In recent years, the word "cat slave" is very hot, many people have no resistance to cats at all, willing to do anything in order to raise a cat, but some people have found that in fact, being a cat slave is not the exclusive of modern people, and many people in ancient times have long been conquered by cats. However, ancient cats were called tanuki slaves, what does tanuki mean? The slave here should actually refer to the "master", right, the cat owner is the "slave"?
Tanuki refers to a cat, another name for a cat. Since ancient times, people have loved cats, and poets have affectionately called cats "little tanuki slaves". Tanuki: Tanuki lí is a bobcat. The poem "Not Out" by Liu Zhongyin of the Jin Dynasty says: "The weather is slightly cold and I can't get out, and I sit with tanuki slaves." Only two verses sketch a cozy and warm picture of a human-cat blind date. Song Dynasty Lu You's "Gifting the Cat" poem Yun: "Wrapped in salt to welcome the little tanuki slave, do your best to protect the ten thousand books of the mountain house." Shame on the poor family, cold and feltless sitting and eating no fish. Although this is a self-deprecating poem that has never been encountered, it is full of deep love for cats.
Huang Tingjian's "Beggar Cat": "In the autumn, the rats bully the cat to death, and the voyeuristic urn is turned over and stirred up the night sleep." Smell the Tanuki slave will count, buy fish and wear willow to hire cicadas. ”
Lu You's "Gift to the Cat": "Wrapped in salt to welcome the little tanuki slave, do your best to protect the ten thousand books of the mountain house." Shame on the poor family, cold and feltless sitting and eating no fish. ”
The poem mentions "wrapping salt to welcome the tanuki slave" and "wearing fish to hire the tanuki slave" originated from the ancient custom that the Song Dynasty regarded taking the cat home as a very important thing, like marrying a concubine, to give a "dowry" - of course, it is not necessary to give any pearl emerald white jade lock like a concubine, but it is necessary to give a certain amount of salt or fish. I've heard an interesting saying that if it's a kitten born of the owner's cat, then give the owner salt. If it is a feral cat's kitten or a cat dealer's cat, it is necessary to wear the small fish in a bunch and send it to the female cat to show solemnity. I don't know if this statement is true or not, but I will listen to it. As can be seen from Wen Zhengming's poems, the custom of "hiring tanuki slaves" with salt or small fish continued until the Ming Dynasty.
Domestication history
western
The domestication of domestic cats originated in Egypt. In 1500 BC, the ancient Egyptians in the primitive agricultural society saw that the grain they collected attracted rats, but at the same time found that wild cats had the ability to catch rats, so they domesticated wild cats for a long time and domesticated them into domestic cats.
At that time, if a cat was killed, even if it was unintentional, it was also punishable by hanging. Archaeologists have excavated tombs of perfumed embassed cat carcasses in the ancient city of Bubatic in the eastern part of the Nile Delta, and many statues of cats with different appearances have been unearthed. The ancient Egyptians mummified a large number of dead cats, and scientists have studied these cat mummies, thus proving that domestic cats originated from African wild cats.
Domestic cats spread from Egypt to Italy, and then gradually to all of Europe, winning "admirers" in many countries. In the Padua Museum in Italy, a mummy of a cat is still preserved. It turned out that the Crusader knights of the 13th-century expedition brought their travel companions --- rats back to Europe, causing plague and cholera to spread on the european continent. People are helpless and worried. Thankfully, the cats rose up and subdued the rats. A leading cat named Petraki was so successful that its body was mummified in 1370.
But in the Middle Ages, cats suffered bad luck. Unwilling to associate with pagan idols, the Christian church launched a campaign to persecute cats. Perhaps because cats have incredible agility, superstitious people believe that witches can transform into cats. This view has the unfortunate consequence of the cat— it is often burned alive by Christians because they believe that the cat is the embodiment of the devil. However, when the usefulness of cats is reacquainted, the phenomenon of not welcoming cats gradually disappears. By the 18th century, cats had become common animals in the family again.
In the 19th century, cat ownership was already very popular. By the end of the 19th century, at the first cat exhibition, early pet cats were on display.
orient
In ancient times, cats were also domesticated in the Far East, but later than in Egypt. Some authorities believe that China began raising cats in 2000 BC, while others believe that China did not start raising cats until 400 AD.
There are also many records of good cats in the history of our country, one of which reads: "The big hamster is plagued", and then "the giant cat is purchased from the people's house, as big as a fox, and when it enters, it hears the roar, and it begins to rest for three days and nights." Open vision, the rats and cats are dead, and the rats are greater than the cats!" The rat-catching effect of cats can be seen.