Although the animals from which the new coronavirus that broke through this heinous catastrophe originated has not yet been conclusively determined. But it can almost be judged that the wildlife trade in wuhan's Huanan seafood market is a disaster. At the same time, in the laboratory, experts also found a coronavirus stored in the body of the "Yunnan chrysanthemum bat", which is as similar in genetic sequence as high as 96% to the new coronavirus that caused the infection. Regardless of the conclusion, I believe that for a long time, everyone will smell the color of bats.
But do you really know about bats? In Western legends, bats have always been synonymous with evil charm and viciousness. But in traditional Chinese culture, bats mainly appear in auspicious images.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the devil's face in the eyes of the West</h1>
Due to the dismal appearance of bats, the intuitive impression of ordinary people on it will not be too good. It has a rat's head and sharp fangs, but it carries a pair of wings on its back, perched in a dark cave, and often makes a sharp cry, which is chilling. In Western Christian culture, bats have always been unwelcome.
According to the Old Testament, Jehovah warned Moses and others that "all birds that are clean may be eaten by all," but bats were not allowed, apparently seeing bats as dangerous and unclean.
Because some bats can suck the blood of animals and bring disease, Westerners have associated it with terrifying vampire legends. Coupled with the habit of bats lying out at night and their hideous appearance, Westerners naturally do not like bats.
Moreover, bats like to live in cold and damp caves, dark mines, and these gloomy places are just the perfect places to kill people and throw away corpses, so Westerners have hooked these poor guys and death again. With the unprecedented development of the Western vampire trend in the 19th century, bats have hitched a ride on the "express train of the times" and gone farther and farther down the road of being disliked by Westerners.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > symbol of good fortune in ancient China</h1>
Unlike in the West, bats have a bright side in Chinese culture. This is because in Chinese, bats are homophonous with "Fu", representing auspicious wishes, and bats are equivalent to "all blessings".
As early as the Neolithic Age, the ingenious ancient ancestors made crafts related to bats. By the Han Dynasty, bat motifs had become common ornaments. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the image of the blessing of bats was even more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and Meng Chaoran of the Qing Dynasty said in the "Summer Record of the Melon Shed": "The genus of insects is the most disgusting as bats, and now the weaving and embroidery pictures are used to homophonize with Fu." It can be said that in the eyes of the ancients, bats are animals that represent China's "Fu" culture and are symbols of blessing.
The bat pattern on the dragon robe symbolizes Hong Fuqitian
During the Qing Dynasty, it often appeared on various brick platforms, paperweights, gold and silverware or clothes, and some would carve bat patterns on the doors, windows and eaves of houses, implying that blessings to heaven could bring good luck to themselves and their families. Coupled with the fact that bats can fly, in the eyes of the Qing Dynasty, seeing "bats" means "blessings descend from heaven" and will bring good luck. Riding a horse to see a bat is "blessed right away.".
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > why bats become the "king of all poisons"</h1>
In fact, whether the bat is regarded as a symbol of the devil or a symbol of blessing, it is only the sustenance and metaphor of human beings themselves. Bats just live in this land according to their own nature, and I would like to ask, is it the bat that harms humans, or does man endanger bats?
Bats are the only mammals in the world that can fly, rely on echolocation, although they carry a variety of germs, they can survive healthily and live a very long life. Paradoxically, bats are the oldest animals in the world, dating back at least fifty million years.
Fossils of ancient bats that lived 52 million years ago
Bats are social animals and mostly like to gather in enclosed spaces. Imagine a closed cave where bats of different species huddled together and intimately groomed each other, and the virus spread widely among different species and different individuals of the same species. Many bats live up to 35 years, and long-lived bats continue to carry the virus, increasing the likelihood of transmitting the virus to other animals.
Bats can coexist with viruses for a long time, but their health is not affected, mainly due to their ability to fly. Flying is a heavy physical activity that requires a lot of energy from the body. When flying, the metabolic rate of the bat's body can be increased by 15-16 times, causing the body temperature to rise to a "fever" state of 40 ° C. As in humans, the "fever" state elevates the body's immune system response and inhibits viral replication. To adapt to flight, bats have evolved powerful DNA repair abilities and unique immune systems that ensure they are not harmed by high body temperatures and can defend themselves from early stages of viral infection.
Under the pressure of bats' ultra-high body temperatures and special immune systems, bats carry mostly RNA viruses that are highly susceptible to mutation and recombination, and usually evolve to withstand high body temperatures. When humans are infected, the body's immunity routinely raises body temperature. Usually, foreign bacteria and viruses that can multiply at normal body temperatures weaken at higher temperatures. However, this common way is obviously not so scary for viruses that live in bats all year round.
Over the past 50 years, many bat-carried viruses have suddenly exploded in humans, mainly because we have more and more contact with bats, including hunting bats as a food source, agriculture and animal husbandry in bat habitats, and invasion of bat habitats in human settlements.
In fact, in addition to bats, many wild animals are hosts of bacteria and viruses, such as beavers, hedgehogs, hares, wild snakes, etc. But wild animals are not the culprits, greed for wild meat is. If we lack reverence for nature, we will have to pay a price.
Today, we call for everyone to consciously resist eating wild game, not only for the safety of their own lives, but also for the public safety of all mankind, and for the maintenance of the diversified ecology of nature.