The story of Empress Dowager Bo of the Western Han Dynasty and the panda

It is not the nature of modern people to keep pandas as pets. Looking through historical records, it can be traced back to the Western Han Dynasty. The origin of the story has to start with the discovery of the Hannan Tomb.

In early June 1975, news came from Bailuyuan on the outskirts of Xi'an, Shaanxi Province: when local farmers were building a reservoir on Bailuyuan (locally called Dizhaiyuan), they discovered several small rectangular pits near Hannan Mausoleum. There are pottery figurines and animal bones unearthed in the pit. Among these remains, the most interesting thing is a complete panda skull. Later, after research by the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archeology, the skull came from the "Hannan Tomb" more than 2,100 years ago, which is the tomb of Empress Dowager Bo of the Western Han Dynasty.

"Shanglin Fu", a famous book about royal gardens, also mentions that there are tapirs, or pandas, in the garden. It seems that the people organizing the funeral knew that Queen Mother Bo had feelings for the panda, so they allowed her to be buried with her. So, why did Empress Dowager Bo love pets? There is such a description in the history of Han Dynasty:

Empress Dowager Bo, formerly known as Bo Ji, was a concubine of Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty. She gave birth to a son named Liu Heng for Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty. After the death of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, Empress Lu took over the power. From then on, Bo Ji suffered abuse. Empress Lu asked her to live in the fiefdom of Liu Heng in Shanxi. Once there, she was intoxicated by the beautiful scenery of the mountains and forests, getting close to the cattle and sheep, and living a pastoral life without competing with the world...

After Empress Lu died, all officials unanimously supported Liu Heng as emperor. In this way, Bo Ji became Queen Mother Bo. From this point of view, it is not difficult to understand that there are pandas and other animals among Queen Mother Bo's funerary objects, because she loved animals during her lifetime.

Measurement: The total length of the panda skull included in the funerary objects is 312 mm, the base of the skull is 254 mm long, the height of the skull is 159 mm, the distance between the two orbits is 50 mm, and the width of the skull is 210 mm. This measurement is about 1/8 smaller than the skull of a fossil panda from 200,000 years ago, and is close to that of living pandas. The bone surface of this specimen is white and not fossilized. The skull seams are healed and the teeth are worn. It can be seen that it is an adult panda. In terms of time, it has been more than 2,100 years since the Western Han Dynasty. In such a short period of time, fossils are generally not formed. However, what is interesting is: why is this panda skull preserved in the burial pit of Queen Mother Bo?

There are two questions worthy of discussion: one is whether pandas existed in Xi'an more than 2,100 years ago; the other is whether the pandas recovered from the burial pit by Empress Dowager Bo were the pets of Empress Dowager Bo.

According to data research, my country's climate has fluctuated many times over the past 5,000 years, with periods of supercooling and warm periods. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the climate was warm and rainfall was abundant in Guanzhong. The area near Fanxi (southeast of today's Baoji City) was "deep and dense, with dense trees and beautiful trees". It was a beautiful place with deep bamboos and dense forests. It had long been praised by poets, and "households" "Du Zhulin" is a good name known far and near. At this point, archaeologists believe that the pandas in the burial pit of Empress Dowager Bo were by no means captured from other places before her burial, but were evidence of the existence of such animals in the local area.

The author agrees with this analysis. The climate and natural environment north of the Qinling Mountains at that time were completely suitable for the survival of pandas. At present, there are still pandas living in the Changqing Mountains of the Qinling Mountains! Not to mention the warm climate at that time, the pandas' activity radius was slightly expanded, and they could cross the Qinling Mountains and reach the suburbs of Xi'an or further.

As for whether Queen Mother Bo treats pandas as pets, she cannot visit Queen Mother Bo now. But judging from the fact that during her lifetime, Empress Dowager Bo was intoxicated with the beautiful scenery of mountains and forests, getting close to cattle and sheep, and living a pastoral life without fighting against the world. When she first saw a man with a short head, a wide face, black eye circles and black ears that set off his face. With her white hair and graceful appearance, she looked like a natural animal in a cartoon. Could it be that she treated him coldly? Of course not. In the tomb of Empress Dowager Bo. In addition to pandas, there are also cats, dogs, etc. Ancient and modern people loved these mammals and regarded them as pets.

The author feels that when Queen Mother Bo saw the image of the panda, her emotion was no worse than that of an American explorer, Ms. Ruth, when she saw the panda "Shu Lin" in Xikang, Sichuan.

Ms. Ruth described the scene when she saw the panda "Shu Lin" like this: In 1928, when I was holding a panda cub in Xikang, Sichuan, I was very excited and it felt warm in my arms. It kept rubbing its nose against my clothes and instinctively looking for my breasts. It looked like it was born not long ago and weighed less than 4 pounds. Then he named it "Shu Lin".

Ruth's love for the panda "Shu Lin" expresses the love of all mankind for pandas.

Reading the archaeological fragments of people walking with pandas aroused our thoughts about the future of pandas. The panda is an endangered animal. How long can it be with us? The author has long felt the same about this issue. As mentioned above, from the original panda to the current panda, their reproduction is in the same line, with neither interruption nor abnormality. From a microscopic perspective, bone structure, tooth structure, bone trabeculae, etc. also develop naturally.

Recently, Wei Fuwen and others from the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, extracted DNA from panda feces and confirmed that the genetic diversity of wild pandas is at an upper-middle level among endangered carnivores. Evolutionary potential for survival. This shows that pandas have better survival abilities than people expected.

The author agrees with the research results of Wei Fuwen and other scholars. However, in order for a species to "escape" from the endangered list, the integrity and stability of its population and the inherent genetic diversity of the species must be ensured. All three are indispensable.

In this way, living pandas will still have the energy to continue walking with humans! Unless people deprive them of their habitat.

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