A tiger that is hunted
Human understanding of tigers has a long history, tigers as beasts of prey, in mythological stories, ancestor worship can be seen everywhere, everywhere reflects people's fear of tigers, which is the most obvious performance in the Bronze Ware of the Shang Dynasty, to the famous "tiger cannibalism" as an example (see the figure below), it can be seen that at the earliest time, people were in a subordinate position to tigers, only obedience.
Tiger Man Eater · business
However, at the beginning of the Warring States period, the relationship between people and tigers was slowly changing, people were no longer willing to be "oppressed" by tigers, people began to dare to challenge tigers in hunting scenes, and hunting patterns appeared on large numbers of utensils and continued until the Western Han Dynasty.
Hunting patterns on the car ornaments unearthed in Sanpanshan, Hebei · Western han dynasty
Hunting behavior is not simply to hunt animals, hunting is a part of sacrifice, hunting tigers, emperors are mainly used for sacrifice, which mainly reflects the symbol of royal power.
Emperor Wu of Han and the Tiger
During the period of Emperor Wu of Han, tigers were specially kept in captivity, and in 113 BC, the Jianzhang Palace built by Emperor Wu of Han had a tiger circle on the west side of the palace.
During this period, hunting and sacrifice behavior also began to change, animals will be released en masse after holding sacrifices, and the "History" records that in 110 BC, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty carried tigers and other strange beasts and birds to Taishan to seal Zen, and all were released after completing the ceremony. This is an act of artificially creating auspiciousness, intended to attain auspiciousness: all animals roam the top of Mount Tai to celebrate the emperor's virtue. The Boshan furnace that prevailed in the middle of the Western Han Dynasty is precisely this embodiment (see the picture below), the tigers running between the mountains, in addition to various rare beasts condensed in this world, the relationship between tigers and people has risen from being simply hunted to a new level.
Boshan furnace of the Han tomb in Mancheng, Hebei · Western han dynasty
Indiscriminate killing of tigers? No way!
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Book of the Later Han Dynasty recorded many incidents of tiger plagues. For example, in 110 AD, there was a county in the south that was plagued by tigers, and in order to solve the problem, the clever sheriff did not order the killing of evil tigers, but issued a decree that the cause of the plague was that people invaded the tiger's habitat in order to hunt and kill, and this decree was fully recorded:
"Where the tiger and the wolf are in the forest, the people of Judah dwell in the city." In the world of the ancients, the beasts of prey do not disturb, and they are all flown away by Grace Andi, Renhe and. Although too defensive, he dares to forget righteousness. It is remembered that it destroyed the sills and was not allowed to capture the mountains and forests in vain. ”
The gist of it is that tigers and wolves live in the mountains and forests, just as the people live in the cities, and in ancient times wild beasts did not bother people, all because of nature's kindness, trust, and love for us. As your taishou, although I have no virtue, how dare I forget this basic principle. Therefore, after the arrival of this letter, destroy the cages and traps, and do not catch tigers and stool beasts in the mountains and forests. Even today, this passage is full of philosophy. After the county guard issued this order, the tiger plague gradually subsided, and the people regained peace, which showed the wisdom of the county guard.
Judging tigers also has laws!
The Book of later Han also records another incident in the Eastern Han Dynasty in which a tiger harmed people, the county ordered people to capture the two tigers involved, and after investigation, it was found that only one of the tigers was involved in biting people, and the other tiger did not hurt people, so the county order punished the guilty tiger and released the innocent tiger. It can be seen that even if tigers are treated, they will never kill innocents indiscriminately.
In fact, the ancient sages treated animals very much in accordance with the laws of nature: although hunting animals, but also attach importance to the protection of natural resources, for the hunting required by etiquette, will also leave a side of the animal net, will never kill animals indiscriminately, if there is an act of destroying the balance of nature, it will be criticized by the courtiers, and today's people may wish to learn from it.