The national flag, national emblem and national anthem are the most basic symbols of each country, and some countries have symbols such as national flowers, national birds, and national animals in addition to these symbols that everyone has. The so-called national flower, national bird, and national beast refers to the selection of flowers, birds, and beasts that are generally loved by the people and can represent the national spirit of the country as symbols of the country - in essence, the meaning of the national flower, national bird, and national beast is similar to the national flag, national emblem, and national anthem (of course, not every country must choose its own national flower, national bird, and national beast).
In "That Year's Rabbit Those Things", the eagle sauce representing the United States, the woolly bear representing Russia, the Gaulish rooster representing France, and the goat representing Pakistan are actually the national birds and national beasts of these countries. A country can have representative animals such as national birds and national animals, then naturally there can also be representative plants such as the national anthem: the national flower of the Netherlands is tulips, the national flower of Britain is the rose, the national flower of France is the iris, the national flower of Germany is the cornflower, the national flower of Russia is the sunflower, the national flower of Japan is the chrysanthemum, and the national anthem of India is the lotus (lotus)...
The Netherlands chose the tulip as the national flower because this flower, which is widely planted in the country, best represents the Netherlands; Japan chose the chrysanthemum as the national flower because one of the totems of the Japanese imperial family is the chrysanthemum; Russia chose the sunflower as the national flower because it felt that the tenacious spirit born of the sun was in line with the national spirit of Russia; India chose the lotus flower (lotus) as the national flower because it was interested in the noble spirit of the lotus flower (lotus) that came out of the mud and was not stained... So far, Chinese officials have not identified a flower as the national flower that represents China internationally.
First, China's vast territory and complex climate have bred many flowers. There are representative flowers all over the country, so it is difficult to find a flower that represents the whole country. In the process of China's long history and culture inheritance, the literati of successive dynasties have written poems and songs for various flowers such as plum blossoms, peonies, chrysanthemums, orchids, lotuses, etc., so no flower can dominate in China's cultural aesthetics and literary works. However, in the folk, a considerable number of people like to use peony as the national flower.
The grace and magnificence of the national color of peony symbolizes the pursuit of prosperity and a better life for Chinese. In the late Qing Dynasty, when communicating with foreign countries, peony was once used as the national flower. In the Republic of China period, it was changed to the plum blossom as the national flower: the plum blossom represents the arrogant and indomitable backbone of the Chinese literati, which is also a true portrayal of the national character of our Chinese nation's perseverance and unremitting self-improvement. On July 15, 2019, the China Flower Association solicited the public's intention to china's national flower on China Forestry Network, the website of china flower association and the WeChat public account of "China Flower Association".
As of 24:00 on July 22, 2019, Peony won with 79.71% of the total votes cast in the 362264. So far, however, China has not officially defined the national flower. There have also been proposals for one country with two flowers (peonies and plum blossoms) and four flowers in one country (meilan bamboo chrysanthemum). Those who hold the opinion of one country and two flowers believe that the grace and magnificence of peonies symbolize the glorious prosperity of Chinese history, and the plum blossoms symbolize the tenacity of the Chinese nation in suffering. Those who hold the opinion of one country and four flowers believe that plums, orchids, bamboos, and chrysanthemums all symbolize the noble qualities that we have praised throughout the ages Chinese.
After talking about the national flower, let's talk about the national beast: So far, China does not have a national beast in the official legal sense, but the giant panda actually plays the role equivalent to the national beast in China's foreign exchanges. Since the founding of New China, giant pandas have been given to foreign countries as national gifts as friendly emissaries many times. Nowadays, China no longer gives the giant panda as a "national gift" to the outside world, but continues to let the giant panda play the role of promoting Sino-foreign exchanges by means of leasing and cooperative research. At present, many comic works that reflect the theme of international relations represent the image of China as the giant panda.
Finally, let's look at the process of determining the national bird in the world: the first country in the world to determine the national bird is the United States. In 1782, 6 years after the United States Declaration of Independence, the United States Congress proposed to select a bird as the national bird of the United States. Like the national flag, national emblem, and national anthem, the national bird must have a distinct national spirit: in addition to being loved by the people, it is best to be a rare creature. Eventually, the bald eagle (also known as the bald eagle) was selected as the national bird of the United States and was stamped with the national emblem of the United States.
The brave bald eagle can reach a body length of 1 to 1.2 meters in adulthood and can reach more than 2 meters after spreading its wings. The golden pupils of the bald sea eagle are very majestic and handsome, and the mouth and claws are very aggressive. The bald eagle soars with the style of a sky lord, so this bird symbolizes strength, bravery and victory. The reason why the United States chose the bald eagle as the national bird is to a large extent to see the mighty and strong spirit it contains. In fact, there are not many countries like the United States that choose birds of prey such as eagles, eagles, falcons, and vultures as national birds.
The national bird of the Philippines is the ape-eating eagle, the national bird of Albania is the mountain eagle, the national bird of Ecuador is the large vulture, the national bird of Belgium is the kestrel, the national bird of Chile is the Andean condor, and dozens of countries such as Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, and Poland also use the raptor as their national bird. The bald eagle was chosen as the national bird of the United States, and in addition to the mighty spirit symbolized, this bird is indeed a rare species. In 1963, only 417 pairs of bald eagles were recorded, and only Alaska and Canada in the United States still have traces of them on the North American continent.
In 1967, the bald eagle was listed as an endangered species by the U.S. government. In 1982, President Reagan declared June 20 of each year as Bald Eagle Day. After more than 40 years of protection, there are about 100,000 bald eagles in the United States except Alaska. On June 28, 2007, then-U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne officially announced at the Jefferson Memorial that the bald eagle would be removed from the list of endangered species listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Today, both the national emblem of the United States and the uniforms of the United States army depict the image of the bald eagle.
Delegates to the 12th International Conference on the Conservation of Birds in 1960 called on all countries in the world to elect their own national birds, so that the idea of bird protection could be better popularized among the people. Since then, more than 120 of the world's more than 200 countries and regions have successively identified their own national birds: the French have selected the Gallic rooster as the national bird; the Indians have selected the blue peacock as the national bird; the Japanese have selected the green pheasant as the national bird; the Koreans have selected the magpie as the national bird; New Zealand has selected the kiwi as the national bird...
What criteria do countries around the world choose their national birds on? First of all, the national bird is like the national flag, national emblem, national anthem, national flower, and national beast as a national symbol, so be sure to choose the birds that can best represent the characteristics of the country. When choosing national animals, it is best to be endemic species like our national treasures, giant pandas and Australian kangaroos, and when determining national birds, we also need to avoid birds such as bald eagles, Gallic roosters, green pheasants, and magpies that have been identified as national birds by other countries. Since 2004, the relevant departments of China have launched the selection of "national bird".
However, so far, there is still no national bird in the official legal sense. There are many kinds of natural environments in the vast territory of our country, so it has also bred a variety of biodiversity. The number of native birds in China exceeds 1,000 species. It seems that it is not difficult to choose one of them as the national bird, but sometimes too many options can also make it difficult to choose. As mentioned above, when choosing the national flower, our country is faced with the complex issue of who to choose and who to discard. In fact, problems like this also exist when choosing a national bird.
Of course, we can refer to certain standards for exclusion: the birds that live and inhabit in China are indeed diverse, but we can first exclude those species that are not unique to China. There are many birds that live in Our country, in fact, in some other countries are also distributed, so these species are actually not suitable as bird images representing our country. In addition, species such as crows and owls, which are not good in their own senses, are not suitable as national birds. Magpies are widely loved birds in China, but unfortunately they have long been preemptively identified as national birds.
In traditional Chinese culture, the phoenix is the king of the birds. Unfortunately, the phoenix, like the dragon, only exists in legends and stories, and has never been found in real society. Finally, the relevant departments selected 10 species of birds as national birds through online voting: red-crowned cranes, red-bellied golden pheasants, black-faced spoonbills, falcons, green peacocks, brown horse chickens, crested ibises, acacia birds, white swans, and magpies. The three most vocal birds are the red-crowned crane, the red-bellied golden pheasant and the crested ibis, but in the end none of them were rated as national birds.
The crested ibis is a rarer and more endangered animal than the giant panda. The species of crested ibises appeared as early as the Eocene period more than 60 million years ago, which is much older than our human history. The crested ibis is a bird endemic to East Asia and has been regarded as a symbol of good fortune since ancient times. Before the 1950s, crested ibises were widely distributed in China, Japan, the Korean Peninsula and the Russian Far East. Japan even worships the crested ibis as the national bird – in fact, the English scientific name of the crested ibis, Nipponia nippon, is literally translated as "the bird that symbolizes Japan".
In fact, the English name of the crested ibis is one of the reasons why it has not become the national bird of our country. Although the crested ibis is an endangered and rare species, it is not a bird endemic to China. In 1981, only the last 5 crested ibises remained in all of Japan. In order to rescue this endangered species, Japan had to capture all five of the last remaining wild crested ibises and send them to the conservation center for artificial rearing. This effectively declared the extinction of wild crested ibises in Japan. In the year of the extinction of the wild crested ibises in Japan, the Chinese crested ibises special expedition found 7 crested ibises in the wild in Yang County, Shaanxi Province.
At that time, Japan was trying to help the crested ibis fertilize in an artificial environment, but ultimately found nothing. By 1985 there were only 3 crested ibises left in Japan. In the 1980s and 1990s, the only 10 crested ibises left in the world in China's primary school nature textbooks refer to 7 wild crested ibises found in YangXian County, Shaanxi Province, China, and 3 captive-bred crested ibises in Japan. Four of the 7 wild crested ibises found in China at that time were adults: one pair had 3 young birds, while the other pair had no children. It is clear that the pair of adult crested ibises that give birth to young birds are reproductive.
This gave the experts of the crested ibises expedition at the time hope of saving this endangered species. During the period when scientists were paying close attention to the seven crested ibises, a young bird fell from the nest to the ground, and the scientists immediately rescued them. Later, the rescued crested ibis was sent to the Beijing Zoo for further study. After further understanding the life habits of the crested ibis, scientists brought all the offspring of wild crested ibises found in YangXian County, Shanxi To the zoo for scientific breeding and breeding.
Since the 1980s, China and Japan have cooperated to protect the endangered species of crested ibis. In September 1994, China lent a pair of crested ibises "Dragon Dragon" and "Phoenix Phoenix" to Sado Island, Japan. However, in December of that year, the "Dragon Dragon" died in the island's conservation center. Later, the Japanese explanation was that the crested ibis was very timid, and when it heard a loud noise, it would immediately fly up and hit the cage and die. The following year, the specimens of the "Dragon Dragon" and the "Phoenix Phoenix" were sent back to their hometown of Yangxian by the Japanese. By 1999, only one "Akin" was left in Japan, but in the same year the number of crested ibises in China reached 50.
Between 1993 and 2003, China established a total of 13 crested ibises in Shaanxi, Beijing and other places. China's great success in breeding crested ibises in the country has further developed crested ibis diplomacy (similar to panda diplomacy): In 1999, China presented Japan with a pair of crested ibises called "Friends" and "Yangyang". The Japanese side immediately launched artificial incubation, artificial brooding and other breeding work, and finally succeeded: "Friends" and "Yangyang" arrived in Japan and gave birth to male crested ibises "Youyou". In 2003, the last crested ibis, "Akin", died in Japan.
Today, Japan's crested ibises are all descendants of the "friends" and "Yangyang" that were originally gifted by China. After "Youyou" became an adult, the Chinese side sent a female crested ibis, "Meimei", to pair it. "Youyou" and "Meimei" gave birth to 71 crested ibises in 16 years. Half of the newborn crested ibises will be returned to China as agreed, while dozens of others will remain in Japan to "spread their branches." Later, in order to avoid the negative impact of close relatives mating, the Japanese side requested the Chinese side to provide new crested ibises. In 2007, China presented "Huayang" and "Overflow" to the Japanese side, and in 2018, it donated "Loulou" and "Guanguan".
In 2019, "Lou Lou" and "Guan Guan" have been paired with other crested ibises bred in Japan in the early stages, giving birth to 3 and 4 crested ibises respectively, half of which are still returned to China as agreed. It can be seen that the crested ibises in Japan today are bred by crested ibises donated by China (the crested ibises in Japan are actually extinct). However, due to historical reasons, the crested ibis has an English name in the world as "the bird that symbolizes Japan". It would be somewhat inappropriate if the crested ibis had such a name to become The National Bird of China.
By 2020, through the joint efforts of China, Japan, South Korea and other countries, the number of crested ibises worldwide has increased to more than 4,000. It is worth mentioning that more than 4,000 crested ibises in the world today are the descendants of 7 wild crested ibises found in Yangxian County, Shaanxi Province. At the same time, however, we must face up to the basic fact that just over 4,000 species in the world is not a big number. In 2004, when the national bird was selected, the number of crested ibises was only more than 200, and it can be said that the crested ibis, as a species, is not completely out of the danger of extinction.
Considering the possible danger of extinction of the crested ibis, and the fact that the English name that was easily controversial internationally, the crested ibis ultimately failed to become our national bird. Another bird that was as vocal as the crested ibis in the 2004 selection was the red-bellied golden pheasant: this bird with gorgeous plumage and golden feather crown is a bird species endemic to china. Many experts believe that the legendary phoenix prototype may be the red-bellied golden pheasant. Since ancient times, the red-bellied golden pheasant has not only been praised by the poetry of the literati and inkers, but also its pattern has been printed on the official uniforms of high-ranking officials in the court.
At the 21st Summer Universiade held in Beijing in 2001, the red-bellied golden pheasant was printed on the chinese team's entry card as the acting national bird, but in the end, the acting national bird is not equal to the official legal national bird. The most important reason why the red-bellied golden pheasant has not become a national bird is that the red-bellied golden pheasant can not only be farmed, but also sent to the table. In 2004, the relevant authorities have approved that the legally bred red-bellied golden pheasant can be put on the table after receiving the approval of the relevant departments.
A bird that can be eaten as food is obviously not suitable as a national bird. In the 2004 National Bird Selection, the red-crowned crane won higher votes than the crested ibis and the red-bellied golden pheasant. The red-crowned crane has always been regarded as the companion of the gods in traditional Chinese culture, so the red-crowned crane is also known as the crane in China. The mount of Taibai Venus in Journey to the West is a red-crowned crane. Since ancient times, there has been a saying of "plum wife crane" to refer to people who are naturally wild and love nature, while "burning the piano and boiling crane" is a metaphor for trampling on and destroying beautiful things. The Chinese people are also known for the custom of celebrating their birthday with the "Song Crane Diagram".
From May to June 2004, the China Wildlife Conservation Association, China News Service and Sina.com jointly held an online bird promotion activity with more than 20 news websites across the country. The red-crowned crane received 64.92 percent of the votes of 5 million netizens in the 10 bird species that were candidates, which is more than all the other competitors combined. A subsequent motion submitted by 36 delegates to the Fifth Session of the Ninth National People's Congress recommended that the red-crowned crane be identified as China's national bird. After several years of expert selection and social network selection, the State Forestry Administration submitted the red-crowned crane to the State Council as the only candidate for the national bird.
As a rare bird, the red-crowned crane belongs to the national first-class protected animal, so it is unlikely to be eaten like the red-bellied golden pheasant. At the same time, although the red-crowned crane is a rare animal, it is not rare enough to be as endangered as the crested ibis. The red-crowned crane is suitable as a national bird in terms of the current number of existing populations, and the symbolism of the red-crowned crane in traditional Chinese culture also makes it suitable as a symbol of the national spirit. Just when the red-crowned crane was submitted to the State Council as a candidate for the national bird, someone broke the news that the red-crowned crane had a "stain".
It turned out that when European scholars came to the East in the 18th century, they encountered the Qing Dynasty at that time. It so happens that the red-crowned crane, which happens to be a migratory bird, flies from China to Japan every winter for winter, so this European scholar saw the red-crowned crane in Japan. The red-crowned crane was thus given the English name "Japanese Crane", and the Latin literary name of the red-crowned crane, Grus japonensis, also means this. Although the international scientific community later realized this mistake, the English and Latin names of the red-crowned crane have not changed.
To this day, the red-crowned crane is still known as the Japanese crane among the foreign population. Of course, China's national bird cannot bear the name of a "Japanese bird", so the red-crowned crane eventually misses the national bird status. The national bird, the national beast, and the national flower are the symbols of the country, along with the national flag, national emblem, and national anthem. Of course, not every country must choose its own national flower, national bird, and national beast, so on this issue, we should adhere to the principle of preferring to be absent: we can temporarily determine the national flower, national bird, and national beast, but the final selection must be the most suitable for representing the national image.