)

It resembles the moon while in the sea, which is why it is named as such.

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Author's note: "Baien Gyohin Zusho" is a fish encyclopedia by Mori Baien, a naturalist from the late Edo period. The explanatory text is primarily in classical Chinese (Kanbun), so there are many characters that cannot be displayed on a computer, and it includes Kanbun reading marks (kaeriten) and okurigana. For readability, characters that cannot be displayed on a computer are represented as □, and in the case of names, they are shown in the format [■ is 〇+〇] whenever possible.

Also, Kanbun reading marks and okurigana are written in katakana and Chinese numerals, while furigana and okurigana are written in hiragana.
For the literature cited in this work, please refer to this note: → [Baien Gyohin Zusho] Literature Summary

● indicates characters that could not be deciphered. I will update this as new characters are deciphered or if I notice any typos or misreadings. For details, please read the "Self-introduction / Disclaimer" section. 📖