Han Dynasty pottery dog unearthed from Nanyang
The origin of domesticated animals in ancient my country was very early. In traditional agricultural society, the earliest domestication of people was the "six animals", namely "horse, cow, sheep, pig, dog, and chicken". The "six animals" at that time were not only used as important places for sacrifice, but also as a symbol of family wealth. According to archaeological data, there were traces of humans and dogs getting along with each other in the Neolithic Age more than 10,000 years ago. On the one hand, the loyal and brave image of dogs in agricultural society makes people love them very much, while on the other hand, some dogs are unhygienic and wag their tails and beg for mercy, which makes people feel disgusted. For a long time, the dog owner and the dog have been in a contradictory relationship that is both trusting and disgusting.
1. Early understanding of dog functions
Dogs first played an important role in resisting the disaster of Gu. "Records of the Grand Historian" records Qin Degong "In the second year, he was in the early days, and he used a dog to control Gu" , which means that at that time, he killed dogs at the city gate to prevent the heat from hurting people. The same practice is also recorded in " Customs and Common Meanings ", that is, "killing dogs and burying the four wings" . Because dogs are good at defending, they are placed in the four wings to prevent thieves. There is also the practice of smearing their blood on the portal after killing white dogs to avoid ominousness. This is somewhat similar to the role of the door god in later generations.
Ancient pottery dog image
In addition to dog blood having this function, dog shit is also given this unique effect. In "Han Feizi", it is mentioned that a wife of Yan State people commit adultery. The husband happened to have rushed back from another place. At the end of his life, his wife asked the adulterer to go out naked. The husband asked who the person was, and the wife and the people on both sides pretended to have not seen anyone, and also said that the husband was confused. This is " bathed with a dog arrow." The same thing is also recorded in the Japanese book " Sleeping Tiger Land Qin Tomb Bamboo Slips ", people are plagued by ghosts for no reason, "submitted to them with dogs" , and they can get rid of ghosts and monsters.
According to the type of dog, they also play different functions such as hunting, housekeeping, and eating. Song Dynasty people Lu Dian in his book " Piya ", it pointed out that dogs are divided into three types: field dogs, barking dogs and eating dogs, which just correspond to the three functions mentioned above. Regarding the description of dog hunting function, when " Hanshu " was writing Liu Bang's conferred meritorious officials, facing the situation where ministers compete for their own merits, Liu Bang made a metaphor, saying that ministers fought bravely like hunting dogs, and Xiao He issued an order and instructions, and the credit was more prominent than hunting dogs , and the ministers also accepted it happily, which can show that people at that time recognized the hunting function of dogs.
Liu Bang and his dog "Hu Zi"
describes the dog's housekeeping function in "Han Feizi". . The wine brewing is very fragrant and warm to customers, and will not do bad business. Their wine flag is very high and can be seen from afar. But strangely, their home-made wine cannot be sold. In great confusion, the seller asked the local elders and realized that it was his watchdog who looked vicious and customers didn't dare to come to buy wine.
Eating dog meat was also a very common thing at that time. " Huainanzi " talked about Chu people killing monkeys to entertain neighbors, but eating monkeys was forbidden at that time, so Chu people lured neighbors to call monkey meat dog soup to avoid neighbors' suspicion, which shows that eating dog meat is a part of people's daily diet.
Dogs also have the function of entertainment palace. "Han Feizi" points out that if an emperor "feels good at playing with his children and dogs and horses to entertain his heart", that is, if an emperor is addicted to the sensation of dogs and horses, it will cause disaster. A large number of historical records show that there were no-dog terraces and Dog terrace palaces in the royal palace at that time, and the name of the dogs is shown in the emperor's importance to dogs.
Double Dog Picture
2. Official dog-raising
At the end of the Qin and Han Dynasties, Liu Bang led the rebel army to attack Xianyang . Historical records record that after he entered Xianyang City, the scene was "the palace curtains, dogs, horses, and women with treasures are thousands of". Here, the dogs, horses and treasures are placed together to describe the prosperity of Xianyang Palace , which shows that dogs did play an important role at that time. At the same time, the records of "rename change" after the unification of Qin Shihuang are recorded in " Liye Qin Bamboo Shop ": "King Dog is Emperor Dog" . This example at least shows that there was a direct property possession relationship between the emperor and the dog at that time. Comprehensively, the records of "reduce all the clothes and dominate dogs and horses" and "hide all the time in Han Wudi "harvest dogs, horses, beasts and beasts in various gardens" , it can even be guessed that at that time, dogs were raising like horses, and there was a complex management system and management group. There are also a large amount of materials in the unearthed bamboo slips. There are also a large number of materials that show that the official dog raising was specific officials during the Qin and Han dynasties, and the division of power within the officials was also very clear
dog picture
Because dogs have hidden dangers of injury, and dogs do not pay attention to hygiene, it is contrary to the neatness and uniformity of the palace, historical records also record the phenomenon of official dog raising. The breeding specifications of those dogs in the palace are also very high. In "Han Shu", Dongfang Shuo criticized Emperor Wu of Han for this: "wooden earth clothes are embroidered, dogs and horses are squinted. " Here, the squint and squint refer to colorful and wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-wool-
3. Official management of dog raising and rat disease
We generally believe that the natural enemy of mice is cats, and even the saying "dogs use rats to meddle in other people's business", but one of the earliest main purpose of raising dogs was to eliminate rat disease.
Before the discovery of the American continent of Columbus , the ancients mainly used grains as the staple food, and the demand for meat mostly came from six animals. However, the growth cycle of cattle, sheep, horses, pigs and dogs was relatively long, and the number was relatively small. In addition, the farming society had a strong awareness of protecting cattle and horses, so the ancients chose chickens or eggs to supplement the protein in their body. The taxes at that time did not include eggs in the scope of collection, so an important way for the government to obtain eggs was to raise chickens and lay eggs by themselves. However, raising chickens caused trouble for the government to control rat diseases, because cats were still very wild at that time and often stole chickens to eat, and the threat of dogs to chickens was relatively small, so they used dogs to kill rats, which not only destroyed rats but also protected chickens. "Records of the Grand Historian" records that when Li Si When he was young, he saw mice stealing food in the warehouse, saying that "no worries about humans and dogs" , which shows that at that time, he mainly relied on dogs and human resources to eliminate the rat disease.
han portrait dog in brick
After the Tang and Song dynasties, the government's demand for chickens could be met through market transactions, so raising chickens is no longer a necessary matter. In addition, since , the writing carrier has changed from silk to paper since the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Although it is convenient to write, it is relatively difficult to preserve text classics, so the solution to the rat disease is more urgent. Since people do not have to take into account the threats of cats to chickens, people value cats’ mouse-catching function more, so cats replace dogs and assume the responsibility of controlling rat diseases.
4. Is loyal or slavery?
During the long-standing domestication process, people devote a lot of time to dogs, which also makes there a special intimate relationship between people and dogs. Since ancient times, dogs have been given the moral character of loyalty, and similar cases have been found in some literary works and oral stories.
In "The Suo Shen Biography", a man named Yang in the Jin Dynasty recorded that he had raised a dog and was inseparable from himself. One day, he went outside and got drunk and fell asleep directly on the grass by the roadside. Just at this time, the fire spread around him. No matter how he called him, he would not wake up. He jumped into the water to soak himself, and then came back and sprinkled the water on the grass around his master. He went back and forth countless times. The master was finally rescued, but the dog was exhausted.
Tang Dynasty also records the story of the loyal dog savior. At that time, a court official named Liu Chao was demoted for violating the king's law, and only two slaves and a dog were accompanied. On the way, the two slaves were malicious and wanted to put Liu Chao to death. After the dog found out, they bit the two slaves to death. In , the Qing Dynasty , the Manchu people did not eat dog meat, which also originated from the legend that Nurhaci was rescued by a loyal dog.
Yang Guifei feeds dogs with fish
There are countless similar stories. People praise this kind of loyalty behavior, but if the object of loyalty to dogs becomes someone else, the loyalty qualities of dogs become ugly slaves, and therefore they are despised by the world. What we often call watchdogs, dog legs, lackeys, etc., have become contempt titles. Even some insults are related to dogs. Dogs cannot spit out ivory and dogs rely on their power. There are many other examples such as this.
However, the people's love for dogs still exists. In the case of low fertility and survival rates, the ancients spread the saying that "it is easy to support people with a low name". Therefore, many people named Goudan, Gousheng, Ergou, etc. At the same time, the ancients humbly called their son "dog son", which all reflects that dogs are closely related to people's lives.
Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace of Law. Concubine Jia raised many dogs
Wenshijun said
Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, dogs have established friendly relations with humans, and the official has also established a strict and complex dog storage system. They play the functions of resisting witchcraft, guarding the house, controlling rat diseases, and eating in people's lives. After the Tang and Song dynasties, with the prosperity of social economy, scholars met with singing, dancing, and poetry. Many of the habits of dogs were unacceptable, and cats with high appearance, good catching mice and mild sex became people's new favorites. The fate of dogs also has two levels of differentiation. Some dogs with small sizes, lustrous fur, or skilled skills continue to be favored by others, while most ordinary dogs are disliked by people. However, among the general public, they can only play the role of doormen and lowly animals in a humbly manner.
References
Sima Qian: "Records of the Grand Historian", Secretary of China, 1982.
Ban Gu: "Han Shu", Zhonghua Book Company, 1962.
Li Chao: "Examination of the Official System of Raising Dogs in Qin and Han Dynasties", "Agricultural Archaeology" No. 1, 2017.
(Author: Haoran Literature and History·Lan Keren)
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