Living gemstones in water-koi

Koi is a kind of noble large-scale ornamental fish, which has won the reputation of "king of ornamental fish" for its colorful colors, ever-changing patterns, strong and powerful figure, lively and steady swimming posture. In addition, Japanese fish watchers "living gems in the water" and "national fish" celebrate the beauty of koi. The one who called it a "living jewel in the water" was Akira Yuehara, president of Nagoya Women's University, and the one who called it "national fish" was what Sunrise Miyagi of Ochiya said at the first all-Japan Comprehensive koi Review Conference held in Tokyo in December 1968.

The ancestor of carp is our common edible carp. The origin of carp is Pierce, which is located in Central Asia, and was later introduced into Japan through China and Korea. In Japan, it has been improved into ornamental koi, so koi can be said to be a pure Japanese work of art. The early koi were called "color carp", "flower carp", "appearance carp", "mutant carp" and so on. Because the words "color" and "flower" were thought by the Japanese to mean too warm and weak, they were not suitable for the current situation during World War II, so they were renamed "koi". Nowadays, all carps with colors and markings for viewing are called koi.

Koi to "red and white", "Dazheng tricolor", "Showa tricolor" as the most representative species, commonly known as "Royal Sanjia". Other carps such as golden carp, German carp, scarlet carp and other varieties of carp can be called koi. Among the species of koi are "German red and white", "German tricolor" or "Qiucui", "chrysanthemum water" and other German system koi, so Germany, which is often misunderstood, also produces ornamental koi. In fact, German carp is only for food, only a few carps have been improved into small scale or scale-free carp, their original species is black. The Japanese mate this kind of German carp with Japanese koi to produce German species of ornamental carp, so the German species of koi is also a Japanese masterpiece.

The earliest koi in the world appeared between 1804 and 1829, that is to say, koi has a history of nearly 200 years. At that time, among the edible carps raised in the mountains of Niigata Prefecture, Japan, it was found that some carps had mutated into colored carps, and they were gradually appreciated by people after they were improved into koi carps such as scarlet carp, light yellow and Dieguang. By 1830, there was a record of buying and selling koi at high prices. Later, after further improvement, yellow writing was produced during the Meiji years, and six kinds of brocade carps, such as white writing, Abu carp, Dazheng tricolor, tricolor, red and white, were produced during the Meiji period. Until the reign of Showa, Zhaohe tricolor, a variety of silver scales, golden carp and a variety of skin light carp were produced.

German carp because of the thick scale of the pattern and scale-free skin presented by the bright color, often appear bright and eye-catching, deeply loved by people. In fact, the orthodox German carp is mirror carp, that is, there are only two rows of thick scales on the back and side abdomen, so it has high ornamental value. However, the ornamental value of completely scaleless leather carp is lower. The regular spread of large scales between the dorsal and ventral scales is called superfluous scales, and good ornamental carps should not have such scales. The person whose whole body is covered with this irregular large scale is called iron carp, which has no ornamental value no matter how beautiful the shape and color are. Koi originated from Yamaguchi Village and Yumura Village near the central district of Niigata Prefecture in Japan, and has now become part of the city of Xiaoqingu. From October to December every year, koi enthusiasts from all over the world gather here to choose their favorite koi and to visit the world-famous birthplace of koi.