Text | Editor: Chestnut
Preface: In the Forbidden City in Beijing, there is a special group of "staff", they are the imperial cats of the Forbidden City. These cats live in the imperial palace and have the largest courtyard in the capital.
They can pac the palace walls, bask in the sun in the palace, and live a carefree life. These cats not only eat well, but are also super popular with netizens and have become Internet celebrities.
It is not easy to see them, and with their faces, 4 giant imperial cat statues were erected at the entrance of the Forbidden City Taobao Experience Hall. Nowadays, tourists go to the Forbidden City not only to see the architecture, but also to "pet the cat", and these imperial cats have become the new protagonists.
Cats guard the rat-free Forbidden City
The Forbidden City has a history of more than 600 years, and the buildings here are all wooden structures and there are nearly 10,000 houses, which is very easy to attract rats.
But surprisingly, the Forbidden City has maintained a good score of zero rat infestation. Among them, the biggest credit is the cats and cats living in the Forbidden City.
There are probably more than 200 cats living in the Forbidden City, which are either proud or lazy, which has become a unique landscape of the Forbidden City.
During the day, these cats sleep or amuse tourists, seemingly only enjoying life, but in fact they are the most diligent guards of the Forbidden City. Every day after dark, these cats began to work night shifts, standing guard and patrolling, guarding the Forbidden City.
Former dean Shan Jixiang once said that after tourists get off work, these little guards begin to "work overtime". Some people even heard the "meow" of password handovers between cats on night shifts.
It is the unremitting efforts of these cats that enable the Forbidden City to have zero rodent infestation all year round. Dean Shan once joked that these cats would take over shifts at night, and some cats would even pretend to be stone lions.
Many tourists will send cat food to these cats to express their gratitude, and also ask the staff to take photos for acceptance. Seeing this, Dean Shan could only smile helplessly and help take pictures with any effort.
These cats not only have a good service attitude, but also move lightly, and never worry about affecting cultural relics. The Forbidden City houses millions of artifacts that have never caused any damage as they move through.
In addition, they also have fixed toilet sites to maintain environmental hygiene. It can be said that they are not only not the trouble of the Forbidden City, but the most competent guardians.
But these cats are usually difficult to see, and most tourists come and go in a hurry and cannot get the chance to see them.
In fact, they also have different personalities, introverted cats hiding in undeveloped areas are basically not seen, extroverts have a wide distribution, it is difficult to find them, and some cold cats only appear when eating.
Thanks to the long-term duty of these cute little guards, the Forbidden City has a reputation for being spotless and without traces of rats. They have forged an indissoluble bond with this historical place, allowing the Forbidden City to protect cultural relics while also having a warm side.
Today, these imperial cats have become the new business card of the Forbidden City, loved by domestic and foreign tourists, and the story of their color to the Forbidden City will also be passed down.
The Forbidden City cat with a noble identity
The cats in the Forbidden City, although they look ordinary now, are actually the descendants of cats that were carefully cared for by the imperial family during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and have an indispensable noble bloodline.
It can be said that their ancestors originated together with the Forbidden City. During the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, in order to eliminate rats, Zhu Yuanzhang moved the capital to Beijing with a group of cats and stayed in the Forbidden City, and these cats became the first "permanent residents" in the palace.
After Ming Chengzu Zhu Di succeeded to the throne, he also brought these cats to the Forbidden City in Beijing.
In the royal palace, these cats are treated as treasures by the royal family. A "cat room" was specially set up and palace maids were sent to serve them. The emperor and concubines were very fond of it, and often went to play and adopt them back to the palace as pets.
Some cats with great merit were also given titles by the emperor himself. For example, during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, there was a cat named "Qiu Long", which was deeply favored by the Jiajing Emperor, and after its death, the Jiajing Emperor ordered to make a coffin with pure gold to bury it thickly, and also erected a monument to it.
These cats have a very good life, have abundant cat food, and do not need to forage for their own. Even if they die, they will be buried by the emperor and erect monuments to praise them, and later dynasties change, and these cats gradually live on the streets.
After the establishment of the Palace Museum, it took in the descendants of these stray cats and royal cats, named them and registered, and became the museum's "treasure of the town".
Today, more than 200 registered cats in the Forbidden City, although they are no longer cared for by the royal family, their noble blood still flows in the body.
Although these Forbidden City cats seem lazy on weekdays, they actually consciously shoulder the heavy responsibility of guarding the cultural relics of the Forbidden City, and will never touch the cultural relics at will.
Most of these cats follow the character of their royal ancestors and are very docile and intelligent. There is a female cat called "Pearl", every time she gives birth to a kitten, she will consciously move the kittens to the cat room, and then return to the original place to continue to rest, which is very intimate.
There is also a cat named "Shunshun", who once rescued an injured crow, brought it back to the cat room for recuperation, licked its wounds every day, and did not release it until the crow healed. These meek and kind descendants of royal cats are very heartwarming to watch.
Their thoughtfulness pleases tourists and also wins the love of netizens. The story of "Shunshun" saving crows became popular on the Internet and received tens of thousands of likes.
Netizens have left messages saying that they want to send gifts to Shunshun to express their love for it. It can be said that these cats are witnesses of the history of the Forbidden City and the new popular idols of the Forbidden City.
The dull life of the imperial cats and the palace fight copes
There are many cute imperial cats living in the Forbidden City, and they live a leisurely life on weekdays. But when there is a contradiction between them, various "palace fighting dramas" will also be staged.
One of the most timid orange cats, Papa, is often bullied by other cats. When eating at 4 o'clock every day, it has to wait for other cats to finish eating before daring to carefully come out to eat.
Papa is timid and appears cautious every time he comes out to eat, for fear of being robbed of food by other cats. Even the staff will prepare meals for it individually so that it does not go hungry. This caused resentment among other cats, who believed that Papa received special care.
Especially a cat named "Junior", almost every time it sees Papa, it pounces on it to teach it a lesson. The "boy" has a lot of strength, and Papa is powerless every time he is pressed to the ground and beaten by it.
Later, the "teenager" became the leading big brother of other cats bullying Papa. Xiaohua, Jixiang, Ruyi and other cats will participate in the "chase" of Papa together under the leadership of "teenager". They would rush up together with four or five and slap Papa's head with their paws.
Papa can only hide in its "cat hole", the drainage pipe of the Forbidden City. It is relatively fat and takes a lot of effort every time it comes out of the hole. The drains were dark and dirty, but Papa had no choice but to live here.
Every time it comes out, it must carefully observe its surroundings for fear of being "assassinated" by other cats.
Despite this, Papa's appetite has never been affected, and he is still the most edible of the royal cats. Papa has an unlimited appetite, and although each cat's meal is fixed, it often rubs other cats' food.
Papa can eat two people at once. Its chubby appearance made many fans cute and came to Ningshou Palace to check in and take photos, but Papa was too timid and arrogant to rarely take the initiative to meet fans.
The various "palace fighting dramas" staged by these imperial cats on weekdays were recorded by the staff, and after sharing them online, they won a wave of fans.
Netizens found it very interesting to see these videos, brainstormed the nickname for the cat, and also made up various plots. For example, give the nickname "Four Emperors" to the "teenager" who loves to bully Papa, and give the timid Papa the nickname "Uncle Eight Emperors".
The staff also followed this trend and gave the video various exaggerated titles, attracting praise from netizens.
Fans from all over the world sent all kinds of gifts to these cuties.
Some fans even came from other places to see the "palace fight drama" between the royal cats, but the staff said that they could not meet such requirements because they could not affect the normal life of the royal cats.
Although the imperial cats have their own "palace fighting drama", they still faithfully fulfill the heavy duty of guarding the Forbidden City and ensuring that the important treasure of the country is safe and sound.
We should respect these cute royal cats, do not disturb their lives too much, and do not participate in false "palace fight" hype.
The author thinks
The cats of the Forbidden City undoubtedly add a lot of life to this ancient palace and also play an important role. But while we appreciate them, we shouldn't lose sight of wildlife rights. As human beings, we should cherish all life, protect the environment, live in harmony with nature, and jointly create an inclusive and harmonious world.
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