Sima Qian recorded in Records of the Five Emperors that more than 4,000 years ago, a tribal leader named Huangdi defeated another tribal leader, Yandi, in Hanquan (now Zhulu County, Henan Province) with the help of domesticated tigers, leopards, bears, brave and pandas.
Records of the Historian and Book of Songs compiled in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty more than 3,000 years ago recorded that the skin of raccoons was a tribute treasure of the emperor. They are as mighty as tigers and leopards, and compare the ancient warriors to those who are as mighty and brave as them, so that the army uses the banner of "Qi" to symbolize invincible.
It was described in Shan Hai Jing during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period (before 2700 years). It was shaped like a bear with black and white fur. It was produced in Yandao County (now Jingrong County, Sichuan Province) on Qionglai Mountain. It was said that it ate copper and iron, so it was called an iron-eating beast.
Sima Xiangru, a writer in the Han Dynasty (2000 years ago), recorded in "Shang Lin Fu" that during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Fiona Fang in Shang Lin Yuan (now zhouzhi county, Huxian County) raised many animals for the emperor to hunt, among which tapirs (giant pandas) were the best.
In the Western Jin Dynasty (1700 years ago), the giant panda was called a curse because it only ate bamboo and did not harm other animals. It is a kind of "righteous beast" that can coexist peacefully with its neighbors, so it was regarded as a symbol of peace and friendship at that time. When the two armies are at war, when the sun and the moon are dark, as long as one side raises the "qian yu" flag, the fighting will come to an abrupt end, because the rules of war: whoever uses the "qian yu" flag means asking for peace and friendship and stopping the conflict.
According to the Japanese Royal Yearbook, Empress Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty presented a pair of live white bears (giant pandas) and 70 animal skins as national gifts to Emperor Tianwu of Japan on October 22nd, A.D. 10/kloc-0.
Bai Juyi, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, rested in a secluded room, feeling cold wind, cold skin and splitting headache. Someone gave him a screen with a picture of a giant panda, which really has the miraculous effect of preventing wind and evil spirits and keeping good luck. Bai Juyi was very happy and wrote a poem "Praise on the Screen" on the screen. The poet borrowed the panda's need for a peaceful and quiet environment to survive and expressed his dissatisfaction with the misfortune and famine brought to the people by the war.
In the Compendium of Materia Medica written by Li Shizhen (15 18- 1593) in the Ming Dynasty, it was recorded that tapirs can be used as sleeping mats to prevent cold and remove dampness, drive away epidemics and ward off evil spirits; As a plaster, it can penetrate the skin to prevent and treat tumors; Drinking water in urine can dissolve metal impurities that are ingested into human body by mistake.
It can be seen from written ancient books and local chronicles that the giant panda has been a mysterious and legendary animal since ancient times and has been cherished by people. It can also be confirmed that giant pandas were widely distributed in Henan in North China, Shaanxi in Northwest China, Hubei and Hunan in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, Fujian in South China, Yunnan and Guizhou in Southwest China and the mountainous areas around the Sichuan Basin.
Ancient name of giant panda
The giant panda is a kind of rare animal in China, which has been recorded for more than 3000 years. With the deepening of time series and people's understanding of it, its name is constantly evolving.
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White fox "two ya"
Tapir (hù) (youngest son) "Er Ya".
Zhi Yi Kong notes Jing, Lu Ji (Wu) notes Shi Mao and Er Ya, and Guo Pu notes Er Ya Yi.
Book of rites
Bai Yi (pí) Lu Ji's Shi Mao Eta Ursae Majoris.
Comment on Zhuangzi.
Mount Emei in Pitching.
In the corner is Hongya county annals.
Or "Ci Yuan" and "Er Ya Yi".
Ci Yuan and Er Ya Yi.
Gou or Er Ya, Ya, Compendium of Materia Medica, Zanping by Bai Juyi, Biography of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Shuowen, Nan Zhongzhi, Old Tang Book, Sima Xiangru Shanglin Fu, Leibo County Annals and Youyang Zhi Zhi.
Or New Theory, Zoological Classics, Guangya, Zhili Yizhou, Later Han Dynasty, Zhongshan Classic, Guangzhong in Shu, Youyang Miscellaneous Notes, Guang Zhi, Badong County Records (referring to Zigui
Xuanzang's Wang Huipian.
The sacred classics of tapirs.
Bai Bao Luji's Shi Mao Eta Ursae Majoris and Erya.
Meng Bao's Zhong Shuguang Ji.
Meng's beast Zhong Shuguang Ji.
Bite the iron nerve.
Guang Ji of Iron-eating Animals in Shu, Fu in Jin and Shu, Beichuan County Records, Youyang Zhili General Records, etc.
Jelly Lin's Er Ya.
The modern name of the giant panda (that is, the popular Chinese name in China) was originally named Panda or Giant Panda, which means that its face is chubby like a cat, but its whole body is like a bear, and some even belong to Xiong Ke. Later, because the straight book was written before liberation, it was read from right to left, but it was changed into a horizontal book and then read from left to right. When Beibei Museum exhibited it, the manual was called a horizontal book, a famous panda, but at that time, visitors used to read straight books from right to left and mistakenly thought it was a panda. Since then, first in its main producing area (Sichuan), it has been used to changing the name of panda to panda for a long time. In the future, its common middle name is giant panda, which is also recognized by people.
Its local name, in my hometown, is mostly called White Bear, or White Old Bear, and some are called Flower Bear. In Minshan Tibetan area, it is called Dang or Du Dong Ga (G m 4), and Baimadabu people in Pingwu are called Dongga; The Yi people in Liangshan are called Aqu. Although the names of these places are different, their meanings are different from those of brave dogs in ancient books, which only means that they are white, black, white or bear-like.
Other aliases for giant pandas are China Bear, Bamboo Bear, Silver Dog and Big Raccoon. One of the big raccoons comes from its close relationship with raccoons (until now, many scholars still list it in Urbanidae), but it is bigger than raccoons. Silver dog, this is because the local name and trade name of the little panda is golden dog, and the corresponding panda is called silver dog because of its white body color. Bamboo bear is named after its main food is bamboo. Hua Xiong shows that it is a rare animal which is a special product of the Chinese nation.
The naming of giant pandas in modern western countries
Sichuan Baoxing Dengchigou
The birth of the modern title of giant panda should be attributed to the French ascetic and naturalist David (Armand Pereddvid1826-1900). David lived in China from 1862 to 1874 12 years. He preached in Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu successively, and served as a communication researcher at the French National Museum of Natural History. David discovered 68 new species of birds, 65,438+000 new species of insects and many new species of mammals in all parts of China, including elk (four elephants), golden monkey and giant panda. 1869 In March, David moved to Dengchigou Catholic Church in Donghe, Mu Ping County, Sichuan Province, and became the fourth pastor. Dengchigou Catholic Church is one of the earliest Catholic churches secretly built by the French Catholic Church in Sichuan in 1839.
Baoxing dengchigou Catholic church
David wrote in his diary: "March 1869, 1 1. On the way back to the church, a man named Li, the main landlord of this valley, invited us to his house for tea. In this pagan home, I saw a famous black and white bearskin, which was very strange. My hunter told me that I would see it soon.
French priest David
In1March 23, 869, David wrote: "My hunter came back today after leaving for ten days. He brought me a young white bear, which was alive when he caught it and was killed for convenience. " David lamented this, and he continued to write: "They sold this young white bear to me at a high price. It is white all over except its limbs, ears and eyes. Its body color is the same as that of adult individual fur I have seen before. Therefore, this must be a new species of bear, which is obvious, not only because of its body color, but also because of its hairy soles and other characteristics. "
David gave the specimen of this white bear to Merner Edwade, curator of the Paris Museum of Natural History. After carefully studying fur and bones, Edward pointed out in the paper published in 1870: "In external form, it is indeed very similar to a bear, but its skeletal characteristics and teeth are obviously different from those of a bear, but it is very similar to a red panda and a raccoon. It must form a new genus, which I call Ailuropoda ". In order to commemorate David's discovery of the new species of giant panda, Edward named the scientific name of giant panda Ailuropoda melanoleuca David, which is still in use today. The first panda model specimen collected by David is still collected in the Natural Museum in Paris, France.
World panda fever
Since David first introduced the giant panda to the world in 1869, there has been a "panda fever" in western countries. Many zoologists, explorers, travelers and hunters are not far from Wan Li, and they are willing to spend a lot of money to enter China, trying to catch this rare animal unique to China. But the giant panda is a solitary animal that is good at hiding. It roams in the mountains all day, and it is extremely difficult for men to find its trace.
Panda king Smith
For example, in 189 1- 1894, Russian emperors Botan and berezovsky obtained a giant panda skin in Pingwu and Songpan, Sichuan. Germany got a giant panda skin from a merchant in China in about 1900. By 19 16, wiggall captured a baby giant panda in Wenchuan, Sichuan, becoming the first person in the west to own a live giant panda. As early as 1897, Britain obtained a male panda specimen in Yangliuba, Pingwu, Sichuan. The Englishman F, T, smith caught the most pandas, and he was called "the king of pandas" in the west. Smith spent 20 years in China's giant panda producing area, and then bought it at a high price from 1936 to 1938 in Wenchuan, Sichuan.
The first Americans to hunt giant pandas in China were two sons of President Roosevelt. 1928, the younger Roosevelt brothers first went to Baoxing County, Sichuan Province, but failed to catch the giant panda. After Kangding, it was transferred to Yuexi County, Liangshan. In Yuexi, two brothers shot and killed an adult female giant panda at the same time, setting the first record for westerners to hunt giant pandas. Later, Americans Sage, Sheldon, German Schaefer and Englishman Brocklehurst killed the giant panda themselves. As for the use of high-priced acquisitions or other means, there are even incidents of China people hunting and catching giant pandas. Today, many famous natural history museums in the world can see the specimens of giant pandas in China.
The first person who took the living giant panda out of China in modern times was an American female fashion designer named ruth harkness. Her husband, William harkness, is a zoologist and explorer. Soon after their marriage, he went to China to look for giant pandas. Unfortunately, she died in Shanghai before entering the panda producing area. Following her husband's wishes, Mrs. harkness took two Chinese-Americans as guides and translators, entered Wenchuan County, Sichuan Province, and then went to Donghe, Baoxing County, where David found the giant panda, and began a difficult journey to find the giant panda.
Mrs Ruth Hackner.
Opportunity favors those who are determined to seize it. Ruth finally found a giant panda cub weighing less than two pounds and born about 30 days in a bamboo forest about 2000 meters in the mountainous area of Jin Jia. Ruth was ecstatic and took care of it like a baby. She once wrote in her diary: "Its little round head with black and white flowers rubbed my coat with its nose and suddenly instinctively found my breasts." Ruth gave it a beautiful name "Surin". With the help of a friend, Ruth bribed it with two dollars, filled a bamboo basket with "Surin" and the customs registration said "Bring a pug". She boarded the President McGinley and left China. 1937 In the spring, "Surin" was exhibited at Chicago Zoo in the United States, and immediately became the star of the city, with more than 40,000 visitors every day. Since then, the story of "Su Lin" and Ruth has been widely circulated, which triggered another panda craze in the world. Giant pandas have become cash cows and international hunting targets. From 1936 to 194 1, the United States alone took nine living giant pandas from China. According to statistics, from 1869 to 1946, more than 200 people came to China from abroad to investigate, collect data, capture giant pandas, hunt or buy giant panda specimens. During the period from 1936 to 1946, there were 16 live giant pandas shipped from China, and at least 70 giant panda specimens were kept in foreign museums.