This article was published in Sanlian Life Weekly, No. 28, 2019, with the original title "Cats in the Forbidden City"
As a "royal cat" living in the Forbidden City, in recent years, the Forbidden City cat has received a lot of attention. On the one hand, it is the comfortable life under the lens of the bright photographer, and on the other hand, the survival reality that stray cats have to face. The fate of the Forbidden City cat is not as simple as "too cute".
Reporter/Song Shiting . Photography / Liu Shun'er
The cats of the Forbidden City are often on top of the glass, and they have a condescending atmosphere
Look for the Royal Cat
Just as we were about to give up, the little daredevil appeared.
There are two inconspicuous underground tunnel openings next to the souvenir shop and rest area on the northwest side of the Forbidden City, where photographer Hua Ge once photographed two cats standing at the entrance of the cave and looking out. "Let's try, there's not much hope." Brother Hua said that when he met the cat, the open space outside the cave entrance had not yet been placed with cool umbrellas and tables and chairs, and there were not too many people around, "once there are many people, the cat is afraid, and it will hide far away."
Brother Hua took out the cat food he carried with him, which was a sharp weapon for him to shoot cats and pick up cats all over the country, "thirty or forty yuan a pound, the same as the cats at home." The plastic bags containing cat food were rattling, and if they were in Beihai Park not far away, when they heard this sound, the big cats and kittens would definitely appear. "The uncles and aunts around them are carrying bags to bring them food, and over time they become conditioned." This trick did not seem to have much effect on the cats in the palace, and after shaking for half a day, the opening of the cave was still pitch black.
Brother Hua used the second move, he opened the mobile phone, put a cat call, two kinds of meow sounds alternately sounded, one is lower, is the male cat call, one is sharper, belongs to the female cat. The cat called the simulator to operate for several rounds, and the flower brother bent down to look, and the hole still did not move.
"No more, no more, let's go." Brother Hua turned to leave, I was not dead hearted, crouched on the ground and looked at it again. Unexpectedly, this eye turned into good luck. "It's coming, it's coming!" I was so excited that I shouted to stop Brother Hua. I saw white and yellow shadows flashing in the black hole, and the shadows slowly moved, getting closer and closer. Although I squatted far enough, I didn't dare to move, and I was even cautious about breathing. Only to see the approaching shadow obscuring the darkness of the cave entrance little by little, hesitating for a few seconds at the dividing line between sunlight and darkness, and finally taking another step forward, the round head of a yellow and white cat appeared in front of us.
"Good luck!" Brother Hua said as he crept close to the mouth of the cave, sprinkled two handfuls of cat food, and quickly withdrew. The kitten was afraid of people, did not dare to go out of the hole, and could not resist the temptation of delicious cat food, so he had to stretch out his claws and sweep the cat food closer to the mouth of the cave and carefully probe to eat.
This cat has a white belly, the top of the head and the back ridge are the color of orange cats, and judging by their appearance, the comers are small cowards. It is said that the little timid children have appeared in groups with the timid children all year round, but since the beginning of spring this year, the timid children have disappeared, leaving only the lonely little timid. Without a partner, the little daredevil is even smaller.
Brother Hua set up a camera to record his lucky moment of photographing the Forbidden City cat for the second time this year. Since the beginning of 2018, the Shanghai photographer, whose Weibo post is "Meow Non-Stop", has often come to Beijing to photograph cats at the Forbidden City. Under the imperial city, under the red wall and yellow tiles, even the most common Chinese pastoral cat in front of him seems to be stained with royal nobility, looking mysterious and proud. "To photograph Beijing's urban character, the Forbidden City is the perfect fit." Brother Hua said.
The cubs, who often haunt the Yihexuan, were once the most beloved cats in the Forbidden City
With the work of setting up the camera, more and more people watching the small daredevil eating, adults and children were controlled by the flower brother at a safe distance, everyone ignored the famous Kunning Palace and Qianqing Palace behind them, regardless of the thousands of years of history within reach, and their attention was all attracted by such a cat in front of them.
This is an interesting phenomenon in recent years, the cats in the Forbidden City have a large number of clusterers, and visiting cats in the Forbidden City has become a new tourist route.
In the Forbidden City cat with a name and a surname, the little coward is not famous. More famous are cats with higher appearance rates and greater courage, such as Aobai, Little Cubs, and White Dots. Before we met Xiao Timid, Brother Hua and I rushed in as soon as the Forbidden City opened its doors, and went straight to the Treasure Hall, the Yihexuan, the Jingren Palace, the Ice Cellar and other places where the Forbidden City's Internet celebrity cats often haunted, looking for their present and past.
Near the ice cellar, the white cat room still stands in the corner of the red wall. It was a friendly unit of the Forbidden City, the National Museum of Cat Lovers, specially designed for white dots, named "White Dot's Home". At the beginning of July last year, Bai Dian died of cat thrombosis, and this matter was even on Weibo hot search. The yellow and white cat, which has successfully predicted the outcome of the World Cup in Russia six times, was once one of the most popular royal cats in the Forbidden City, and the personal Weibo called "Forbidden City White Dot" has more than 100,000 followers.
Last year, the Forbidden City also had a red cat that left its fans forever. Xiao Er was once the most pro-people palace cat, it was lazy, not afraid of people, and recuperated in the Yihe Xuan for many years, so the appearance rate was extremely high.
In the spring, the Yihexuan begonia blossoms, and the cub squints his eyes, leaning on the red lacquered corridor under the begonia flowers, and the chubby body spreads along the corridor. Last year, when she heard the news of the cub's death, photographer Liu Shun'er was the first to remember this picture.
Of course, the popularity of the Forbidden City cats is related to the special environment in which they are located, and those photographers who run into the Forbidden City again and again to take pictures of the palace cats are also indispensable to the white points and the popularity of the cubs.
"Post-80s" photographer Liu Shun'er was one of the first photographers to photograph the Forbidden City cat. "Strictly speaking, the first time I photographed the Forbidden City cat was in 2016." At that time, the cat slave photographer with 7 cats was still a small white in the Forbidden City, but during a spring tour, he accidentally photographed a fat cat, and he did not pay attention to it at the time. A year later, Liu Shun'er, who had completed two years of Kyoto-themed shooting, began to look for themes for the next two-year shooting plan. Without inspiration, she opened the database and looked through it at will. "Suddenly I saw the photos of the Forbidden City cats, and my first reaction was that this might be a good shooting subject." There are many people photographing the Forbidden City, but there should be very few people who specialize in shooting cats. Liu Shun'er said that at that time, the Forbidden City cat was not as famous as it is today, she found some information about the background of the Forbidden City cat, the location of the often haunted and other information from the Weibo of the Forbidden City staff, and then marked it herself, according to the pre-designed route according to Tu Suoji.
"I learned later that the cat I photographed in 2016 was called Steamed Buns." Mantou used to appear with the "red man" Aobai of Gyeongin Palace, but now it has been adopted home and become a civilian domestic cat.
"Aobai" in the Forbidden City on a snowy day
Liu Shun'er said that when she went to the Forbidden City to see the cat, she had a good attitude. In the more than a year from 2017 to 2018, she ran more than thirty trips to the Forbidden City, including more than a dozen trips to shoot cats. "When I was lucky, I met 5 at a time and ran all day, and there were often situations where one didn't encounter."
Shooting more, Liu Shun'er and the famous cats in the palace can more or less establish a little relationship, and she can also see the other side of the palace cat that netizens can't see. When the cub was alive, another palace cat, Ermao, wandered on the glazed tiles of the Yihexuan all year round, so Liu Shun'er took a lot of pictures of ermao flying cornices walking on the wall. This flower-eared big white cat sometimes stood solemnly on the roof of the Forbidden City, looking intently into the distance, and indeed had the atmospheric style of an imperial general. But after the cub died, Liu Shun'er went to take pictures again, and saw Ermao lazily lying on the ground where the cub had been. Only then did she know that the well-behaved and affectionate cub was a domineering master in the cat world, and the proud ermao was not born proud, it was just afraid of the cub.
The Ao bai of Gyeongin Palace is named for its wild shape, and in the widely circulated photos, the Ao Bai is a serious face and a majestic posture. "Actually, it's very loud." Liu Shun'er said that every time she saw her, Ao Bai would meow and meow non-stop, following her for good food. Another cat that is often encountered is Jing Xiao'er of Jingren Palace, "it looks high and cold, but it is actually a milk fierce milk fierce."
Shan Jixiang, the former director of the Forbidden City, mentioned many times when he was in office that there are nearly 200 cats in the Forbidden City. But every time tourists go, they can only see a few in the common area. "But two times it really opened my eyes." Liu Shun'er said that every time she went to the Forbidden City, it took almost a whole day, and on two occasions, the Forbidden City was about to close, the tourists in the main hall were almost gone, and the music of the closed museum was remembered. Suddenly, the meowing sound continued, and a bunch of kittens came out of the hole, poured in from all directions, and converged in the hall on the central axis. That picture is so cute. At that moment, Liu Shun'er felt that the so-called palace cats were probably really spiritual.
As soon as the news of Yihexuan's little cub's death last year came out, it caused a lot of discussion and remembrance among netizens
Jing Xiao'er, who often appears in Gyeongin Palace, is one of the few Forbidden City cats that are active in public areas and can often be encountered by tourists
Days in the palace
The spirituality of the Forbidden City cat in word of mouth also has some historical roots, and the cats in the palace have been dozens of generations up, and some may really be "relatives of the emperor and the state" and have noble blood.
The tradition of raising cats by ancient dignitaries can be traced back to the Western Zhou Dynasty, and by the Tang Dynasty, cats, a small life chosen by history, had been widely raised in the court. Shan Jixiang, former director of the Forbidden City, once said that today's Forbidden City cats are all compiled. It's more like a joke, but during the Ming Dynasty, the cats in the palace really had a weave. At that time, the status of the palace cat was quite high, and there was even a special "cat room" in the palace, and there were special people to serve the cat masters. The Ming Dynasty eunuch Liu Ruoyu recorded in the "Zhi Zhongzhi Neifu Yamen Staff": "The cat room, close to three or four people, specializes in feeding cats with famous parts in front of the imperial court. Whoever is beloved by the Sacred Heart shall also be promoted to the rank of steward. "This is the treatment of cat owners in those years."
Historically, there have been many true stories and legends about cats in the palace. The story of Emperor Ming Shizong of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Houxi, who loved cats and lost his mind, was widely circulated. This top cat lover has two favorite cats, Thrush and Lion Cat, the former of which was even named "Dragon" by him, the first cat in history to have only a title. When Qiu Long died, Zhu Houxi buried it in Banzai Mountain, repaired the "Qiu Long Tomb", and even the coffin buried was made of gold.
It is rare for an emperor to love cats so much, but it is fashionable for concubines in the palace to keep cats. Coupled with the traditional Chinese concept, cats and dogs are the opposite, feminine, and feminine, charming, and even slightly evil temperament of women, in the past dynasties, the story of pet competition related to cats has never been broken.
These true events and legends have been passed down to the present, all of which are attached to today's Forbidden City cats, increasing the space they can spread and interpret. In today's Forbidden City, the "cat room" has long been cancelled, and the palace cats are somewhat famous, but more are the obscure cats who roam alone in the palace.
One weekday afternoon, I went into the work area with Fu Qian, who was working in the Forbidden City. Compared to the public areas that are open to the public, there are staff to take care of them, so there are more cats gathered.
In the courtyard of the Artifact Department, a thin black and white flower cat jumped in front of Fu Rose. It is not large, with three small whiskers on its mouth. The cat made me feel familiar, and then I remembered that a few days ago, another photographer who photographed the palace cat, Kecha, had just uploaded a photo of the kitten on Weibo. "I was helping Xiao Qiqi find an adoption, and two days ago Kecha came to take a picture." Fu Qiang said that Xiao Qiqi met in the Big High Xuan Hall under construction, and everyone felt that the construction site environment was too chaotic, the little guy was still pregnant, and it was not safe to live there, so he took it out and went to the hospital to induce labor. In the past few months, Xiao Qiqi has been taken care of by Fu Qiang. It's clingy and young, making it suitable for domestication. Fu Qiang felt that like Xiao Qi, even if it was a net red cat like Aobai, if there was no fixed owner, in the final analysis, it was still a stray cat. Instead of that, help them find a home as much as possible.
After appeasing Xiao Qi, Fu Qiang took me to the back yard to find a big yellow cat. "Rhubarb is 14 years old, old, and not very active." Fu Qiang said that Rhubarb has been taken care of by a big sister of the department for more than ten years, and it is a good life. She barked a few times, and Rhubarb ignored it. I searched again around the corners and corners, and finally found it under an abandoned table. Bypassing the yard where Rhubarb was located, Fu Qiang took me to find a flower cat hiding behind a pile of construction gray bricks. The flower cat lay in the gap between the bricks and the wall, with several boards above its head to help it shelter from the wind and rain, and the food bowl and water were placed next to it, which were mostly empty, and obviously someone took care of it. The cat, known as the "wolf", is also not small, and the name "wolf" is related to what it eats when it is strong, it is average in size, but it eats like a wolf, hence the name.
Get out of the "Wolf's Den" and return to the parking lot of the Forbidden City's work area. It was the hottest time of the afternoon and there were no people in the parking lot and no cats. "But in the past, there were a lot of cats in this area, and sometimes everyone came to feed the cats, and a dozen cats ran out and stood on the road, which was particularly fun." Born in 1988, Fu Qiang liked small animals since she was a child, raised cats as soon as she worked, and after entering the Forbidden City, she also took on the work of taking care of palace cats after work.
Before, Kecha told me that cats in the Forbidden City are also stray cats in the strict sense, but living in closed areas are much safer than cats outside. "I talked to some of their old employees, the Forbidden City has always had a tradition of taking care of stray cats, maybe the old employees have retired, tell the younger generations to take care of it more, this tradition has been passed down from generation to generation." Kecha said that many cats in the Forbidden City have a clear age, and even who is with whom, which little female cat is pregnant with which little male cat's child is clear to everyone. The reason is that there have always been special people to take care of them, and the people who take care of them know too much about cats. "The average life expectancy of ordinary stray cats is three or five years, but many cats in the Forbidden City can live to be teenagers, which is really not easy."
The face of the palace cat is very beautiful, and there are many difficulties inside. Without the "cat room", today's Forbidden City cats are all taken care of by cat-loving staff. "Different departments and different regions are responsible for their own pieces." Fu Qiang said that the staff who love cats has a group, there are more than 80 people in it, everyone posts cat photos every day, and all kinds of information will be exchanged or not. There are many cats in the palace, and it is inevitable that there will be a big illness and a small love. A single cat is neutered and vaccinated, and the cat owners in the region solve the problem on their own. In case of serious illness, everyone will help together. A while ago, a cat got sick, ran to the hospital many times, spent tens of thousands of yuan before and after the medical expenses, and the treatment money was crowdfunded in the group. Even if they have tried their best to take care of it, the Forbidden City cat has to face the reality that all stray cats must face. Feline plague, stomatitis, kidney failure... The high incidence of various cats will find the Forbidden City cat from time to time. Even just a smooth winter is not an easy task. "Every winter in the Forbidden City, there are several cats that can't be beaten." Fu Qiang said.
During my visit to the Forbidden City, I tried to talk to a few die-hard fans of the Forbidden City cats, but they were all rejected. The so-called hardcore fans are those who regularly enter the palace to see cats, send cat food, and have more or less contact with the internal personnel of the Forbidden City. "If it's really for the sake of being good, then please forget about it!" I wanted to talk to a fan about Aobai, and she replied to me like this. Perhaps in the eyes of many cat lovers, in recent years, the Forbidden City cat has become popular, coupled with the birth of various Forbidden City cat derivatives, the famous cats in the palace have attracted a large number of people to watch, which is a disturbance to the palace cat itself.
But Fu Qiang, who takes care of the palace cat, Kecha, who volunteers to take adoption photos for the Forbidden City cat, and Lu Ping, the "it fund" who provides sterilization, vaccines and other help for the Forbidden City cat, have deeper worries. "Seeing the photos of palace cats released by those public accounts on the Internet, I will be vaguely worried, everyone thinks that the life of palace cats is too good, stray cats are taken care of, which will cause more abandonment." Kecha said to me.
In the midst of it, Fu Qiang was already feeling the pressure. During the World Cup, baidian was concerned because of many accurate predictions, and for a time, many people began to donate cat food to the forbidden city cats, and some even wrote "give white dots". But as soon as the bustle passed, there were fewer people donating and visiting, and "the heat was all bouts."
But for these palace cats and the staff and volunteers who take care of cats like Fu Qiang, it is not an easy task for them to face the eating and drinking, illness, and even death of big cats and kittens every day.
Wei Yongluo's mission
Kecha introduced Lu Ping, the person in charge of the "It Fund", to me, as the only qualified animal protection foundation in China, the "It Fund" has been helping the Forbidden City cat since last year.
The mobile medical vehicles of the "It Fund" regularly go to the Forbidden City to help the palace cats be neutered and vaccinated. "Each department saves three or two cats at a time as long as they are neutered, and then there are more than a dozen cats that only need to be vaccinated, and our car can go once." Lu Ping still remembers the "particularly interesting" picture she saw when she went to the Forbidden City: "Fu Qiang greeted in the group, and the people who took care of cats in various departments rushed to the side of the medical vehicle, some riding bicycles carrying cat bags, some pedaling small three-wheelers carrying cats, and the people in front of them riding bicycles, and then people in the back seat carrying cages... Everyone drives all kinds of transportation to vaccinate the cats in their yards, and we have to open a waiting area, which is really cute. ”
Compared with this "loving" picture, Lu Ping's memory is deeper, and it is more likely to change the fate of the Forbidden City cat and other stray cats. In the second half of last year, the medical vehicle of the "It Fund" went to the Forbidden City to sterilize, vaccinate and routinely check the palace cats. The car came in from Donghua Gate, and everyone stopped the car, hoping to catch the big yellow cat that was merciful and difficult to catch, but several people searched in a bamboo forest for half a day and did not find it.
"I ended up running into his wife." Lu Ping said that it was a tortoiseshell cat, and everyone looked closer, and there was a litter of kittens next to the big cat, and the kittens seemed to have been bitten by a weasel and had lost their breath. Only one yellow-haired kitten was still dying, and its head and jaw were bitten through, and it didn't look like it would last long.
Doctors and nurses quickly took the kittens to the medical cart and took them to the hospital. The kittens stayed in the intensive care unit of the pet hospital for four or five days and were finally saved. "Did you say you touched porcelain?" If you don't happen to encounter a medical car, you may be dead. Lu Ping said that at that time, the popularity of "Yanxi Raiders" was still there, so she named the kitten Wei Yongluo by the mouth, and later noticed that "people are a small male cat."
Wei Yongluo lived in the pet hospital and Lu Ping's house for a while, and when she was planning for the future of this little palace cat, she felt that it was the best choice to have someone adopt, and if not, she would have to send the kitten back to the Forbidden City.
Liu Yingzi, a donor to the "It Fund", couldn't sit still when she saw Wei Yongluo's news. "It's too small, and it's been so badly injured, I'm afraid it won't live long." Liu Yingzi thought about it, there are already 6 cats and 2 dogs in the family, and she is not afraid of one more Wei Yongluo.
On October 11, 2018, wei Yongluo, a palace cat, officially had a master and moved into a large house in Beijing's Shunyi District. There is a small open-air courtyard of more than 50 square meters in the house, which is enough for it to spread joy with several other cats and dogs.
Adopting a Forbidden City cat is also a lot of pressure for Liu Yingzi, who is very experienced in pet ownership. She had obviously put more thought into Wei Yongluo. "When I first arrived home, I took care of it almost 24 hours a day." At that time, Liu Yingzi was still sitting in the company, and every morning, she put Wei Yongluo, who was just over 40 days old, into the cat bag and carried her to the company. In the evening, carry it home again.
Growing up day by day, Wei Yongluo gradually showed his personality. "It's really different from ordinary cats." Liu Yingzi said that not only did she feel this way, but also the pet doctor who knew her well said so. This ordinary orange cat was very sensible as soon as it entered the house, and everyone called it "Wei Yongluo", and it reacted immediately. This is its elegant side, and the wild side is sometimes overwhelming. Once, Liu Yingzi took Wei Yongluo to the pet hospital for a physical examination, and it did not allow the doctor to touch it, and the crazy posture of scratching people and "cursing people" frightened the doctor. "I've never seen a cat like this, staring into your eyes and resisting, very powerful." The doctor and Liu Yingzi said so. Not only that, as a kitten with the wild genes of a court stray cat, Wei Yongluo was particularly keen on hunting. Just after 7 months and just after sterilization, it ran to the community to catch birds and mice, and other experienced big cats were not as good as it. "It's only been 10 months now, and Wei Yongluo has grown into the heaviest and largest cat in our family." Liu Yingzi said.
Although Wei Yongluo lives with 6 other cats every day, Liu Yingzi's "education" to Wei Yongluo is completely different.
Although Wei Yongluo is very wild and has a very bad temper, he is a "cat that can get on the table". As a "cat owner", it actually knows how to "sit down", shake hands, even in crowded occasions, it can lie motionless in the box, let adults and children who like pets touch a few.
In the view of Liu Yingzi and Lu Ping, the palace cat Wei Yongluo may be able to grow into a "public relations cat". It is a typical case of stray cats being rescued and eventually finding an adoptive family to live a happy life. Therefore, Liu Yingzi had been consciously training Wei Yongluo from the very beginning. She takes it to work every day, makes it desensitized to crowded places, and is better at dealing with people. Learning to "sit down" and not eating is the basic guarantee that as a famous kitten, it can go out without hurting people or being hurt. Coupled with the fact that he can "shake hands" and is not afraid of the children who do not understand things occasionally scratch their tails, it can be said that Wei Yongluo is already a cat who can only see big scenes.
Not long ago, Liu Yingzi took Wei Yongluo to participate in a public welfare activity held in Longhu Times Tianjie, where Wei Yongluo honestly sat there and interacted with the audience who liked pets. "Of course, the palace cat makes Wei Yongluo have a natural aura, and I hope that everyone can understand through it that stray cats can also be very affectionate, very well-behaved, and worthy of being led into the home." Liu Yingzi said that compared with cooperating with various brands, this is what she and Wei Yongluo want to do more.
Although she already had some fame, Liu Yingzi was also worried that Wei Yongluo would be targeted by people with hearts. But she still let it out every day, went to the yard to play, and did everything it wanted and should do as a cat. To raise a cat, you have to go with its nature.
Sometimes, before going out, Liu Yingzi would chat with Wei Yongluo. "Ying Luo, don't run around, you are only wei Yong Luo of the Forbidden City when you are with me." If you run out, you're a stray orange, you know? Whenever she and Wei Yongluo "talked" like this, Liu Yingzi felt that this unusual big orange was understood.