In ancient times, giant pandas were also called "iron eaters".
Han Dong Fang Shuo's magical classic: "There is a beast in the south, which is called biting iron."
Guo Pu in the Jin Dynasty commented "Er Ya Shi Beast": "Like a bear, with a small head and soft feet, black and white refutation, it can feed on copper, iron and bamboo bones."
Yuan Mei's "The First Episode of New Qi Xie" in Ming Dynasty: "There are tapirs in Fangxian County who like to eat copper and iron without hurting people. Any folk plow, hoe, knife and axe will drool and eat like mud. The iron sheets wrapped on the city gate are all cited. "
Serendipity
From 1862 to 1874, the French missionary David sent back three specimens of the living habits of giant pandas and introduced many new plant species to France and Europe. In addition, 58 new species of birds, 100 new species of insects and many important new species of mammals were discovered in China, including the giant panda, golden monkey and elk endemic to China.
After David came to China for the second time in 1867, he heard that there are many kinds of animals in western Sichuan, and some of them are rare and unknown, so he came to Baoxing County, Ya 'an City, Sichuan Province from Shanghai and served as the fourth generation pastor in Dunchigou Church in Donghe, Mu Ping.
1In the spring of 869, David had been preaching in Dengchigou Catholic Church in Baoxing for more than two years. On the afternoon of March 1 1, David and several people came to the source of Dengchigou and collected several biological specimens. They were happily returning to the Catholic Church. On the way, they passed a family named Li, and the host politely invited them to have tea at home. Suddenly, a strange black and white animal skin hanging on the wall attracted David deeply. The owner told him that the local people called this animal "white bear", "flower bear" or "bamboo bear". It is very docile and generally won't hurt people. The hunter of the Li family told David that he would soon see the animal alive. David is very excited. He estimated that this animal "will be an interesting new species in science", and this discovery will fill a gap in the world's animals.
In order to get this strange animal, David hired 20 local hunters to search for it. On March 23rd, the hunters sent the first little "white bear". "Unfortunately, they killed it for convenience."
1On May 4th, 869, the hunters finally brought good news to David: they caught a "bamboo bear" and six "long-tailed monkeys". After careful consideration, David named the bamboo bear "black and white bear" and the long-tailed monkey "upturned nose monkey". The naive "black and white bear" is deeply loved by David because of its furry, black and white appearance, round head and funny movements. He weighed himself and measured himself for a while, and made a scientific observation on this "black and white bear" that the locals had never seen before.
After a period of careful feeding, David decided to bring this lovely "black and white bear" back to France. However, it is not easy to bring these treasures from Mu Ping (now Baoxing) on the western edge of the western Sichuan Plain to the French Empire on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. At that time, under the condition of very limited traffic conditions, it was not only necessary to climb mountains and mountains, but also to cross the ocean. As a result, this lovely "black and white bear" can't stand the bumps of long-distance mountain roads and the constant change of climate. Before it was shipped to Chengdu, it was already dying. Father David had to make a specimen of the skin of this "black and white bear" with great regret and send it to the National Museum of Paris, France for exhibition. Father David never imagined that the world's first giant panda model specimen was made in this way.
Formal naming
After the exhibition of this animal skin in the National Museum of Paris, no one knew at that time. People see from the skin that it has a big white face of Zhang Yuanyuan, and there are two circles of deep dark spots around the eyes, like wearing a pair of sunglasses, so some people conclude that there is no such animal in the world, and the animal skin is fake! Some people say it's just a strange bear. However, after a thorough study by Miller Edwards, the curator of the museum, he thought it was neither a bear nor a cat, but another kind of giant panda similar to that found in Tibet, China, so he officially named it "Giant Panda".
65438-0939, Chongqing Pingming Zoo held an exhibition of animal specimens, among which the "Panda" specimen attracted the most attention of the audience. Its logo adopts the internationally accepted writing format, representing Chinese and Latin respectively. But at that time, Chinese was read from the panda eating zongzi on the right to the left, so tourists read "panda" as "panda". Over time, people used to call "panda" panda. A newspaper in Taiwan Province Province once wrote an article to correct the name of "panda", but people have become accustomed to it, but they think "panda" is not so smooth.
From then on, the modern name "Giant Panda" was born! David became the first foreigner to introduce China Baoxing Giant Panda to the western world. It is understood that in 1870, Father David sent the skin of the giant panda back to the National Museum in Paris, France, and also named the golden monkey in Baoxing's collection (the locals called it "long-tailed monkey" or "long-tailed monkey" and David named it "golden monkey", and curator Edwards named it "golden monkey"), green-tailed pheasant (shell hen) and red panda (red panda) Taiwan Province Province is also called Panda.
World sensation
The discovery of giant pandas caused a sensation in the western world. Since then, groups of western explorers, hunting team hunters and museum specimen collectors have come to the giant panda producing area to try to uncover the mystery of the giant panda and hunt this rare animal. Among them were President Roosevelt's two sons, theodore roosevelt and Mitt Roosevelt. The two brothers first went to Baoxing county, where David found the giant panda, but found nothing, and then entered Daliangshan. In Yuexi county, they shot and killed a giant panda and took it back to the United States as a specimen. Later, German and British explorers hunted giant pandas, and even more of them were bought from hunters in China. At that time, many museums in western countries had specimens of giant pandas. But they never caught a live panda.
Sixty-seven years after Father David discovered the giant panda, a tenacious American woman finally realized her dream of catching a live giant panda. 1936, Ruth hax, a 35-year-old female fashion designer in new york, got married. Her husband, William hax, was an avid explorer. Two weeks after her marriage, she went to China to look for giant pandas. However, William died in Shanghai before he got to the panda producing area. Ruth first asked to go with her husband, but he turned her down as a burden. Now she is determined to fulfill her husband's last wish and leave for China in April, 1936, two months after his death. There are only two people in Ruth's expedition-she and 25-year-old Chinese American Yang. Yang's brother once participated in the China expedition of Roosevelt's son. They took a small wooden boat from Shanghai to Chengdu, and then entered Wenchuan, looking for traces of giant pandas in the deep forests and setting traps for hunting. 165438+1October 9, when they came to a bamboo forest covered with snow (experts verified it as Caopo Township in Wenchuan County), they heard a sound similar to a baby crying coming from the hole of a dead tree. When Yang Quentin caught a furry little animal from a tree hole and handed it to Ruth who was numb with cold, she couldn't believe it. This is the living giant panda that westerners have dreamed of for more than half a century! Ruth thought that this little guy weighing less than 3 kg was a female (later proved to be a male), so she named her after her wife Yang. Lucky Ruth knew how precious what she got, and quickly returned to Chengdu with Su Lin, and then flew to Shanghai. But I have difficulty leaving this country.
Although westerners have been looking for the giant panda for more than half a century, and know that it is a kind of endangered rare animal, before that, China people knew almost nothing about the giant panda. Hunters can kill this "bear" at will, and the government has no laws and measures to protect it. Ruth's trouble is not that she caught the giant panda, but that the procedures for entering Chinese mainland are incomplete, so she can't leave the country. Finally, she boarded the ship to America by bribery. She put Su Lin in a big wicker basket, wrote "Bring a pug" on the customs registration form, and then walked out of the customs. Ruth and Surin are still sailing in the Pacific Ocean, and overseas telegrams have spread the news all over the United States. It was the day before Christmas when the ship docked at the San Francisco pier. Surprised Americans held a grand welcoming ceremony on the dock. They arranged the most luxurious suite for their precious guests and held a grand welcome party. Su Lin was sent to many big cities for exhibitions, and everywhere she went, she caused a sensation. When Theodore, the son of Roosevelt who had been to China to look for giant pandas, saw Su Lin, he said with great emotion, "If this little guy is regarded as a souvenir under my gun, I would rather use my son instead." After fierce competition, the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago won Surin. People flooded here, with a maximum of 40 thousand people a day, exceeding the record of the zoo. Su Lin's every move became news in the newspaper. Businessmen compete to produce products with the image of giant pandas. Fashionable girls paraded in the market wearing swimsuits with giant panda designs, and even a cocktail was named after the giant panda. The story of Ruth and Surin became a best seller and was put on the screen. Lucy and Surin
Unfortunately, Surin lived only one year and was made into a specimen for permanent exhibition. The appearance of Surin made the giant panda enter the public from the museum. She is not only rare, but also very cute, and she has become an animal star all over the world for a time. Western powers went to China to catch giant pandas. From 1936 to 194 1, the United States alone took nine giant pandas from China, and Huaxi University, a missionary school in Chengdu, "helped a lot". After 20 years in the giant panda producing area, an Englishman named "Panda King", Tangier Smith, bought nine live giant pandas during the three years from 1936 to 1938, and brought six of them to Britain.
During World War II, Ming, the giant panda in London Zoo, was calm and free to play under the indiscriminate bombing of German planes, and became a wartime hero in the eyes of London citizens. At the height of the war, newspapers were still reporting Ming's life. She died at the end of 1944. The obituary published in The Times said: "She can die without regret because she brought happiness to thousands of people." After the end of World War II, 1945 and 65438+February, the British organized a team of more than 200 people through diplomatic channels, went to Wenchuan for a big raid, and finally captured a giant panda and sent it to Britain. Like many things in China, the panda's status in China rose rapidly after it caused a sensation abroad. Since the 1940s, the government began to restrict the hunting activities of foreigners. Perhaps because of this, the giant panda survived.