Archaeological research (unearthed cat bones) shows that as early as 5300 years ago in Huayin County, Shaanxi Province, there was already the existence of cats, which is the earliest evidence of cats living together with humans found so far. The earliest document in the world to record cats is the "Book of Poetry, Daya Han Yi" in the Western Zhou Dynasty of China.
Kong Le Han Tu, Kawazawa Fu, Bream Fufu, Stag, Bear and Tiger, Cat and Tiger. - "Poetry Classic, Daya Han Yi"
The Book of Verses compares cats to bears and tigers, so it refers to wild cats, which shows that at that time, wild cats were one of the beasts that could be compared with tigers. However, unlike tigers, which prey on large mammals, cats only prey on smaller animals than it is, with fish and mice being its favorites. It is precisely because cats are not life-threatening to humans and feed mainly on mice, over time, intelligent people have domesticated wild cats into domestic cats and let domestic cats eliminate rat infestations.
His house, a few days before the cat, stuffed rat cave, mud wall, order clean sweeping - "Qi Min Zhi Shu"
It can be seen that at least in the Northern Wei Dynasty, cats have entered the homes of ordinary people as rat catchers and become good friends of the ancient Chinese.
Bucket to star shift, vicissitudes of the mulberry field. From the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the wind of pets in the imperial palace began to prevail, and the cat was born elegant, with high cold, cleanliness, like to sleep, maverick and clingy and other personalities, which made it soon become the darling of the upper nobility, one of the generation of empress Wu Zetian was once a cat fanatic, although later she banned the raising of cats in the palace, but the style of the cat has long been popular in the folk.
During the Song Dynasty, the era of high prosperity in China's commodity economy, culture and education, and scientific innovation, and when material needs were greatly satisfied, people inevitably began to chase the enjoyment of the spiritual world. In this case, the custom of raising pets began to prevail in the whole society, and dogs, cats, rabbits and even snakes, monkeys and other pets appeared, of which cats were the most popular among people, and even the literati inkers who were usually arrogant and proud of their talents also fell collectively in front of the cute cats.
In the Song Dynasty, cats also ushered in the peak of cat life!
Autumn rats bully the cat to death, peeping urns to stir up night sleep. Smell the Tanuki slave will count, buy fish and wear willow to hire cicadas. - Huang Tingjian, "Begging Cat"
Huang Tingjian was a famous writer of the Northern Song Dynasty, who together with Zhang Qi, Chao Shuzhi and Qin Guan was called the "Four Scholars of Sumen", and also with Su Shi, and "Su Huang", he was the master and leader of the Kai school of the Jiangxi poetry school, and at the same time, he was also a cat lover. In the seven poems written by Huang Tingjian, "Begging Cat", it contains a wealth of information about the Song Dynasty people's pet cats, among which the custom of hiring cats shows the transcendent status of cats in the Song Dynasty.
The Song Dynasty people raised cats, and there was a set of strict procedures that were conventional. Although the Song Dynasty people had to sign contracts when buying and selling livestock, cats were sacred animals and could never be obtained by means of buying and selling, and people could only hire cats to come home like wives.com. In other words, if you want to have a cat, you must first issue a letter of appointment and give a dowry gift, so that you can get what you want.
The letter of appointment cat has a fixed format and is quite elaborate. The letter of appointment should state the date of hiring the cat, the appearance characteristics of the cat, the number of dowry gifts, and the requirements for the cat, such as requiring the cat to actively catch mice and not to steal food, etc., are the contents of the letter of appointment. Of course, because the female cat does not spend money, the dowry does not require gold and silver treasures, only a string of delicious small fish. After the dowry is sent in the next letter, if the mother cat has no opinion (depending on whether the fish is delicious), then choose a lucky day to officially invite the cat home, and the process of hiring the cat is over.
In summary, during the Song Dynasty, cats enjoyed a transcendent status. In daily life, if someone wants to keep a cat, they must follow the procedure of concubinage, first send a letter of appointment to send a dowry, and then it is possible to invite the cat star into the house, in fact, the cat star person is the only pet in the Song Dynasty that enjoys such a special honor.
Huang Tingjian
The bottle was stolen, and the tanuki slave on the bed did not know how to sleep. Helplessly, the family still loves and cares, buys fish and rice to raise children. —— Hu Zhonggong, "Sleeping Cat"
As we all know, the cat's duty is to catch mice, and under normal circumstances, this is also the way for cats to survive. However, this rule does not apply to pet cats, such as modern human pet cats do not catch rats, and they eat cat food, not mice. In fact, as early as the Song Dynasty, cats that did not do the right thing and did not feed on rats were already popular.
The Southern Song Dynasty poet Hu Zhonggong's tanuki slave not only did not do his job properly and neglected his duties, but also only knew how to sleep all day. Under normal circumstances, this tanuki slave should be questioned by the xingshi. However, because the owner loves it unconditionally, this tanuki slave is not only not held accountable, but also eats fish at once, which can be described as envying others!
The rat catcher, who once frightened the rats, now sleeps every day and sells cuteness to win favors, which is the luck of the rats (enemies), but it is the misfortune of the fish (the people). And all this is caused by the personal preferences of the master (the emperor), which may be the real reason why Hu Zhonggong lamented that "the north knows when it is, and there is no reason for the return date".
Sleepy-eyed Meng Song grew tired, but threw poems and walked into the corridor. Tanuki Nu Sang played from both sides, and suddenly saw people walking like a roe deer. —— Yang Wanli, "Day Tiredness"
Whether in ancient times or in modern times, the reason why people want to keep pets is nothing more than because of loneliness and boredom. Therefore, animals that can become pets, in addition to being cute enough, must also have special skills that can relieve the owner's worries. And this is obviously the skill that cats are good at.
In the poem "Day Tiredness", the poet Yang Wanli describes his playful scene with Tanuki. The poet sat for a long time reading, causing drowsiness to strike, so the poet put down the letter and walked to the cloister, at this time, the tanuki slaves were fighting in the cloister, Yang Wanli was suddenly childlike and decided to engage in a prank. So he approached the tanuki with intimidation, and then suddenly made a sound, and the frightened tanukis reflexively raised their hairs, hunched their backs and tails, and fled as quickly as a roe deer. The frightened appearance of the tanuki caused the poet to be in a good mood, and he was completely drowsy.
In this poem, the poet Yang Wanli's love for tanuki slaves is overflowing with words. And we can also feel the popularity of tanuki slaves during the Song Dynasty.
Salt wrapped in tanuki slaves, often watching the theater corner. Always drunk mint, night and night occupied. ——Lu You", "Giving Cats"
Modern people who like to keep cats know that cats will get drunk after eating mint, just like people drink fine wine. Of course, cats also have to sleep after getting drunk, so mint and carpets are standard for cats, which is a must-know knowledge for modern cat slaves. But in fact, as early as the Song Dynasty, cat people have already enjoyed the treatment of "always drunk mint, night and night".
Lu
It can be seen that the Song people's research on the characteristics of cats has reached the peak. This further shows that the Song Dynasty people used cats as pets, not only to relieve their worries, but more importantly, because they really liked cats.
The Song Dynasty, which was a dynasty that belonged to the cat people.
Full of warmth and lust, hunger and cold to steal the heart. During the Song Dynasty, the social economy was highly developed, and people no longer had to worry about three meals a day, that is, people had been greatly satisfied in terms of material needs. Under this premise, people inevitably begin to chase the enjoyment of the spiritual world, which is commonly referred to as "lustful thoughts." However, due to the constraints of public opinion and the law on people's behavior, most people dare not make a mistake, in this case, the trend of pet ownership that can entertain themselves and be harmless to society quickly prevails.
The times can create both heroes and tanuki slaves who lie and win. Tanuki slaves with their own excellent physical conditions, in many pets stand out, first became the most popular pet among the literati, since then, the style of cat breeding quickly popularized to the folk, gradually, cats from the former anti-theft, rat catchers, transformed into a full-time pet for eating and drinking.
While other animals are still trying to survive, cats can already buy drunk all the time, and it can be said that they have reached the peak of cat life. This achievement not only envies other animals, but also others!