Do you have pets? Nowadays, pet owners always love their little pets, cute cats, eccentric dogs...
In fact, in the Ming and Qing dynasties, kittens and puppies have already gathered thousands of pets in one.
Ye Lanyi's cat tuanfu in "The Biography of Zhen Huan"
Cats and dogs in the Forbidden City
Recently, the First Archive of Chinese History exhibited an archive of Cats and Dogs in the Qing Dynasty:
"The Qing Palace is popular for raising pets such as cats and dogs, which is one of the leisure and entertainment methods of the harem. Palace dogs and palace cats have a monthly 'silver', and special personnel are responsible for eating and tuning. This two-fold book is set in yellow satin and details the names and dates of birth of cats and dogs raised in the Daoguang Dynasty Palace. ”
Cats and dogs have been long favored as pets since ancient time. In the Qing Dynasty, there was a file to record names of cats and dogs living in the royal palace.
Qing Palace kittens have names called flower and fruit plants: precious, okra, golden orange. There are other animals named after them: golden tiger, jade lion, happy leopard. There are also anthropomorphic names: beauty, golden boy, golden girl.
The queen's cat "Pine Nuts" in "The Biography of Zhen Huan"
Puppies' names are mostly related to flower and fruit plants: peach blossom, rose, chestnut.
The "Guardian" of the Forbidden City
As early as the Ming Dynasty, cats began to be raised in the Forbidden City, and the cats in the palace were bred from generation to generation, and the dynasties changed, and they still lived in the palace.
After the establishment of the Palace Museum, the staff observed that many of these cats were the descendants of the cats raised by the concubines of the empress, so they decided to leave them behind, and registered them one by one, and gave them names.
During the Ming Dynasty, the Forbidden City set up a special institution for the registration and management of cats living in the imperial palace.
According to staff working in the Palace Museum, there are still many cats now living in the grounds of the palace. Some of them may be descendants of cats owned by the imperial rulers, making these fancy felines royal blood.
Since then, these cats have become the guardians of the Forbidden City. So far, there are still more than 100 "royal cats" in the Forbidden City.
Lu Ban, a descendant of the "Royal Cat" in the Forbidden City
It is understood that the first cats in the palace were mainly afraid that the documents and items stored in the palace would be bitten by rats, so cats were raised to prevent rat infestation.
After that, the concubines who lived in the harem took pleasure in raising cats to relieve loneliness. Later, even the emperor and princess also liked to keep cats.
The emperor of the Ming Dynasty who liked to keep cats was Zhu Zhanji, who not only raised cats, but also liked to paint cats.
In order to bring his love cat to life, he collected hundreds of cats from the people, raised them in the harem, and carefully observed the cat's posture in his spare time, figured out the cat's disposition, and then drew the cat with great interest.
In order to have vivid paintings of cats, emperor Zhu Zhanji ordered servants to collect hundreds of cats from the public and keep them in the palace. In his spare time, he would observe their posture and ponder over their personalities. Afterwards he began painting them with much interest.
Zhu Zhanji paints "Tang Yuan's Spring Painting" (partial)
And Ming Shizong Zhu Houxi's liking for cats has reached the point of "cat obsession".
He did not come to the dynasty for twenty years, in order to entertain, often play with the cat, for this reason also set up a special cat raising agency - cat room, not only has a special person to serve, but also gives the cat official title.
As a cat lover, emperor Zhu Houcong even set up a special institute to keep cats—Cats' Room. Cats were not only taken care of by special people, but also given official titles.
The Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty also liked to keep cats, and it is rumored that he reigned for 60 years and had more than a dozen imperial cats. One of them was the sǒu cat that an Italian emissary paid tribute to in the ninth year of Qianlong (1744).
The cat is shaped like a small cheetah, with a slender trunk and limbs, yellow fur and dark spots, and bright eyes.
The Qianlong Emperor was particularly fond of this exotic animal, and specially chose a celadon lotus-style warm bowl fired in the Northern Song Dynasty Ru kiln to feed the cats. In order to make it easier for the cat to eat, he also had the bowl equipped with a rosewood seat.
It is said that emperor Qianlong kept a dozen cats. One of them was a serval cat presented as a tribute by an Italian envoy. It looked like a small smart cheetah. He loved it so much that he bestowed it a celadon bowl and a special holder for the bowl.
Northern Song Dynasty Ru kiln celadon lotus-style warm bowl
Empress Dowager Cixi was also fond of cats, and had raised more than a dozen precious cats in the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace. She not only named each cat, but also assigned several palace ladies to keep it full-time.
From time to time, Empress Dowager Cixi would hold these cats in her arms and check their fatness and health, so as to reward and punish the palace women who were raised.
Empress Dowager Cixi assigned several maids to raise her cats full time. From time to time, she would hold the cats in her arms and check their weight and health. Maids would be rewarded or punished depending on the cats' states.
Cats of the Forbidden City
Not only are cats pampered, but dogs are treated very well.
Dog keeping was one of the important ways for the qing dynasty concubines to have fun, and there was a dog breeding office in the court, which was dedicated to managing the affairs of raising dogs, and the number of dogs was as high as hundreds.
In the late Qing Dynasty, Empress Dowager Cixi loved to play with dogs, and was very fond of dogs, often bringing dozens of dogs with her when traveling.
According to the emperor's preference, he often ordered the names, grooming, custom clothes, and painting portraits of his dogs.
Qing Lang Shining Ten Jun dog figure "golden-winged fox (xiǎn)"
Dog utensils are luxurious and luxurious, and the palace also makes a large number of dog clothes for pet dogs every year.
Green satin begonia chrysanthemum pattern dog clothes Source: Palace Museum
Of course, there are many animals raised in the palace, after all, rare birds and exotic animals have been a major feature of the palace garden since ancient times, and it is these cute pet heavenly groups that make the image of the ancients in the historical records plump and full.
What's the name of your pet?
Edit: Zuo Zhuo
Intern Editor: Lee Kim-hyun
Intern: Xiang Jingya
Source: People's Daily The Palace Museum Forbidden City Magazine @ Yongtao's Horizon "If the Forbidden City Could Talk"
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