蝤蠐

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

蝤蠐

1. (literary) larva of the longhorn beetle

   • 手如柔荑，膚如凝脂，領如蝤蠐，齒如瓠犀。螓首蛾眉，巧笑倩兮，美目盼兮。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     手如柔荑，肤如凝脂，领如蝤蛴，齿如瓠犀。螓首蛾眉，巧笑倩兮，美目盼兮。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Shǒu rú róutí, fū rú níngzhī, lǐng rú qiúqí, chǐ rú hùxī. Qínshǒu éméi, qiǎoxiào qiàn xī, měimù pàn xī. [Pinyin]

     Her fingers were like the blades of the young white-grass;
     Her skin was like congealed ointment;
     Her neck was like the tree-grub;
     Her teeth were like melon seeds;
     Her forehead cicada-like; her eyebrows like [the antenne of] the silkworm moth;
     What dimples, as she artfully smiled!
     How lovely her eyes, with the black and white so well defined!

2. (literary, figurative) the soft and smooth neck of beautiful women