Validation of 走肖爲王: Can insects write letters on leaves?

Abstract

The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty report that large-scale reformations undertaken by Jungjong, 11th king of the Joseon dynasty, were stopped after Kwang-Jo Cho was slandered and subsequently executed. Reportedly, a party opposing the reformations wrote a phrase "走肖爲王" on a leaf in the palace by using sugary water; subsequently, insects ingested the sugary parts of leaf and the phrase was left behind. The phrase "走肖爲王" means "Cho will become king" and Jungjong accepted the phrase as a warning sign from heaven that Cho was attempting a coup d'état. Although there are several historical records that report such insect writing, it has not been determined whether creating a phrase on a leaf by using insects is possible. In a field study conducted on Gwanak Mountain, Korea, we tested whether writing letters on leaves by insects is possible. The results showed no sign of selective insect ingestion creating the form of a letter on a leaf after sugary water was applied. There is a high possibility that 走肖爲王 incident was fictional; particularly when considering the complexity of the phrase and the life history and behavior of insects.