Shaping an Iconic Species from the Giant Panda to the Red Panda and the Tibetan Antelope

Kefan Huang

Shaping an Iconic Species From the giant panda to the red panda and the Tibetan antelope

Master’s thesis in Global Environmental History

Abstract Kefan, H. 2020. Shaping an Iconic Species: From the giant panda to the red panda and the Tibetan antelope. Uppsala, Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala Uni- versity Kefan, H. 2020. Skapandet av en ikonisk art: från jättepandan till den röda panda och den tibetanska antilopen. Uppsala, Institutionen för Arkeologi och antik historia, Uppsala Univer- sitet

This thesis is based and developed on the ambiguous and open conception, iconic species, which reveals the relationship between human society and non-human species that goes beyond its biological status. From the case of the giant panda, I attempt to deconstruct the shaping process of an iconic species from multiple perspectives, which includes how a specific cultural context, or a specific historical period contributes to the shaping process and how the government and the public diverge or even clash around the shaping process. Then, I introduce my fieldwork where I through observing both giant pandas and red pandas in the exhibition centres called panda bases to analyse the encountering an iconic species in reality and their different influences on public awareness of the wildlife conservation. I also attempt to explore the various representative forms of an iconic species such as the Tibetan antelope ranging from the mascot to the film and follow the changes of its symbolic meanings in different forms. In conclusion, the thesis is aimed to reflect the hybrid features of the iconic species and provide in-depth interpretation of the endless interactions between the human beings and other species.

Keywords: Iconic species, Giant panda, Crested ibis, Red panda, Tibetan antelope, Ethogra- phy, Anthropomorphism, Panda base, Mascot

Master’s thesis in Global Environmental History (60 credits), supervisor: Anneli Ekblom, De- fended and approved spring term 2020-06-15 © Kefan Huang Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University, Box 626, 75126 Upp- sala, Sweden

2 Contents

Acknowledgement ...... 5

1. Introduction ...... 6 1.1. Aims and Questions ...... 7 1.2. Layout ...... 7

2. Concepts and Methods ...... 10 2.1. Concepts ...... 10 2.1.1. Iconic Species ...... 10 2.1.2. Ethography ...... 12 2.1.3. Anthropomorphism ...... 13 2.1.4. Wildlife Value Orientations ...... 14 2.2. Methods ...... 15 2.2.1. Comparative Study ...... 15 2.2.2. Field Work ...... 15 2.2.3. Iconography ...... 17 3. Background ...... 19 3.1. Imaginary Species and Their Prototypes ...... 19 3.2. Iconic Species Emerging from Diplomacy ...... 22 3.3. The Negative Side of Being an Iconic Species ...... 23 4. Shaping the Giant Panda as an iconic species ...... 25 4.1. Beginning from Paintings ...... 25 4.2. Becoming a Mascot ...... 28 4.3. Panda Diplomacy ...... 30 4.4. Becoming an Animal Star ...... 33 5. From the Giant Panda to the Red Panda ...... 36 5.1. Distinguishing Giant Panda Base from Nature Reserves ...... 36 5.2. Linking Red Pandas with Giant Pandas ...... 38 5.3. Encountering Giant Pandas and Red Pandas ...... 40 5.3.1. Chengdu Research Base ...... 40 5.3.2. Panda Valley ...... 45 6. The Tibetan Antelope: Iconic Species in Images ...... 49 6.1. Tibetan Antelopes in Reality ...... 49 6.2. Making the Tibetan antelope a mascot ...... 50 6.3. Seeing Tibetan Antelopes in Films ...... 53 7. Discussion ...... 56 7.1. Defining Iconicity ...... 56 7.2. Learning from the Examples ...... 57 7.2.1. The Crested Ibis ...... 57 7.2.2. The Giant Panda ...... 57 7.2.3. The Red Panda ...... 58 7.2.4. The Tibetan Antelope ...... 59 7.3. Displaying Animals ...... 60 7.4. Iconicity and Care for a Species ...... 60 3 7.3. Concluding Remarks ...... 61 References ...... 62

4 Acknowledgement

I am here to express my sincere thanks to everyone who encourages and supports me during my two-year academic life in Uppsala University. Firstly, my thanks need to go to Professor Anneli Ekblom. It is she that leads me to the wonderful world of environmental history study. As my supervisor, she always gives me inspirations and professional guidance during the process of thesis writing. As my program coordinator, she is always kind and patient to help me with my daily problems. Also, I need to thank the researcher Mari Granath Lagercrantz from the Art History Department of Uppsala University. She gives me meaningful suggestions about my interdisciplinary methodology. All my friends in China, in Sweden and in other parts of the world, I am so grateful to you. Some of you have provided your valuable opinions about my thesis; some of you have contributed a lot to my field work and all of you make me feel warm. Last but not least, I want to express my love for my parents in China. Even though we are now far away from each other, I know you are standing by me all the time.

5 1. Introduction

There is no doubt that the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)1, with the lovely appearance and special colours, is one of the most adored and popular species in the world today. You can see it on the logo of WWF (World Wildlife Fund), and it functions like agency symbol for all the wildlife that is confronting threats to its existence or is near extinction to raise environmental consciousness as well as to gain financial support for wildlife conservation. One can see the Panda surrounded by a constant stream of visitors in the exhibition halls of a limited number of zoos which are always large-scale and financially strong, because only such zoos are qualified to keep giant pandas. One can see the Panda in nearly every publicity film of China, because it is widely acknowledged as the national symbol of China, even though it does not have an official certification as a national animal. It is a touristic attraction, a governmental tool for diplomacy and a renowned ‘star’ in the animal kingdom. As such, few would contest that the giant panda is an iconic species and as an iconic species. Its influences stretch across many different fields from politics to individual identity. Even when it does not emerge in the form of an animal in reality but as an image or a topic of the public discussion, it is still influential enough for those who wants to pry into Chinese culture and society through it. On the social media platforms of China, there are frequent and continuous updates and news and discussions about pandas. Every single day, a surprising number of new discussion fo- rums, opinion pieces, artworks that all revolve around the panda emerge in China’s social media. On Chinese social media you are able to encounter comments ranging from pure praise towards the cuteness of giant pandas and derivatives to words of concern about the living condition of a specific giant panda in the zoo. However, as a result of this Panda craze, one can also discern a rising spontaneous enthusiasm from the Chinese public towards other native animals such as red panda (Ailurus styani), snow leopard (Panthera uncia), the Pallas’s cat (Otocolobus manul) and so on2. These animals emerge more and more frequently in online images and discussions and the online enthusiasm can also turn into action offline. As a result, conservation on these iconic species is given more attention and financial support. The popularity of a species exposes the significance of the public’s attention in shaping an iconic species and its possible outcomes. This popularity can also be strengthened and manipulated through various campaigns from interest organisations or conservation authorities. Thus, an animal’s iconicity is related to its capacity to raise support for conservation measures. In turn, the public through its own discourse and engagement in a species can affect wildlife management that has previously been monopolized by the government for a long time. In this thesis I will discuss how the popularity of a species is negotiated between state authorities and campaigns and between the public. What forms of presentations, medias and context shape strong representations of animals - that make them be perceived as iconic? What can

1 Every kind of species in this thesis is annotated with its own formal scientific name in Latin when it is mentioned for the first time, and all the formal scientific names conform with the binominal nomenclature regulated in ICZN (The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature). 2 All of the mentioned species have their own hashtags on Weibo (https://www.weibo.com), which is the biggest domestic social networking platform of China, and all of the hashtags are included in the Weibo’s ranking list of Hashtag Community that can reflect the number of users who are interested in a popular hashtag and the frequency of related online discussions. 6 we learn from the past shaping of the panda as an iconic species and more recent attempts to uplift other animals to a similar status?

1.1. Aims and Questions Iconic species refers to a species which is well-known due to its natural or empowered characteristics, and it is often utilized to represent a specific ideology or as symbol of a nation/organisation. Based on its high reputation, as a symbol it is able to raise awareness for protection and conservation and to generate cultural and social value (Meyer 2015). The historical root of the ‘iconic species’ as a terminology is the ‘flagship species’, which was used by Mitter- meier for the first time in 1986 to describe and analyses biological key species in natural reserves (Mittermeier 1986). Over time the terminology has widened to include research on the standard and effectiveness of it (see discussion in Jepson & Barua 2015). The term ‘Iconic species’ can be regarded as a ‘non-academic’ version of the concept as it breaks the limit of a specific discipline and emerges normally in public discourses. Any iconic species emerges along with regional features which can be reflected culturally or geographically. It is difficult to set up a series of general criteria to judge on whether a specific species can be recognized as an iconic one, not to mention to formulate a standardized and universal process for how an iconic species is shaped. Thus, the starting point of my analysis must be limited by chosen region and time period. However, the outcome of the research, in the sense of the comprehensive understanding of the shaping process in terms of motivations and actual effects, can be transferable to other contexts. More specifically, this thesis focuses on the process of shaping iconic species in China from the macroscopic perspective which includes government actions, public participation and influences of unique cultural context. Within the time period in focus here, from 1949 when People’s Republic of China was established till now, both ‘successful’ and ‘failed’ practices of shaping iconic species are reviewed and analysed. The words ‘successful’ and ‘failed’ are relative concepts, but here I will refer to animals that could potentially have become iconic species and was promoted as such by government or the public, but which never become popular to the extent of the giant panda. Both different species and same species in different temporal situations are analysed compar- atively in order to address several questions. Which factors have contributed the most to the shaping of giant panda into an iconic species nationally and globally? Why are the authorities and the public keen on participating in confirming an iconic species like the giant panda? What are the ultimate effects of such a series of efforts to shape an iconic species in terms of conservation of the species? How can we understand the ‘failures’ in the efforts of shaping an iconic species? Which unexpected social phenomenon will be brought with when the public participation become actively involved in the shaping process or conservation of an iconic species?

1.2. Layout Chapter 2 is a brief conclusion of main theories and methods which are applied to my research. In the concepts part, I introduce the concepts iconic species, ethography, anthropomorphism and wildlife value orientations (WVOs). I attempt to briefly retrospect the development process of these concepts, highlight how they relate to the questions posed in this research. I also lay out my own definitions of an iconic species that will be used for the analyses in this thesis. I briefly describe the methodologies used in this study, which include a comparative study, field work and iconography. I clarify these different methodologies and describe how I adjust them according to the practical problems emerging during my research process. 7 Chapter 3 provides a historical background to this thesis, and it is divided into three subparts. Some of the previous studies of other imaginary or potential iconic species in China are discussed as a comparison between the animals discussed here and other species in Chinese history. The first part discusses the significance of imaginary species for Chinese indigenous culture from the historical perspective. The prototype of such imaginary species belongs to the scope of my analysis. The second part is about the existing iconic species in the field of diplomacy, which can be counted as supportive materials for my subsequent analysis on ‘Panda Diplomacy’. I also here want to acknowledge the possible negative results for a species being seen as iconic. I therefore introduce the background study on related animal products and illegal animal trades to the last part. The fate of elephants which is closely bound up with the cultural preference for ivory in China is the focus in this part of the background chapter. Because the giant panda functions as a strong case of an iconic species as well as a reference frame, the history of its representation and symbolism will be analysed in detail and the ‘added values’ of the species after becoming iconic will be discussed thoroughly in Chapter 4. This chapter offers a panorama of the giant panda’s iconicity through a review of different phases of Panda iconicity, including what has been called the ‘Panda Diplomacy’ phase. The discussion shows how the charisma of the giant panda cut across multicultural contexts and was used as a diplomatic strategy, which provides a module for those who want to gain benefits from an iconic species, especially the Chinese government, to potentially apply the same shaping process other species. The image of the giant pandas is another focus in this chapter for instance through Cartoon images and films. With the coming of mass media era, ‘being a star’ implies that the public begins to actively reshape or transform the perception of the giant panda. Even though the Chinese government undoubtedly led the process of shaping iconic species for a long time，the new open arena for public engagement that social media offers relink the government and public through iconic species. In Chapter 5, the case of red panda is discussed. I explain the conditions of polyculture of giant pandas and red pandas in two different panda bases in Sichuan province of China, both of which have double functions, not only as breeding centres and research bases for giant pandas but also attractive sightseeing spots. The elevation of the popularity of red panda is examined through the governmental strategy of expanding the boundaries of giant pandas’ popularity to include also other relevant species in this case the red panda. The strategy taken is emphasizing the harmony between giant pandas and other co-existing species in the same ecological ‘space-time’. My own field work and observations will provide the major source of analyses for this chapter. The analysis will be carried out as a phenomenological landscape study of the artificial environment which is constructed and controlled by human beings and where in this case the red panda is represented to the visitor through forms of landscaping and presentation. In the next chapter, I turn to Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii). The special status of Tibetan antelope in cultural context of ethnic minorities makes the Tibetan antelope an interesting example as a contrast to the ‘giant panda model’. The governmental strategy of shaping this species as an iconic species is exactly an imitation of the success of the giant panda. Therefore, both static and dynamic antelope-themed artworks which are supported by governmental capital input account for the majority of representations of the Tibetan antelope when compared with spontaneous public art practices. By comparison, the charisma of the giant panda derives from both its natural characteristics and empowered symbolic meanings. How- ever, the Tibetan antelope lacks all-round charisma like the giant panda and the authorities have therefore emphasized an empowered political symbolism. The methodology used in this chapter is based on visual analysis and iconography methodology drawing on art history based on the use of the Beijing 2008 Olympic mascot Yingying, the source of whose inspiration was Tibetan antelope. I also analyse the film Kekexili: Mountain Patrol, a famous art movie which won major film awards in China and was widely discussed by the public after its premiere in 2004 and contrast this with a state sponsored documentary series about the migration of Ti- betan antelopes shown on China Central Television in 2015. 8 The last chapter is for my discussion and conclusion. More specifically, it is a personal review of what I have learned from the research on the process of shaping an iconic species. I explain and develop on the core concept ‘iconic species’ once again in this part, because its openness provides me with the possibility of contextualising my study and to even further widen the understanding and conceptualisation of iconicity. In addition, I compare the empirical cases I have presented here in order to discuss comprehensively the various conditions of iconic species in different contexts and their political and social contexts, including a discussion on the display and showcasing of animals. I point out that the research itself is to depict the conflicts between the government and the public as well as the mutual influences between the human beings and these species. People keep utilizing values of these species and these species keep changing the ambiguous boundary between the human community and the non-human nature.

9 2. Concepts and Methods

In this chapter, I will introduce concepts from which I build my analysis in the thesis and methods which I use during my research process. Rather than limiting myself for existing discussions or a single field, I have let myself be inspired by plenty of potential bridges between fields that are seldom discussed jointly. Thereby I present a new and enriched definition of iconic species to help me in my analysis of empirical cases. For the part of methods, I integrate the methodology with my practices to come up with new interpretations and appropriate adjustments based on practical problems emerging in my research. In addition, it should be underlined that methods mentioned in this chapter are main methods instead of all the methods, because the complexity of research subject determines that research methods should be use in a comprehensive way.

2.1. Concepts

2.1.1. Iconic Species ‘Iconic species’ does not emerge as a single academic terminology but is a complex one. The concept is used in multiple areas, which includes but is not limited to environmental policy, environmental campaigns and wildlife management. Here I will first review the discussion on iconic species in academic literature and then propose my own definition. An iconic species is a hybrid product of both natural features and anthropogenic interpretation of a specific species. It is located at the overlap of economy, culture and ecology. According to Miller et al (2014), the ‘iconicity’ e.g. the degree to which a species is regarded as an icon has two compatible forms, scientific and touristic. Through emphasizing the correlations between animals and human being at the cultural layer, I would like to suggest an addition compatible form of iconicity which I name as ‘Cultural Iconicity’. Thus, iconicity of species can intersect several forms and here I will explain how I see these intersecting forms. A species with high scientific iconicity is judged by most of the researchers as an animal with great potential to maintain or even change the ecosystem at a high level (similar to the expression of keystone or flagship species that will be discussed below). Frequently, a species associated with high scientific iconicity is also often threatened or vulnerable (Using the IUCN definition) that it is being at ‘risk’ of becoming extinct. ‘Risk’ here refers to risks towards specious quantity and/or the ecosystems where the species exists or where the species is biologically important to uphold the ecosystem (idem.). Touristic iconicity emphasizes the attractiveness of the species which amongst tourists often derives from its own ornamental values such as unique animal shape. Additionally, touristic iconicity is often connected with that people are able to enjoy the species through direct contact. As I will be discussed in Chapter 5, enhancement of touristic iconicity was one of the main reasons for the establishment of the Panda bases. Some species with scientific iconicity is also thus quite attractive for tourists and there may be a mutual effect here. A species with cultural iconicity must be empowered as an

Forms of Iconicity Sources of Iconicity Explanations The shape of the animal should be attractive, Animal shape which means that it is cute or magnificent vis- ually for a general audience. Touristic Iconicity The animal has human-like behaviours or has Animal behaviour a socialized structure in its group. The animal can be seen or even touched by a Accessibility general audience. The animal is crucial for a specific ecosystem Research value or the related research on it is widely concerned. (e.g. Flagship species or threatened) Scientific Iconicity The animal is known little by people so that Mysteriousness people show curiosity about it eager to know more. The animal functions as cultural symbolism Symbolic meaning which is always related to a specific nation or ethnicity. Cultural Iconicity The animal used to have symbolic meanings Historical status or close connection with human communities in history. Table 1, Some definitions of iconicity influential ideological or historical representation (which often is the ground for its touristic iconicity). The representation includes symbolic meanings or associations with a certain nation or ethnicity (idem.; Raadik & Cottrell 2007, see Table 1). Furthermore, based on my interdisciplinary research to this subject, the two terminologies ‘flagship species’ and ‘charismatic species’ which are often used in the study of conservation biology have migrated into my conceptual thinking around iconic species. Instead of being treated here as a secondary concept or parallel concepts of ‘iconic species’, I see the two terminologies as independent but reinforcing each other. The term ‘flagship species’ actually emerged much earlier than ‘iconic species’ and to me the term has intrinsic similarities with scientific iconicity. However, I prefer to treat the term ‘flagship species’ as an intermediate form to combine scientific iconicity with touristic iconicity. The flagship species is defined both as a biologically important species and as a species that can rely on its own charisma and attractiveness to gain public attention, stimulate public’s desire of deep understanding of it and promote protection measures towards it (idem.; Heywood & Watson 1995). The African elephant (Loxodonta Africana), the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) and other large African wildlife are typical flagship species. They attract the attention of the world with their touristic iconicity and have contributed to the establishment and touristic attraction of a series of national parks in Africa. Such national parks provide protected habitats for other symbiotic species and benefit not only the tourism economy but also ecological conservation in Africa (Meyer 2015). Thus, the effectiveness of a flagship species can be widespread (in terms of mobilising support for conservation value) and go far beyond the regional restrictions of a specific natural reserve and the original habitat (Walpole & Leader-Williams 2002). Another term which is usually discussed in separation from iconic species is the term ‘charismatic species’, which is an ambiguous terminology, building on ‘charisma’ as an essential feature of a popular species. For people who have few experiences of being in nature or have 11 no educational background from natural science, the charisma of an unfamiliar species may be the only bridge to bring them into contact, or to create a relationship with the species. Charisma is a typically subjective judgement based on preference, depending also on specific cultural background and individuality, e.g. preference on charismatic characteristics lacks cross-cultural universality (see discussion in Home et al 2009). According to Lorimer (2006) all forms of animal charisma should be collectively referred to as ‘non-human charisma’. However, it should be noticed here that the definition of non-human charisma in Lorimers academic framework does not deny that the experience of charisma in an animal can be based on anthropomorphic characteristics (see further discussion in Chapter 2.1.3. below). However, people’s attitudes and judgements on animal charisma tend differ from how they approach human charisma. The non-human charisma is ordinarily reflected in the social reputation of the species, the responses of the general public and discussions of the species as well as interest or even curiosity about the species in academic area. I will discuss this more and exemplify this in the context e.g. the giant and red panda in Chapter 5. This kind of charisma can be easily manipulated. Marketing, especially promotion on social media is one of the most common approaches to enhance the charisma of a species or to construct charisma in a species that has not before been popular or noticed (Ducarme et al 2013).

2.1.2. Ethography Ethography as an academic concept can be briefly interpreted as gaining recognitions of the meaning of others’ lives through comprehension, engagement and storytelling (Van Dooren and Rose 2016). Other than a pure elucidatory terminology, ethography is more likely to provide an approach of thinking or writing which allows you to concentrate on the dynamic ways of others’ lives and various relationships around them. The ultimate aim of ethography is to seek for a better response to others’ lives. It is supposed to highlight that ‘others’ can push the limit of human beings. Apart from human beings, any other species can also be observed and responded to by a storyteller (idem.). Based on this thinking, the storytelling and comprehension of others can start from the perspective of a non-human animal. Exactly, the way of life of a non-human animal is open for human beings and to accept them into the storytelling process. Meanwhile, the human being can also gain initiatives and ambitions to know more about other forms of lives due to human’s common emotions and cognitions shared with other species (idem.). Two ways of living, both the human and non-human species, entangle with each other to present a panorama of the ‘biocultural complexity’ in the real world. Animal displays as those that will be analysed here, or the shaping of an iconic species can be seen as forms or storytelling of the species using van Doorens words. Such layers of storytelling can also enhance the degree of iconicity of a species (idem.). The intertwining between humans and non-human species actually implies the coevolution of their material histories. Attentions that has been turned to non-human agencies reveal not only the huge chasm between human and non-human species but also the organic and changeable interrelations which are carried by materials or behaviours (Lorimer and Whatmore 2009). Moreover, such relations can be translated as mutual influences. When I tell the story of the human’s utilization of animals or the encounters of other non-human species, I also present a bidirectional analysis which emphasize the human practices as well as responses of non-human species equally. When I read the historical examples and records about the animal symbolism, I can feel the historical symbolic relations between humans and other species can still exist after long history and the mutual influences keep their effectiveness in the modern society (inspired also by idem.). As a broader philosophical perspective, ethography opens up for an effort of ‘multispecies studies’ and for different approaches to interpret the interrelations through integrating interdisciplinary knowledges and methods (Van Dooren et al 2016). Hence, all of my descriptions about the human activities and the mechanism of human community in terms of displaying

12 and representing an animal are based on descriptions on non-human species without the strict limitation of human community. This kind of critical attentions to both human lives and non- human lives leads away from dualisms (about nature and culture) and allows us to see hybrid relations (idem.). Diverse research objects with their own characteristics do not imply the simple superposition of the diversity of multispecies in my analysis but remind me to witness and speak out real multispecies stories.

2.1.3. Anthropomorphism Both Iconic species and charismatic species (see Chapter 2.1.1.) tend to gain their popularity through various anthropomorphic associations. Anthropomorphism can be briefly defined as the undivided or partial transfer of the human characteristics from human beings to a chosen species (Root-Bernstein et al 2013). Anthropomorphism is always be intensely criticized in the broadest field of natural science, especially from researchers on animal behaviours and animal ethics. To assume that animals and human beings share the common emotional sentiments and external behaviours, according to those researchers, hampers the accuracy and ob- jectivity of animal study, even though it should be recognized that there exist some species which is close to human beings in terms of learning ability and perceptive ability (Chan 2012). However, when the terminology is introduced into other fields like studies about hum-animal relations, it can well interpret as a source of peoples’ specific attitudes towards animals. Anthropomorphism in conservation biology is more closely based on the emphasis on similarities between nature and human to build intimate (ecological) relations between them. How- ever, the subject feelings of human beings cannot be imposed on non-human animals as they don’t display emotions in the same way. Anthropomorphism is a way to create a sense of recognisable emotions, and the ultimate orientation of the emotions is sympathy and empathy. In other words, the emotional linking between human beings and non-human animals partially derive from anthropomorphism. Thus, when an endangered species lacks the links or contact with human beings, it usually results in the lack of concern or ignorance from the public on its protection. Anthropomorphism here can emerge as some kind of remedy. For instance, the anthropomorphizing animals in the field of wildlife conservation has advantages which out- weigh the disadvantages (see discussion in Tam et al 2013). This is especially the case for the species that lacks strong iconicity or balance between its own scientific and touristic iconicity, where anthropomorphism can rebuild the public image of the species to change the ignorance on the species (Chan 2012). The relatively rational and acceptable anthropomorphism attempts to avoid creating an absolute factitious object of the species of concern. For instance, an anthropomorphized species usually has the ‘human-like’ social connections to gain public empathy, so a species which has a socialized structure within its group is easier to anthropomorphize (Chan 2012). The existence of an anthropomorphic animal can break the confine of animal entity to be reflected on literary or artic images as well as relevant products controlled by marketing. This kind of commercial derivative represents an audience-directing pattern of anthropomorphism (Root- Bernstein et al 2013), and I will discuss this further here in the coming chapters. However, the double effects of the anthropomorphism as a tool also needs to be paid attention to. The endangered animals which can hardly be anthropomorphized may be redefined as valueless one due to the lack of public preference. More seriously, when the actual characteristics of the animal cannot match the expected anthropomorphic image or even present the exact opposite against the anthropomorphic image, the relevant functions and status of the animal will be challenged (idem.). In this study, I will explore what I see as a double effect of the anthropomorphism in China’s society, especially though the online community, because the present descriptions of animals on Chinese mass media commonly takes place within a framework of anthropomorphism. For general audiences, it’s easier to gain access to an unkown animal through the anthropomorphism, because the scientific and systematic knowledge about the animal cannot actually gain 13 their attentions. However, in this framework, the information derived from anthropomorphism cannot avoid being exaggerated, and the exaggeration will risk being convert into the stereotype of the animal (Woods 2000), which may in the long run complicate our understanding of it. In addition, I integrate the concept ‘cute response’, as referred to originally by Konrad Lorenz into the definition and understanding of anthropomorphism. Based on that, the juvenile animals or animals with juvenile look features have natural advantages over adult animals or animals with less juvenile features to be regarded as ‘cute’ (Marx 2019). Humans’ cute response to specific animals is an anthropomorphizing link between the cuteness of humans and animals. Furthermore, the cute response and anthropomorphism provide the same mechanism to shape an iconic species. For the resource of the human cuteness, there exist various interpretations. I am more inclined to that the ‘cute response’ takes root in our love for human infants (see discussion in Marx 2019). The similarities between animals and human infants, in terms of appearance or behaviour, contribute to the humans’ cute response towards animals. When it comes to the emotional links between human being and animals, the cuteness response functions as a motivation where anthropomorphism is a part (idem.). The cute response can exist as a direct reaction towards an unfamiliar animal, because whether the animal is cute or endearing is one of the most significant judgements to construct people’s first impression of the animal (Milton 2016). Also, it cannot assert that all the public recognitions of the cuteness of a specific animal are purely based on the strategy of anthropomorphism but neglect the natural charisma of the animal.

2.1.4. Wildlife Value Orientations WVOs has been defined to have two main branches since the early stages: domination and mutualism. Domination implies that hunting and utilization of wildlife resources dominate people’s attitudes towards wildlife (Miller 2018; Teel & Manfredo 2010). Following the rising degree of acceptance of domination, the person will be more willing to rank humans’ rights over wildlife’s. Besides, domination results in peoples’ preferences of explaining their own attitudes towards wildlife from the perspective of utilitarianism (Manfredo et al 2009). On the other hand, mutualism means that people’s attitudes towards wildlife are supported by social relations and caring. Mutualism proposes a sustainable balance between human beings and wildlife and introduces equality as key concept into the interrelation. All kinds of wildlife should be endowed with sympathy and concern (Raadik & Cottrell 2007). Deep analysis shows that anthropomorphism functions as driving force to strengthen the feeling of mutualism and the tendency to love according to those feelings. Anthropomorphism thus is seen by some as rooted in people’s general mental demands for development of human-animal relations (Teel et al 2007). On the practical level, the inherent contradiction located in the middle between domination and mutualism as two pans of the balance results in treating wildlife as a resource. Almost all of the measures and publicities for natural conservation, especially species conservation, are based on the motivation of protecting natural resources that can be used by human beings (Gamborg & Jensen 2016). However, it’s hard to find an individual who possesses a pure single orientation in terms of domination and mutualism, rather they always coexist. Even people having different value orientations may still share some common values just like being humane, which means that most of those who emphasize domination in their own WVOs can also resist abuse and brutal killing towards wildlife even they utilize wildlife as natural resources. (Manfredo et al 2009) More visibly, urbanization greatly reduces the frequency for people to contact with wildlife directly, which transfers the motivations and types of connections between people and wildlife (Manfredo et al 2009). Based on that, the information on social media contributes more and 14 more to the changes of WVOs. Most of the information converges under two categories which are newsworthy emergences such as conflicts between people and wildlife as well as anthropomorphic productions that can bring with cultural or economic benefits. Apart from the classic interpretation, ‘wildlife appreciation’ is also a feasible and referencea- ble criterion in terms of WVOs. It concentrates on people’s acceptance of wildlife benefits in four fields which include: recreation, residential settings, interest in wildlife learning and wildlife existence (Fulton et al 1996). This kind of classification is aimed more at researches on the formation of WVOs-based wildlife education or wildlife tourism (Whittaker et al 2006).

2.2. Methods

2.2.1. Comparative Study Methodologically this study can in some sense be classified as a ‘comparative study’. It is a common and versatile research method which is used in multiple study fields including interdisciplinary studies. The broad utilization of the comparative method results in a diversity of criteria and perspectives, which provides researchers with flexibility to adjust and modify existing approaches personalized research designs that are appropriate to the subject and the research aims. As a methodology, a comparative study enfolds through the research process (Green 1994). Thus, the main significance of a comparative study lies in strengthening the researcher’s ca- pability of description to a great extent (Collier 1991). This approach perfectly matches my definition of this research in terms of an interpretative paradigm. More specifically, based on the comparison, I gain multiple angles to assess both the similarities and differences of different species under the same circumstance, which can be in the same living environment or in the same form of artistic representation. In Chapter 5, the comparison is carried out in parallel between two species, but since the red panda and the giant panda coexist in the same artificial environment so that the different situations of encountering them can be directly presented through the detailed descriptions of observations. Any individual species even a specific individual panda is not merely defined as isolated and non-comparable but all present common points within the theoretical framework of iconic species. For instance, in Chapter 4 I look at several ways of representing the Panda and also the most recent form of ‘shaping process’ with the rise of the internet. Chapter 4 is then a recessive comparison of giant pandas, the same species, in different periods. The chapter differs from the other comparisons in my thesis, in order to present integrated perspective of both horizontal and longitudinal comparisons. In addition, a comparative study contributes remarkably to the formation of conception or theory (idem.). In my research, the new definition of iconic species and new subdivisions of the sources of iconicity that I come up here have been examined through my in-depth comparisons of the researched species. The comparative study then functions predominantly as skeleton of the research instead of detail-oriented and concrete method. Other qualitative analysis must be applied jointly to research on concrete objects and materials.

2.2.2. Field Work I conducted the field work in two giant panda bases in China and when designing my study, I was here inspired by Tucker’s study of museums (2014). Tucker advocated participant observation during the field work of museum as a whole. Sharing the same pace and perspective as the average visitors makes sense when seeking for a deep understanding of the production and 15 communication of knowledge in exhibits, or environmental display areas like the giant panda base. Compared with official representations of the panda base itself which partly embellish or conceal the real subjective purposes, the experience of a general visitor is more relevant for me as it helps me to examine the actual influences of encountering an iconic species in reality. I here choose the strategy of combining ways of observation and perspectives of observation to alternate situations between observation ‘from the outside’ and ‘observation from the inside’ (Iacono et al 2009; Evered & Louis 1981). I took the same tour routes as average visitors to immerse myself in the atmosphere of visiting and share the same feeling with general visitors, since they were exactly the target audiences for iconic species in the panda base. At the same time, I needed to dissociate myself from an average visitor to observe details about landscape settings and animal conditions which are often neglected by general visitors but are crucial for my analysis here. Of relevance to the field study is also the understanding of staging of landscapes and creation of space and heritage. Due to the high similarity between panda base and zoo, my field work in the panda base can also be classified as an exploration of zoo heritage (Holtorf 2008). After the colonial times, the zoo hasn’t represented people’s dominating desires on animals or the nature any longer but has mainly served for animal conservation and animal welfares. Re- garded as heritage, the changes of the zoo’s forms and landscapes can well reflect the changing social values (idem., Mary et al 2008). Studies of landscaping and presentation of zoos will thus be drawn upon in Chapter 5. The use of the word fieldwork can be somewhat misinterpreted, and I feel I therefore need to better explain my use of this term. The traditional understandings of space in field work, which was theoretically established upon colonial worldview where the ‘field’ must be separated strictly away from modern society, which has been noticed to become barrier and limitation for contemporary field work (Harrison 2014; Caputo 2003). Time and space have been com- pressed through telephone communication and internet connection, which causes the difficulty in separating ‘field’ utterly from academic and daily life (Harrison 2014; Harvey 1991; Wilk 2001). The Chapter 5, analyses of the panda base where I did field work, is thus very different from a traditional ‘field’ work. In addition, my ‘field’ study also focuses equally on internet. The social networking platforms are thus a modern example of a ‘field study’ as I show in the last part of chapter 4. There still exist systematic and complete ‘terrain’ and ‘landforms’, same as the real environment, in a virtual field. Different online communities are typical virtual fields. Through the interactions between a large number of users, virtual fields keep changing and covering each other every moment, which are in contrast with real fields that stay relatively stable once formed (Sade- beck 2004; Nunes 1997). Virtualization in a general sense is exactly a kind of equivalent translation for objects from a physical environment to a virtual one, and it should be treated as the integration of both virtual fields and fields in reality. As a result, the definition of field work is redefined and field work in virtual fields is recognized as practicable. (Sade-beck 2004; Ågren 1997) In the last section of Chapter 4, I have taken inspiration from virtual ethnography, which is a popular ethnographic methodology in various internet studies nowadays. It is supposed to be underlined that the observation still exists and play an important role in the virtual field. Vir- tual ethnography is not a radical innovation but an expansion of the research field of traditional ethnography. As a result, the typical ways of observations, such as the participant observation and the non-participant observation, were introduced in the virtual field as online observations. I here chose Weibo and iPanda TV as two virtual fields to carry out my observations. The discourses and behaviours of the observed in the virtual fields are prominent in the online

16 discussions about the iconic species. However, due to the complicated compositions of internet users and opacity derived from avatar network identities which is represented as changeable user ID in my case, it is not possible to go further into linking statements with identities and or social groups (Sade-beck 2004; Jones 1998) In response to this, I took the macroscopic strategy to regard the whole user groups of a specific social platforms as collective actors under online observations.

2.2.3. Iconography In Chapter 5, the introduction of new studied species Tibetan antelope requires another set of methodologies of research. Because of the scarcity of population quantity and limited habitats, it is hard to conduct field work based on site observation. All the representations of Tibetan antelope in this chapter will therefore be based on visual materials like images and films which are themed on or inspired by Tibetan antelope. In order to build a comparison, I have also included the same methodology in the representations of the giant panda in relevant visual materials. These visual materials contribute to a deeper understanding of the shaping of the iconic species, because the connected cultural derivatives are integral for iconic species as a phenomenon. Regular research methods aimed at textual materials become inapplicable and a sufficient method of visual analysis should be involved as a supplement. Though iconography is one of the mainstream and traditional research methodologies in art history, its value in contemporary visual analysis has only recently been noticed by researchers outside the field of Art History. According to Van Leeuwen (2001), there are two fundamental questions for iconographers: the representation of images and the ‘hidden meanings’ of images. In addition, iconography should take production, circulation, cultural context and historical background as crucial elements into analysis. According to Rose (2016: 50), iconography is located at the intersection of social perspective and image production, which also points out ichnography’s emphasis on circumstances in corresponding societies. More specifically, iconography allows for analyses of all visual materials in triplicate layers, and this method will be used here. The first layer is representational meaning that refers to the natural and original subject matters in images. All of the subject matters can here be recognized, described and clarified distinctly by audiences based on their daily experiences. The second layer is based on iconographical symbolism which can be explained as awareness and conceptions which are linked closely to the concrete objects in images. The difficult part for an iconographer when dealing with this layer is the separation between abstract symbols and figurative symbols. The third layer is iconological symbolism which is the deep exploration of ideological meanings (Van Leeuwen 2001; Panovsky & Drechsel 1955). Crossing from the second layer to the third layer is exactly a transformation from conventional symbols to specific interpretations. The ultimate aim is to integrate iconographical symbols and ideological features to reveal the ‘hidden meaning’ behind the image (Van Leeuwen 2001). Full familiar- ity with image and common sense are necessary prerequisites to begin the process of analysis. Intertextual comparisons and textual research are vital tools to support the interpretation. In particular, researchers should attempt to excavate the creation background and collect facts around the image as much as possible (Rose 2016: 223; Van Leeuwen 2001; Panovsky & Drechsel 1955). It should be admitted that some explanations on social context are rooted in assumed audience groups of the image. The discrepancy between assumed and real audience groups will certainly bring with the discrepancy of explanations (Rose 2016: 237). Furthermore, the studies of Rose (2016: 209) provides me with an inspiring angle to understand iconography when applying it to my own study. She classifies iconography as a branch of discourse analysis what 17 she calls ‘discourse analysis I’. Discourse designates the understanding which guide people’s experience about the world while people also attempt to shape their own discourses at the same time. Art, breaks the limitation of the single form of images, as specific knowledge should also be regarded as discourse (idem.; Nead 1988). In terms of the utilization of inter- textuality, discourse analysis and iconography are thus consistent with each other and adds to a deeper understanding of an image. When I here, recognize the visual materials’ function as discourse, I acknowledge that certain visuality of the image is invisible from other perspectives. The advantages of discourse analysis are showed when it comes to invisibility and un- spoken expressions (Rose 2016: 235; Jones 1989). In addition, discourse analysis concentrates on details and careful readings and interpretations of text, as well as visual materials. It does not need to follow a formal and standardized procedures (Rose 2016: 236; Gill 1996). As I regard iconography as a special form of discourse analysis, the analysis of visual materials to me is compatible with the analysis of other types of materials in my research and allows for a more coherent understanding.

18 3. Background

Public interest in iconic species rarely derives from citizens’ inner interest for conceptions like biodiversity, a very abstract concept, or ecological balance and citizens’ serious concern about environmental destruction. Rather, the sequence of increasing popularity in a species and appreciation of its ecological role is usually the opposite. It is often the curiosity and fondness for iconic species that push people to comprehend such abstract conceptions as biodiversity and conservation and conservation projects and linked practices often find its support through caring about iconic species (Kontoleon & Swanson 2003). Accordingly, being a charismatic species is an essential perquisite for being an iconic species in most cases, but the dynamics through which an iconic species is shaped has differed in history. For instance, in the ancient monarchy China, the dominance of the ruling class which consisted of emperor, royalty and senior bureaucrats penetrated to every aspect of the social life so that which species could be defined as charismatic must be determined by them. Nowadays the shaping of an iconic species is more complex and driven to a much larger extent on public participation, mainly through social media. In this chapter I will discuss some historical aspects of interest in animals’ whether mythical and real that could potentially be regarded as iconic. The chapter also provide a background to the detailed more detailed studies presented in the coming chapters.

3.1. Imaginary Species and Their Prototypes In dynastic China, being charismatic was roughly equivalent to being powerful and strong and all species with these characteristics should function ultimately as the symbolism of emperor’s authority as well as national strength. This could be regarded as the historical embryonic form of iconic species in China (see discussion in Sterckx 2002: 4). Domestic animals were completely excluded from the range of animals given iconic status, even though ancient China was a typical traditional agricultural country where farmers were in the majority and the social status of farmers was relatively high. The rulers insisted on a strict boundary between sym- bolically loaded animals and civilian life. However, not all wild animals could satisfy their stringent requirements of power and strength. Imaginary animals like for instance the Chinese dragon which is the status symbol of emperors of Ancient China, were associated with the sense of elegance as well as mystique (see Fig. 1). Its status was elevated by the fact that they couldn’t be seen and known by the common people. The way these imaginary animals were given their iconic status were very different from how iconicity is constructed today. Today these imaginary species have lost almost all values it had in the past. However, it should be noticed that the imaginary animals were created with nature as inspiration. The Chinese dragon, which has been treated as the national totem of China for thousands of years, is pieced together by body parts of nine different kinds of real animals. Although the species determination of the nine animals still remains controversial, every part of the appearance of this imaginary animal definitely finds its inspiration in the nature. The habitat, movement and size of Chinese dragon are described to be protean, combining all the living features of non-human animals. This representation implied the inclusiveness of the ruling class, especially the emperor. Just like the dragon, the emperor is described to take complete control over every inch of his territory, and he possess all the wisdom and virtues his subjects have (Sterckx 2002: 180). The Chinese phoenix represents another category of imaginary animals in China but differs from the Chinese dragon in many ways. The Chinese phoenix cannot be simply interpreted as phoenix under the western cultural context. The phoenix in western tradition is 19 the symbol of eternity: an undying bird that can be reborn from the ashes of the flame (Zong & Wang 1996). However, the Chinese phoenix is depicted in Chinese sources similar to birds found in nature, for instance when it comes to its sexual reproduction. Both male and female phoenix are distinguished by their names respectively: ‘Feng’ for the male and ‘Huang’ for the female. The combination of the two names into ‘Fenghuang’ refer to the imaginary species as a whole.3 There exist two branches of the symbolisms of Chinese phoenix. It is the manager of all the other birds, and it is the messenger of auspiciousness (idem.). Meanwhile, it is also the symbol of the authority and dignity of the queen. Instead of being a patchwork of the natural and social world like the Chinese dragon, the Chinese phoenix have its own single prototype in existing bird species. Even though the academic debates rumble on which species, the dominant and most accepted view is that ancient Chinese got the inspiration for the phoenix from the golden pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus) (Chen et al 2012). The golden pheasant is an endemic species of China which belongs to the family Phasianidae and its core habitat is the Qingling region located in Gansu province and the Southern Shaanxi province (idem.) (Fig. 2). The male bird with colourful and bright plumage is significantly different from the female bird in display. Analyses of the historical images of Chinese phoenix have proven the high similarity between the Chinese phoenix and the male pheasant. The Chi- nese phoenix, contrary to the dragon is still regarded as a strong symbol in modern day China. However, this symbolism does not mean that the public in present day China will treat the golden pheasant as an iconic species. As a matter of fact, the golden pheasant still remains anonymous for the public. According to the red list of IUCN (International Union for Conser- vation of Nature), the golden pheasant belongs to the Least Concern category.4 Unlike the rare species, a Least Concern species is not protected with extra measures so that the public seldom pays much attention on it. Besides, golden pheasants are raised for commercial purposes in China, which undoubtedly increases the population of the species to some extent, which also transforms its status from wild to semi-domestic.5 Another reason why the golden pheasant is not surrounded by the status as its imaginary equivalent is a more essential one. The golden pheasant had its own symbolic meaning which were totally independent from the symbolism of the Chinese phoenix in the cultural context of the ancient China. Thus, it couldn’t be interpreted in the same way as Chinese phoenix even though it is the prototype. Since the mid 17th century, with the beginning of Qing dynasty, the golden pheasant was officially empowered by symbolic meaning. The pluming pattern of the golden pheasant emerged as the exclusive decoration on the official uniforms of second-class civil officers, which was a relatively high political status (Chen et al 2012). However, compared with the symbolic status of the imaginary phoenix, there was still a large gap of the status between the phoenix and the golden pheasant. The golden pheasant lacks the abstract and universal symbolic meaning of its mythological cousin. The pheasant is the exclusive symbol only for feudal officials but lacks other symbolic meanings which can be recognized by general public: this meant that its symbolism completely disappeared in public culture with the destruction of the feudal monarchy. Interestingly, the golden pheasant has been associated with a new symbolism in present China, because it is now on the logo of China Ornithological Society. The backstory for choosing the golden pheasant as a logo is because Zheng Zuoxin, the pioneer of China’s modern ornithological study, determined to start his academic career after he saw and became obsessed with a specimen of a male golden pheasant for the first time (idem.).

3 In Chinese, ‘Feng’ is 凤; ‘Huang’ is 凰; ‘Fenghuang’ is 凤凰. 4 The data comes from the official website of the Red List of IUCN (https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22679355/1318742 82), and the latest assessment of the species was on August 7th, 2018. 5 The golden pheasant was firstly listed as one of the wildlife which can be raised for commercial purposes by China’s State Forestry Administration in 2003 (http://www.forestry.gov.cn/main/4818/20030805/796749.html). 20

Figure 1 An imperial robe in the Qianlong period of Qing dynasty (the late 18th century) which is decorated with dragon pattern on the front and back Photo from the official website of Baike (https://www.baike.com/wiki/龙袍 /1091463?prd=header_search&search_id=1uir4vxf57mrk0&view_id=uli- wqjncst62o#catalog_4_4)

Figure 2 A male golden pheasant Photo from the official website of Baidu Baike (https://baike.baidu.com/item/ 红腹锦鸡)

21 3.2. Iconic Species Emerging from Diplomacy It must be noticed there is a special case of iconic species in China that should be classified separately. It is the crested ibis (Nipponia nippon). It perfectly matches the characteristics of an iconic species, but the scope of its influences is limited, and the audience of its iconicity are targeted purposely. Its added values are maximised through the international relationships between China and Japan. The crested ibis used to be a common bird in the Northeast Asian region. In ancient China’s cultural context, it was totally ignored and played no role. By contrast, the crested ibis has a strong symbolism in ancient Japan both historically and today. Its feathers could be seen in royal ceremonies and on the daily clothes of the royal family as decorations specifically associated with them. In Japan’s worldly life, the crested ibis was also the symbol of good luck (Yan 1999). In the 20th century, the population of the crested ibis declined sharply, the main reason of which was habitat degradation. Apart from habitat loss, hunting also accelerated the extinction (Li et al 2009). As a result, the wild population of the crested ibis was announced to be extinct in Japan in 1981. Before that, the crested ibis had been regarded as functionally extinct in China for decades. The same year as it was declared extinct in wild, a small group of crested ibises was rediscovered in Yang county of Shaanxi province in Northern China (Mochizuki et al 2015). Based on the rediscovered population, and intervention with protective measures and reproduction, the repopulation of the species in China was successful. After the rediscovery of wild crested ibises in China, Japan asked for introduction of several individual ibises from China to mate with the remaining individuals in local zoos to reintro- duce the species in Japan as wild. The introduction programs were carried out through the signing of agreements between the respective forestry departments in 1985, but all transloca- tions ended up as sequential reproductive failures. The turning point emerged in 1988 when Japan’s Emperor Akihito visited China for the first time. China’s President Jiang Zeming im- itated the model of ‘Panda Diplomacy’ (see Chapter 4.3) to present two crested ibises, both male and female, to Japan as national gifts, aiming to shape the crested ibis as symbol of China-Japan friendship (Yan 1999). Those two ibises had been proven to have strong reproductive ability in captivity and enabled the repopulation of crested ibises in Japan. Since 1998 until now, China has given crested ibises as national gifts to Japan for four times, which is slightly below the frequency of panda interactions between these two countries (see Chapter 4.3). During this process, the crested ibis has been successfully tailored as a symbol species for a specific international relationship. In the context of wildlife conservation, the crested ibises from China have contributed to the repopulation of the species in Japan. There is now a small but stable half-wild group of ibises consisting of hundreds of individual ibises in Japan after rehabilitation.6 In recent years, the bilateral interactions around the crested ibis show a new tendency of becoming more well-organized and public-oriented. The first ‘crested ibis culture’ exhibition between China and Japan just opened in Osaka in 2019.7 Relevant objects relating to the crested ibis is displayed and the exhibition has ambitions and requirements to accept new long- term participators. Thus, South Korea got involved in the exhibition positively. It also attempted to explore ibis-related culture in indigenous history and provided several ibis-themed artworks for the display.

6 According to the report of the Chinese version of Radio France Internationale (http://www.rfi.fr/cn/中国/20180103-为什么日本希望中国再赠朱鹮) 7 According to the report of Xinhua News Agency (http://www.xinhuanet.com/world/2019-06/28/c_1210173015.htm) 22 3.3. The Negative Side of Being an Iconic Species I will briefly mention the example of elephant as an example of how iconicity also can have unfavourable consequences for a species. Admittedly, the elephants are significant iconic species for various districts in the in the world in terms of ecosystem and indigenous culture. Their charisma for general audiences is also based on their conspicuous attractive animal characteristics that can be recognized among different cultural context. However, the symbolic meanings of ivory (and I could also here have discussed rhino horns in the same context) have become detached from the species itself to stimulate notorious consumption of animal products. In this sense, the cultural iconicity of elephants or rhinos themselves as iconic species has been weakened or perhaps resulted in the pursuit of its wildlife products. After the emergence of civilized society in ancient China, the habitat range of local elephants (and rhinos) began to dwindle gradually due to the expansion of human communities. Accord- ingly, the population of these two species kept decreasing and retreating southwardly to stay away from city areas. Around the tenth century, the total amount of elephants’ population in China suffered from a cliff-like drop and elephants disappeared in Yangtze River Valley, which marked that the wild individuals of the species couldn’t be seen in any central cultural region of China for any longer (Bishop 1921). At present, the small wild groups of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus Linnaeus) can only be discovered in Yunan Province, a frontier province of China. The limited and shrinking habitats of the elephant meant that they have limited influences on human communities, and they couldn’t play a key role in people’s daily life. Both the elephant and the rhino were main ornamental animals for the ruling class in the Tang Dynasty (Xiao 2017). In addition, owing to the huge body and docile nature, elephants could sometimes be treated as circus animals and transport animals at that time. As for the symbolic layer, both of these species had links with royal superstition, as they were regarded as talismans against evils or floods. Nevertheless, along with the population decline or even disappearance of the species, such symbolisms also faded away in China’s mass culture (idem.). However today, the ivory still retains connotations of wealth in present China and motivates the blind even pathological worship for relevant ivory products among some of the Chinese people. If you comb through the development history of the ivory’s status in China’s culture and society, you will find a reverse history in relation to the decline of the elephant, the rarer they have become in china the more popular its ivory8. Based on the historical status, the ivory has been assimilated as a status symbol in the everyday concepts of some Chinese people. The ivory represents privilege of higher social classes and this is what some general public still aspires to even nowadays. Although ivory trade ban has been published by Chinese government owing to international pressures in 2011, the price of ivory still keeps rising in both black market and grey market in China. Compared with rhino horns, it has lower price and its more difficult to forge copies. Thus, the ivory has become a low-risk investment for those ivory products collectors (Gao & Clark 2014). Noticeably, since 1990s, the trade ban from CITES has led to a new trend of importing mammoth ivory into China since the ivory of an extinct ancient species is not protected by the ban. Although the mammoth differs enormously from all existing elephant species and its ivory cannot be carved into complicated or small-size craftworks, due to its lower quality it is still popular (Vigne & Martin 2011). The wide acceptance of such substitutes partly reflects that the motivation of ivory consumption in China

8 The first emergence of ivory carving in China can date back to about 5,000 B.C., during the period of Neolithic Hemudu Culture in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River (Martin & Stiles 2003). In the Zhou Dynasty, ivory was listed officially among eight most valuable raw materials (Bishop 1921). As Ellis (2013: 11) considers in his research, the ivory was harder to carve than other stones or woods, all the processing steps towards the ivory must have been carried out in a painstaking way. Yet, the fragile nature of the raw material highlights its preciousness. Since the Han Dynasty, ivory decorations on the carriage and ivory-made official seal started to exclusively belong to senior officials (Zhang 2009). Meanwhile, due to the southward retreat of elephants, the ruling class who lived in Central Plain Districtof Northern China, all regarded the ivory as exotic luxury rather than as an animal product from an indigenous species (Bishop 1921). 23 derives from the symbolism of the ivory, which is independent of the cultural iconicity of the species itself.

24 4. Shaping the Giant Panda as an iconic species

China is a country with complicated and long history, but the iconic status of the giant panda actually lacks deep historic roots. There are no legends, literature, images or metaphors about giant pandas in Chinese history and no oral histories on pandas among Chinese people. Even in ancient texts about Chinese traditional medicines where there are otherwise plenty of descriptions of using animal products as medicines, you cannot find any clue about the existence of giant pandas. The only verifiable written material about the giant panda was in the second century B.C. Empress Dowager Bo in Han Dynasty was recorded to feed a giant panda in her imperial garden as a rare pet. The archaeological finding of panda skull in her tomb complex has proven the authenticity of the recording (Hull and Liu 2016; He and Sun 2009), but this was most probably a unique occurrence. The lack of more detailed mentioning of this species in historical record shows that giant pandas did not have a vital role for in China’s mainstream cultural history until in modern times. This is most probably because the historic habitats of giant pandas always were at a distance from the region of the central plain of china where large-scale city agglomeration emerged, and political and cultural centres were located. The Giant panda was ‘empowered’ with the symbolic meaning of nationalism only after the establishment of People’s Republic of China in 1949 (Songster 2018: 20). In this process, governmental involvement played a major role as I will show here. This kind of decisive function of governmental involvement have rarely been as strong as in the panda case and it is therefore an interesting example.

4.1. Beginning from Paintings The presence of the giant panda was a blank in the artistic history of China before 1949. One of the best studies available on the representation of the Panda is the book the Panda Nation: The Construction and Conservation of China's Modern Icon written by Songster. Much of what is written in this subchapter, is therefore based on her book. The first panda-themed artwork with great influence emerged in the eyes of the public only in 1961. People’s Daily, the biggest official newspaper of the Chinese government, published a painting of a giant panda on the newspaper without any detailed comment (Songster 2018: 197). The composition of the painting is simple, and the subject of the painting is presented in a minimalistic way (Fig. 3). The painting shows a giant panda holding a bamboo without any background or decoration. According to iconography (see Chapter 2.2.3), the representational meaning is always the first layer when analyzing a specific image. From this perspective, the principal content of the painting is apparently a panda, the well-known rare animal for the ordinary Chinese people. However, when it comes to the layer of iconographical symbolism, it can hardly to find out more details in this painting to reveal the hidden meaning. Moreover, the majority of white space on the painting paper and the lack of detailed comments seems to have prevents a deeper interpretation about the painting, but the attached information about the artist Wu Zuoren who created the artwork did contribute with some information. He was the headmaster of CAFA (Central Academy of Fine Arts) that time. Obviously, the government utilized the best human resource they had available to promote the giant panda as a national symbol to the public and strongly encouraged more artists to adapt the giant panda as a new theme for their art creations in the future. The real juncture for the development of panda-themed paintings in China was in connection with the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution in 1966. The revolution launched by the nation’s 25 leader Chairman Mao caused serious social chaos. During this catastrophe, any ideologies other than socialist thoughts were regarded as harmful to the progress of the society so that they must be criticized and abandoned completely, which certainly included traditional Chi- nese culture. Under this circumstance, the giant panda shaped as it was by the socialist China instead of ancient China was acknowledged widely as the symbol of a ‘new’ China. The symbolism was considered to be a success to escape from China’s traditions and cut off the link with the former history (Songster 2018: 196). In addition, the gentle and joyful appearance of the giant panda seemed to have an unspeakable metaphoric connection with the glorified be- nevolent image of Mao that could be seen on picture posters everywhere at that time. Thus, the amounts of the panda-themed artworks and designs increased sharply during this period. The art career of Wu Zuoren also grew significantly at the same time. He began to draw a series of panda-themed artworks. Red pandas, which we will discuss in the next chapter, were also a theme in his artworks. Until now, all panda-themed artworks by Wu Zuoren are still recognized as the most valuable throughout his art career, especially as when they show up on art auction markets, they are auctioned with skyrocketing prices9. After with the end of the social disorder which lasted for a solid decade, most of the cultural products shaped by the morbid politics during the Cultural Revolution were denied officially. Nevertheless, the giant panda as a national symbol wasn’t among them. The panda symbol was still widely accepted by both the public and the government. The loose connection between the giant panda and actual political thoughts contributed most to the survival of the symbolism. The symbolic meanings of the giant panda at that period was completely shaped by the government, but the government did not intend to shape the giant panda as an absolute political symbol. The giant panda never emerged on a flag or in a brochure during various social infightings and political campaigns. Also, the Communist Party absolutely controlled by Mao disdained to use a non-human symbol as the official party emblem. The giant panda functioned as a national animal representing national territory and indigenous natural resources, both of which remained stable and unchanged after the Cultural Revolution. (Song- ster 2018: 205)

9 When all the artworks produced during the cultural revolution are reviewed nowadays, they have a common ironical feature. No artist could y abandon the set framework of traditional Chinese art and come up with original new art forms in a real sense. However, all attempted to look after new inspirations and themes for their artworks in order to show their rebellion against obsolete Chinese culture under the pressure of the government, there were still For instance, all of Wu Zuoren’s panda-themed paintings were in the form of Chinese ink painting, which had existed in China for more than a thousand years (see discussion in Songster 2018: 197). 26

Figure 3 Picture from the website of Baike (https://www.baike.com/wiki/吴作人?view_id=3ocp- waujvwmxog)

Figure 4 Picture from the official website of Sogou Baike (https://baike.sogou.com/v64600161.htm?fromTitle= 盼盼（1990 年北京亚运会吉祥物）)

4.2. Becoming a Mascot Mascots are special images, which can be both dynamic and static, both graphic and three- dimensional. A mascot is not only an original animated character but also includes various types of designs and artworks based on the animation. Compared with other kinds of artistic images, mascots tend to be targeted for mass communication and are usually connected with a specific ideology. In addition, the range of targeted audiences are usually extremely wide. Teenagers are often a highlighted group; an anthropomorphized animation can gain teenagers’ fondness so that it will be easier for them to accept the ideology behind the mascot (Knight et al 2014). The first mascot whose prototype was the giant panda emerged at the 11th Asian Games held in Beijing in 1990, which was the first large-scale international sporting contest organised by the government of socialist China so that it was highly promoted by both the public and the government. At that time, the giant panda as national symbol had been interi- orized amongst the public after the decades of promoting the giant panda as a symbol. The choice of a giant panda-based mascot thus efficiently avoided any social debates as to which symbol to use. The Beijing 1990 mascot is called PanPan, the image of which is an anthropomorphised panda, with its four limbs, facial expression and clothing. The main features of the mascot still present primitive characteristics of the animal, which makes it easy for audiences to recognize the giant panda as the prototype of the mascot. Due to the technical constraints in China of that 28 time, the mascot did not have many dynamic versions and other derivatives during the games. Most of the time when it occurred, it was a static image, which did not differ with previous forms of panda-themed artworks. According to Knight et al (2014), when it comes to the ideological layer of a mascot in an international activity, especially sporting events, there must be enough creative spaces for designers to associate with both the common spirits of the event and the specific information of the hosting country. The use of the both was here a promotion opportunity for the Chinese government. However, in the image of PanPan, there is no indigenous symbolism which can be interpreted as signifying Chinese culture other than the giant panda itself. PanPan raises a medal of the Asian games above its head with one hand and gives a thumb up with the other hand. All the ideologies implied by the mascot’s gesture can be interpreted directly without any cultural barrier: the medal represents glory of winners, and the raised thump represents praise towards athletes and sporting games. Besides, PanPan showed the gesture of moving forward like a professional runner, which can naturally make audiences associate it with a real athlete. Thus, in a sense, the universal sportsmanship instead of the national spirits is paid more attention in the mascot’s image. The debut of the giant panda as a mascot was just an evidence and reflection of the completion and success of the government’s attempt to shape the giant panda as an iconic species. From an external perspective, the image of the giant panda was strong enough to represent the national image of China in an independent way. From the internal perspective, the government confirmed that the giant panda had already strong cultural connections with Chinese people so that it wasn’t a necessity to enrich and enhance the symbolism of the giant panda with adjunctive elements. In other words, the giant panda as a symbol was proven to be capable to provide the government with a sufficient shortcut to balance the public expectations and governmental intentions when both of them were needed to form an integrated impression of the country in the international community. According to official narratives10, the prototype of PanPan is not the giant panda as a species, but a specific individual female giant panda, named Basi. The destiny of Basi, as she was declared the specific prototype of PanPan by the government fairly is an example of the negative effects of being an iconic species or in this sense a living symbol. Basi was born in 1980 in Sichuan Province and was sent to USA for a short-term exhibit in 1987. At the closing ceremony of the games, Basi was brought to the scene to be shown in front of the audiences. After one year, Basi was also shown on the stage of Spring Festival Gala which was annually held by China Central Television to celebrate the greatest Chinese traditional festival and per- formed with its trainer. All of these shows were designed with very little consideration for the wellbeing of Basi. The health regulations and essential rules of care of wildlife animals in captivity was totally disrespected, and potential dangers to the health of Basi were ignored. Unexpectedly, when the mascot did not emerge in the form of images but was presented as a live animal in reality, it began to suffer from mistreatment. This condition was anomalous and partly exposed the government’s extreme dominating orientation towards the value of the giant panda. Mistreatment wasn’t deliberate pursuit by the government, but a disastrous result was caused by chaotic overuse. As a matter of fact, after the first performance and alarms as to her health, the life of Basi got back on the right track. She was not included in any public events anymore. In addition, she was taken good care of, and also given special medical treat- ment when she got sick, due to the special symbolism empowered on it. As a result, it was thought to be the longest-lived giant panda in captivity when she passed away in 2017. Before her death, she had already inspired a medal in the name of Basi and a charitable foundation. Moreover, after Basi’s death, an enormous stone tablet was established in memory of her. Numerous official media also expressed their condolences for ‘Queen Basi’- the nickname

10 All the official narratives come from Ipanda, the biggest pubic website of pandas’ information. (http://live.ipanda.com/ev ent/basi_birthday/index.shtml) 29 given by China’s official media emphasized its special symbolism unlike other common giant pandas.11

4.3. Panda Diplomacy After a successful state visit, two heads of state always exchange diplomatic gifts to present international friendship, among which there are sometimes animals that are endemic species of the state or function as the national symbol. Most of these animals are not accepted by the head of state as private property but are exhibited in the zoo towards the public, as state propaganda to some extent. The giant panda with its national symbolism can be used very efficiently for public diplomacy in the form of diplomatic gifts (Hartig 2013). There are three distinct but successive stages in the development of ‘Panda Diplomacy’. The actual beginning of ‘Panda Diplomacy’ took place in the middle of last century. Mao Zedong, the Chinese president of that time first came up with the idea of giving giant pandas as national gifts to two hegemonic states: Soviet Union and US in order to display his friendly attitude, because he felt extremely threatened under the background of the Cold War (Buckingham et al 2013). In the 1960s, China and US remained strongly hostile to each other’s national ideology, a sentiment which lasted two decades. Meanwhile China was rapidly losing trust in Soviet Un- ion. As a result, Mao began to be aware of that he must urgently balance the two hegemonies to avoid direct conflict with either side and to protect his own political dominance. Soviet Union first received giant pandas as national gifts from China in 1965 (idem.). Similarly, Mao gave away giant pandas as presents to the US during Richard Nixon’s first visit to China in 1972 (McGeown 2005) (Fig. 5). However, at that time the governing class did not realize the actual added values of giant pandas. Pandas were given away much like other inanimate gifts to rebuild international friendships instead of exchanging economic benefits or other resources from receiving countries. The new era for ‘Panda Diplomacy’ was started by Deng Xiaoping when he took over the governance of China in 1978. Based on his construction of a new national economic system, the practice of giving giant pandas as diplomatic gifts was stopped. Instead they were only allowed to be temporarily loaned to other countries for economic benefits (Buckingham et al 2013). This policy has continued up until now. The giant panda is still given to other states in the form of loan, but the economic benefits are no longer the sole aim, which begins the new phase of ‘Panda Diplomacy’. More frequently, giant pandas are lent to a specific country after high-level visits or the signing of strategic cooperative agreements between the country and China. (idem.) However, the negative environmental influences of ‘Panda Diplomacy’ have been criticised for a long time, especially after 1978 when the giant panda loan became being totally driven by economic interests. This kind of criticism is bidirectional for both China and recipients. All the panda agreements are at governmental level instead of being based on individual institutions, but all the panda-receiving zoos are large zoos which are highly commercialized institutions (Buckingham et al 2013). Based on that, both sides have obvious commercial motivations and a desire for economical profits. The panda loans in this sense deviates from the relevant regulations of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) on the legitimate reasons for importing endangered species (Songster 2018: 390). The adverse condition improved partly during the third phase owing to the involvement of science-oriented international cooperation on giant panda breeding and further research which contributed to the sustainable future of the species. As a diplomatic tool, the greatest strength of the giant panda is not the symbolic meanings on it but the peculiarities of the species. The cuteness and uniqueness of the giant panda induce some intuitive feelings to audiences. They have chubby bodies, special black-and-white coats

11 All the reports come from the website of 163 news. (https://web.archive.org/web/20170914174603/http://news.163.com/1 7/0914/19/CUAL3V58000187VE.html) 30 and some human-like behaviours like clasping food with their forepaw, all of which are natural materials for anthropomorphism and charisma. In the giant panda case, there is therefore little need to add or strengthen qualities artificially. Thus, it is an animal that is well suited to be seen and to provide chance for the public to observe the animal with one’s own eyes is certainly tempting (see discussion in Songster 2018: 225). The Chinese state gradually realized the value of giant pandas in terms of public relations. For the Chinese government, the giant panda as a symbolism is rather young and not politically loaded so that it is the most appropriate alternative to represent China internationally without controversy. The increase of China’s external publicity in forms of cultural exports or technical exports are met in other countries with criticism and/or they do not have the intended outcomes in terms of positive publicity. Other possible representative symbolic figures of China, which include scientists, writers, artists and so on, can hardly avoid being associated with their apparent or potential political leanings under the influences of Chinese government. They are often presumed by other countries to align with Chinese government in terms of attitudes and ideologies, and such attitudes and ideologies are usually considered to be harmful for the safety and democ- racy of other countries. Nevertheless, when you are faced with a giant panda in the zoo, there is no reason for you to criticize and attack such a rare and lovely animal, even though you may have a clear understanding of the interests and political motivations for the presence of the giant panda (see discussion in Songster 2018: 430). It should be underlined that visitors’ affections for giant pandas do not lead to a direct and instantaneous feedback, which means it is impossible for visitors to eliminate existing negative images about China or to develop positive attitudes towards China immediately after watching giant pandas through a fence or through a wall of glass. For the Chinese government, the ‘Panda Diplomacy’ is a long-term and non-radical means of image promotion (cf. Hartig 2013). The government hopes to eventually use this strategy to alleviate international antipathy in preference/as a compliment to other diplomatic means and to repair the negative reputation of China. More specifically, China’s diplomatic activities are usually criticized intensely by the Western democracies, and panda diplomacy distract the public attention in a target country from such criticism (Buck- ingham et al 2013). The giant panda is not only empowered with symbolic meanings for external communication but has also become a representation of the government’s emphasis on environmental conservation and animal welfare (idem.). Since the beginning of the 1980s, the emergence of rapid economic growth in China brought with the excessive exploitation of natural resources, and China gained a bad international reputation for its destruction of environment and loss of indigenous species. The giant panda was thus used as a symbol to signal a shift to an environ- mentally concerned government. In fact, the huge success of the giant panda as a symbol of WWF had already fed into the image of giant panda as associated with conservation. Interest- ingly, the initial reason for WWF to choose the giant panda as the logo in 1961 wasn’t the consideration about the species’ declining population or the potential risk of extinction for the species, but due to limitations of funds for the young organization. They needed to find a logo which could be seen clearly on the organization’s letterhead even without the costly colour printing, so they turned to black-and-white animals and the giant panda was chosen (Nicholls 2011). No matter what the original intent was, the logo still became one of ‘the most valuable’ trademark designs in the history (idem.). The giant panda was already then widely accepted as an iconic species which helped to raise public’s awareness of animal protection and attract funding and donations. The WWF logo in turn was favourable to the giant panda’s image as a national symbol. The Chinese policy makers were also inspired more or less by the logo of WWF when they determined to utilize the giant panda image to push for environmental protection in China. The Chinese government seems to be much satisfied with the effects of the representative function of the panda in terms of propaganda of environmental protection. Thus, in the name of the giant panda, China has systematically established the network of panda nature reserves. In addition, the authorities have built panda bases to support research on artificial breeding of

31 giant pandas. Based on these institutions, the Chinese government has partly restored its reputation and monopolized giant pandas as natural resources at the same time (see details in Chapter 4.1.).

Figure 5 First lady Pat Nixon (third from right) visited panda enclosure in Beijing Zoo during President Nixon’s first trip to China in 1972. Photo from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panda_diplomacy) 32 4.4. Becoming an Animal Star The giant panda in the form of moving images firstly emerged on the public scene in the period of Cultural Revolution. The time node is almost the same as the first time when the giant panda was introduced into the field of painting art. Thus, the first panda-themed film, like the panda- themed paintings, could also be regarded as a tailored product to satisfy the authorities’ requirements for a brand-new national symbolism. The film directly named Panda was full- length documentary in China shown in colour which was otherwise rare at that time. Sup- ported predominantly by the government, the film had financial backing for production costs which was reflected on the highest standard of shooting techniques on it. As such, the documentary stimulated the development of an otherwise weak branch in China’s film industry and inspired a large amount of subsequent documentary shooting. In addition, the film fully displayed the giant pandas’ survival conditions and primitive ecological appearance in a panda reserve of Sichuan Province and greatly contributed to the public environment education (Songster 2018:202). Starting from the documentary, the amounts of panda-themed films have been growing constantly and the genre of the panda-themed films has diversified. Among all the panda-themed films, the movie series of Kungfu Panda is worthy to be underlined as it promoted the iconicity of the giant panda utterly out of the control sphere of China’s government. The mode of how the iconic specie functions culturally and socially also enters a new wider dimension through the popularisation of the giant panda. The movie series Kung Fu Panda is a production of DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc, which is one of the most renowned animation studios around the world. The movie series includes three films with a coherent storyline. The first one was shown in theatres in 2008 and the latest one was in 2016. All of them achieved great commercial success and the Chinese film market contributed no- tably to the international box office of the series. The leading role of the series is a giant panda named Po. He is selected as ‘Dragon Warrior’ accidentally and becomes the apprentice of a Kung Fu Master. With the Kung Fu and spirits of martial arts he learns, he succeeds to defeat different villains and save the world (Tang 2008). The giant panda seems to have been an ideal choice for those who want to make a movie whose background is China or the Eastern World. As the production team described in an interview, the giant panda is a representation of China which can be directly recognized world- wide without any addition explanations (idem.). There is a risk of overusing the giant panda as the only symbol of China, as excessive frequent utilizations potentially exacerbate the cultural stereotype. The choice of iconic species as the leading role can be more efficient than choosing an existing Chinese figure to reasonably avoid general audiences’ negative associations of China. More specifically, even when glorified on the big screen, the actual personality of the figure in the real life can distract most of the audiences’attention. In general, such negative impressions tend to be interpreted as connected with the national context. The absolute positive image of an anthropomorphised charismatic animal seems to be more acceptable. It is just the strategy of evading negative impressions about China that stimulates large numbers of audiences in China to contribute to the box office. Seeing the heroic panda in the film, the majority of Chinese audiences gain a sense of satisfaction through the positive presentation of indigenous cultural identity (Grenee 2014: 196). Through the widely accepted iconic species, Chinese audiences also build the feeling of recognition and ‘closeness’ to the film. There is also the tendency of the viewer to project their own cultural identities, and the Chinese audience will tend to be more open-minded to the cultural export of a Hollywood animation (Xia 2019). If treating the whole film as a moving image, all so-called Chinese factors exist only at the layers of representational meanings and iconographical symbolism. Audiences can recognize the anthropomorphized panda and understand that the agile and brave panda hero represents a typical Chinese knight-errant. Also, the ‘Fabulous Five’, the five partners who assist Po, can be easily find their prototype animals which includes mantis, snakes, tigers and so on. 33 These animals (contrary to the giant panda) are traditionally regarded as mock-objects and inspirations for martial artist to develop various kinds of Kung Fu techniques (Grenee 2014: 211). In additional, the environmental background of the whole series is built using traditional Chinese villages. All of these traits together convey an image of a wide range of Chinese cultural characteristics. However, when people turn to the ‘hidden meanings’ of the moving image, the giant panda is still an American styled here and the whole image shows an Amer- ican story with western values. The film is a typical practice of the transfer and reconstruction of the iconicity of a specific species. For an iconic species like the giant panda, which epitomises nearly all kinds of iconicity in its various dimensions discussed in Chapter 2, people sometimes choose to separate one or more than one of its iconicity from others and emphasize the chosen iconicity for specific needs. The giant pandas in terms of the utilization of the species’ touristic iconicity and scientific iconicity, are completely monopolized by the Chinese government. Nevertheless, in the case of the film the cultural iconicity is detached form the giant panda by the film produc- ers and as a result its former symbolic meanings are covered with new one. When utilizing the giant panda in the form of image, the barriers of Chinese government’s official permissions are escaped. Depending on the updated symbolic meanings, American cultural narratives reaches targeted audiences and markets through an exotic art medium with the ultimate goal of global cultural expansion (Grenee 2014: 211). Moreover, the advent of the age of multimedia brings about a new state of the giant panda as an animal star. Animal-related information, especially about those animals which are widely popular because of their ‘cuteness’ has exploded on diverse mass media during these years (DeMello 2012: 338). Based on this, public affections for the giant panda are not overly de- pendent on a specific film or artwork. Any individual panda can be regarded as a star in the massive online discussions on social platforms. I chose Weibo, one of the biggest social platforms in China, to do an analysis of online discussions and use of the giant panda. Here I used the panda fans’ online discussions with the hashtag of ‘giant panda’ and related keywords which is run and organised by the public. I also analysed text and image information published by the official Weibo account of ‘iPanda TV’ which is produced by the government. Although both these medias are doing essentially the same, to prefect the image of animal star, there exist divergences between them and the active involvement of the public means that the government does not have the absolute predominance any more during the process. It is important to point out that iPanda TV is a media group which includes the official live- streaming site (live.Ipanda.com) and various official accounts on social media platforms around the world including Instagram, Twitter, Weibo and so on (Yang and Xu 2018). The main content of the official website is the 24-hour live stream of the daily life of giant pandas in panda bases through more than 100 high definition video cameras. However, the live stream without any pause or highlight is not attractive enough for most of the general netizens. There- fore, the subsidiary accounts on different social platforms such as Weibo take the responsibility to upload carefully selected short video clips from the live feed to attract more new fans of the giant panda. In addition, all video clips on Weibo are annotated with brief introduction. It is not hard to trace the anthropomorphism orientation in these textual descriptions. The video clip of keepers feeding panda cubs is described in terms of “nannies are taking good care of children in the kindergarten”. The video clip of a panda lying in the branches is called a little acrobat. Like a human film star which tends to show his or her positive personalities, a real mature and popular animal star is never defined as aggressive or brutal. Such anthropomorphised strategy effaces all the negative animal natures and underline innocence, vivacity, gen- tleness and other characters that deserve the love of fans (Molloy 2011: 45).

34 In the same way, the spontaneous user discussions about the giant panda12 include a large number of anthropomorphised descriptions. What’s more, there is a prominent feature in the user-lead anthropomorphised communications. Panda fans always show strong subjective preference for a specific individual, which means they are accustomed to applying anthropomorphism to their favourite panda individuals rather than other giant pandas or giant pandas in general. They only call their favourite ones ‘a shy kid’, ‘a naughty girl’, etc. This feature can also be partly reflected on the popularity of the hashtag of a specific panda. Discussions with hashtags like ‘giant panda Qiyi’,‘giant panda Meilan’ and so on are in higher quantity than discussions with hashtag ‘giant panda’.13 According to the research of Molloy (2011: 46), the most common way of promoting an animal star that distinguish it from any other individuals in the same species is to train it and help it to gain human talents. Obviously, the anthropomorphised strategy of panda fans is not exactly the same thing but is highly similar to the governmental strategy, to anthropomorphise individual giant pandas. Such convergence implies that the actual results of promoting giant pandas through online spontaneous discussions can also be same or even better than governmental web promotion. However, the effects of online discussions about the giant panda as an animal star can develop beyond the government’s primary expectations when beginning to its iconicity. When anthro- pomorphising an iconic species like the giant panda as a man-like idol to admire and support, most of the time, fans will start to proactively choose to criticize government’s abuse of the iconic species they love. Apart from expressing their love towards giant pandas, criticism is another main topic in the public online discussion. During the period of my online observation, it can easily to find out some posts full of blames in anytime when you search panda-related hashtags on Weibo. Any problem that harms the health of the giant panda, which includes nonstandard feeding and management, unscientific exhibition environment and so on, is criticized intensely. The criticized objects also widely range from a specific zoo to behaviour of regional governments. Besides, panda fans are accustomed to uploading images and clips that they shoot on location or cut from the live stream of iPanda TV as visual evidence. Along with their detailed text descriptions, all the evidences can well certify that mistreatments on giant pandas still exist and concerns on captive giant panda are still urgent. This kind of combination of information function well to gain more reshare and comments of other netizens so that the government and relevant institutions can notice criticisms and are forced by public pressure to solve the problems. Owing to the social media, positive interactions between the iconic species and general publics are established gradually. The animal welfare of giant pandas is protected better due to the public scrutiny. Meanwhile, based on the love for the animal star, the public become more proactive in the shaping process and thereby limit the governmental misuse or monopolisation of the species’ values.

12 Based on the online observation of giant panda related hashtags on Weibo from December 2019 to February 2020 13 Based on the online observation of ranking list of hashtags on Weibo from December 2019 to February 2020 35 5. From the Giant Panda to the Red Panda

To encounter iconic species like the giant panda in reality is not easy for the general public. But, as discussed in previous chapter there is a high interest and needs from the public to closely encounter those species exist in reality. The public interest has motivated the government to building a special site to make possible the human-animal encounter, - the display centres or the giant panda bases. In the giant panda base the iconicity of the species keeps being transformed into a multiplicity of values in diverse dimensions, from the ticket revenue to environmental education, through the rising public attention as well as frequent contacts between the real species and general public. This shaping of values continues also in social media as discussed in the previous chapter. In the same way, a new species introduced in such a site is more likely to gain the official and public acceptance of the species as a potential iconic species, especially in terms of touristic iconicity. In the last few years the red panda has been promoted in the panda based as a complimentary and potential iconic species. The giant panda base is a distinctive platform for satisfying the needs of the public to encounter a real iconic species. They provide me with a representative location to carry out an ethnographic and phenomenological analyses on both giant pandas and red pandas in the artificial environment that the panda bases represent. The logic and strategies of shaping the red panda as a rising iconic species can also be fully explored in these specific circumstances.

5.1. Distinguishing Giant Panda Base from Nature Reserves As an iconic species, the ecological value of giant pandas is often less considered but it is their scientific iconicity (as defined in Chapter 2) that determines the success of shaping it as an iconic species. From the first discovery by the western world in the nineteenth century to the following heated academic debates on its species classification, the giant panda already has proven itself to have ‘natural qualities’ for being an iconic species which are as significant as other factors (Songster 2018: 23). Nowadays, natural sciences research tends to focus on giant pandas in terms of panda habitats. Especially, after the Wenchuan Earthquake in 2008, which was a turning point in research, conservation and presentation of giant pandas. Some of the pristine habitats were destroyed seriously and the panda ecotourism was seen as a priority and as something which must be restarted urgently, that the government were forced to rebuild balance between different panda habitats and human settlements. Meanwhile, the panda ecotourism has also become a significant economic growth point for regional development during the process (Swaisgood et al 2009). The destruction and fragmentation of giant pandas’ primitive habitats are considered to be major threats to the survival of giant pandas. Therefore, the establishment of nature reserves for giant pandas is a solution with strong pertinence. The rapid development of the conservation efforts of the giant panda in China is motivated both by the popularization of research on giant pandas, especially when it comes to reproductive research, and the strong intent of the Chinese government to promote the giant panda. The strong intent and motivation of the formal governmental practices, in terms of promoting the giant panda is seen in the panda diplomacy as discussed in Chapter 4, and the benefits brought by which made the government convinced that investment in the conservation and reproduction of the giant panda are bound to deliver enduring values. As a result, China has built a network of protected areas or which consists of 67 different nature reserves where giant pandas survive and are protected. Among them, there are 13 reserves which are purposely named as “Panda Nature Reserve”, a name 36 given to convey the core objective of the reserve, both in terms of promoting internal ecological relations and social influence, of giant pandas in these reserves (Wang & Liu 2017; Wei et al 2015). The emergence of nature reserves in China, the first one in 1956 in Guangdong Province, was governmentally driven but without any specific institutional guarantee or legal norms. The first Wildlife Protection Law in China was enacted in 1988, thus 25 years later than the establishment of the first Panda Nature Reserve in south-western China. This discrepancy between the proclamation of nature reserves and a legal framework to protected them reflects the erratic character of legislation and practice in terms of China’s governmental practices on wildlife management (Wei et al 2015). The later emergence of panda bases in 1987 cannot be simply be interpreted as a variant of existing panda nature reserves. The panda base is officially defined as a governmental research base for ex-situ conservation of the giant panda and symbiotic species. Moreover, it is en- trusted with other additional functions including education, tourism as well as cultural promotion. Even though they extract some of the functions of the panda nature reserves, the panda bases are restructured in an artificial landscape. I will show here that the panda base is not a primary or conventional conservation area. The managers design conservation landscapes in a panda base mainly in order to highlight its functions as a tourism-oriented area. According to the research of Loucks et al (2003), the distribution of giant pandas’ primitive habitats showed a visible tendency of becoming fragmented and isolated. In addition, the survival of the giant pandas requires high altitude elevation which leads to the habitats being confined at regions of mountain tops. Being limited in its ecology to mountain tops, which are far from each other, will inevitably be negative factors for the sustainable reproduction of giant pandas’ population, especially when the habitat destruction accelerates over time. A solution has been to artificially lower the elevation of their habitats. The geographical scope of the protected area is intentionally expanded from the core of the nature reserves to adjacent regions, which can even include human territory, to form a new integrated conservation landscape. Panda bases are all located in regions that are geographically close to the primitive habitats of the giant pandas but are also in accessible range for indigenous people and visitors. However, this kind of accessibility for ordinary people means that the values associated with giant pandas in panda bases cannot avoid being reassessed, which implies that the scientific iconicity and cultural iconicity of the species are inevitably detached in the perspective of a general visitor. The touristic iconicity is instead put in the first place to motivate visitors’ tour to panda base and to maintain the normal operation of the institution. As a result, the panda bases have amplified the touristic value of the giant panda and over time the function of the panda base’s have shifted from being about reproduction of the panda to a tourist attraction and public education place. The reproduction of giant pandas is the most crucial responsibility for both panda nature reserves and panda bases alike. However, due to the inextricable connection with human community in the panda bases, breeding become more complicated than in the nature reserves. Since 1990, the capture of wild giant pandas for the exhibition in zoos became strictly forbidden by the authorities. All the subsequent demands of giant pandas for exhibitions, which include diplomatic panda loans, must be addressed by the panda bases which is one of the few places which can reproduce large amounts of giant pandas in an artificial environment. More- over, the panda base also takes supervision responsibility over the feeding level of all zoos that exhibit giant pandas (Yiming et al 2003). In recent years, the authorities have attempted to enrich the single conception of panda nature reserves to build a network of official conservation institutions and corresponding conceived in a new way. Immediately before the formation of reserve network, there had been the successful precedent of developing additional ecological functions of the panda reserve. Due to the stringent protection of vegetation cover in panda reserves, most of the human communities in surrounding areas who used to rely on the consumption of fuelwood gradually were encouraged to turn to clean energy such as biogas. This shift had favourable effects of vegetation

37 (Zhang et al 2011). The panda reserves thus functions beyond the single conception of a common nature reserve (for pandas and vegetation) but as a regional coordinator of energy up- grading, which means that it is able to contribute to regional promotion of clean energy. How- ever, the recent governmental reconceptualization of panda reserves did not follow the positive precedent of added value but chose a different path. The proposition of the Giant Panda National Park System was first mentioned officially in 2016 (Kang and Li 2018). The new official policy signalised a strong intention to transform the nature reserves to the national park system in a mechanical and abrupt way. However, despite the new policy, ultimately the system of existing panda nature reserves wasn’t changed dramatically. The total number of panda reserves remained the same and no new reserves were built, and the character of the panda reserves did not change. The renaming of the reserves to national parks created a grey zone between the both. A large number of tourists were planned to be directly guided to national parks and the touristic value of giant pandas in national parks was expected to be developed similarly as in the panda bases. However, the establishment of the Giant Panda National Park System is criticized as a retrogression of the conservation system for giant pandas, because the performance of conservation for wildlife in a nature reserve is usually higher than it in a national park according to IUCN (idem.). Moreover, the interaction between ordinary people and giant pandas still only exist in panda bases, instead of what was recently renamed panda national parks, since the location of panda reserves is still geographically far away from the human community, which naturally prevents public access to them.

5.2. Linking Red Pandas with Giant Pandas The close correlation between red pandas and giant pandas is not mainly established upon the close affinities in the framework of the modern zoological systematics. The giant panda is the only species that is classified under the category of Ailuropoda genus of the bear family. The red panda belongs to Ailurus genus. Amongst the early biology community, it was universally accepted that the red panda should be classified as a member of the family raccoon (Yang & Gao 2019; Glatston 2011). Thus, despite the similarity in name the giant and red panda are not the same family according to the taxonomy based on the modern genetic science. Further- more, according to the newest genomic research of Hu et al (2020), the red panda in fact refers to two different species: Himalayan red panda (Ailurus fulgens) and Chinese red panda (Ailu- rus styani). The Yarlung Tsangpo River causes the isolation between the two species. The strong correlation between the giant and red panda which is suggested by the naming is mainly a cultural construction. As a matter of fact, the naming of the red panda happened 44 years earlier than the naming of the giant panda. In 1825, the French zoologist Frédéric Cuvier named a cat-type animal found at the south side of Himalaya as Ailurus fulgens, which meant ‘fiery red cat’ in Latin. The common name ‘panda’, which is widely thought to be rooted in Nepali phrase ‘nigalya ponya’ that can be translated as ‘a claw holding a bamboo’, and the phrase which describes the mammal’s habitus was also used to refer to the whole animal for the first time (Glatston 2011). After 44 years, a specimen of a “black-and-white bear” reached Europe, and the name of ‘panda’ was borrowed for this bear. The sharing of the name was due to the similarities between these two different species in terms of morphology. They both have a special pseudo-thumb on forepaws to allow them to clutch food (Yang and Gao 2019). In Chinese language, the correlation between their common names is even more misleading, since the red panda was called ‘little panda’ in its literal translation14. Due to this naming, it is natural for common Chinese people to presuppose that the little panda must exist as an attach- ment to the giant panda, instead of being another species entirely. Through the name, the correlation between the two species have become indivisible in China’s context. Moreover, these

14 In Chinese, red panda is called ‘小熊猫’. 38 two names imply the growing cultural impacts of the giant panda and the awkward position of the red panda in its shadow. The Chinese red panda (Ailurus styani) is the main red panda species in China and the species that I will focus upon here in my research. However, from the perspective of historical development of animal symbolism in China (compare discussion in Chapter 3), the ancient status of red panda is on the same level as the giant panda. It was largely ignored in the mainstream culture of the Ancient China. The overlapping habitats of the Himalayan red panda and humans leads to the high probability of a person to encounter the animal in reality (compared to the giant panda). The frequent encounters make the red panda a knowable and acceptable alternative for most of the indigenous people to represent symbolic meanings. Indeed, Hima- layan red pandas had the greatest influence in the field of traditional culture among human communities in Himalayan region. Nevertheless, it cannot be supposed that the Chinese red panda is purely non-existent in China’s cultural context. In Yunnan Province of China, the Yi people have a tradition to regard the red hat made from the red panda’s fur as a symbol of good luck in wedding ceremonies. The small population number of the Yi nationality and the remote location of Yunnan Province which is at the south-western national border determined that the symbolism of red pandas here did not influence the central plain culture in China, or in other words, the mainstream regional culture in China (Glatston and Gebauer 2011). All of the traces of red pandas that are found in art and literature in several Asian countries which include China, Nepal, Myanmar and so on, provide red pandas with a multicultural context in terms of symbolism without any strong historical association to a particular culture or class (Thapa et al 2018). Due to close correlation between its name and the giant panda, the idea of promoting it as a potential iconic species began to emerge only after the successes with the giant panda after 1949. But the efforts of shaping the red panda into an iconic species have been much slower. Their similar names provide the ordinary public with a direct association, and the association exist without the strategy of purposely raising these two species together in the same limited artificial environment. Thus, the choice of breeding them together can be interpreted as a specific enhancement of an existing association. In other words, the correlation deriving from names contributes a lot to public’s first impression of the two species, even before people see them with own eyes, especially the red panda which is not as well-known as the giant panda. This association makes people favourable to the red panda by association Regardless of lack of biological affinities this association probably inspired policymakers to carry out the polyculture of both giant pandas and red pandas in panda bases. In addition, their diet composition and requirements for habitats overlap, thus they can favourably be bred together in similar environments (Kang et al 2013). The red panda is also an endangered animal which needs to be protected, but the conservation of the red panda has been largely ignored, especially when compared with the focus on giant panda conservation. According to the 1988 Wildlife Protection Law, the giant panda is listed under the category I which means measures of the protection is at the highest level. The person who poaches the giant panda will be sentenced to life imprisonment even death. The red panda is also listed in the law, but it is located under the category II (Reid & Jien 1999). This kind of ‘discriminatory’ rating means that poaching red pandas does not lead to severe punishment. As a direct consequence, apart from the problem of habitat destruction, from which the giant pandas also suffer, red pandas are still threatened by poaching, a problem which has largely disappeared for giant pandas nowadays. Owing to the strict legal protections as well as the boom of artificial giant panda breeding, the population of giant pandas has successfully increased, and the species is now reconsidered as a Vulnerable species (using the IUCN classification) since 2016.15 However, the population of red pandas keeps decreasing and the species

15 The data comes from the official website of the Red List of IUCN (https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/712/121745669), and the latest assessment of the species was on April 11th, 2016. 39 is now considered Endangered.16 Unfortunately, the complicated legislative system in China (Li 2007) results in that the Wildlife Protection Law is not amended or updated following the dynamic changes of populations of protected animals. Up to now, the red panda is still listed at a lower level than the giant panda in the law. Red pandas are neglected not only in terms of the legislation, but also in terms of institutional settings. The establishment of reserves in China is a crucial part of official policy to protect vulnerable or endangered animals, however, the red panda is not specifically mentioned in the related policy documents (Thapa et alt 2018). However, as red pandas and giant pandas are in some ways symbiotic in China the red pandas can also be strictly protected in reserves where giant pandas are the flagship species. Such overlap of different endangered species’ habitats is common all over the world and this kind of natural distribution exactly optimizes the protective effects of some reserves, especially if endangered animals in them are mainly threatened by fragmentation and destruction of their habitats (Kang et al 2013). The coexistence of both giant pandas and red pandas in panda bases can therefore be interpreted as an attempt to imitate and reproduce the natural condition of the multispecies coexistence in panda reserves. When the habitat of giant pandas is protected, the habitat of red pandas can be preserved at the same time, because they essentially share the same habitat. Similarly, even though the common audiences come to panda bases mainly for giant pandas’ iconicity, they will unavoid- ably be watching and learning more about a lovely species which also has charisma in the same base. With the increasing audiences, the value of the giant panda as an iconic species are enhanced and enriched continuously. In the influence scope of the giant panda, the red panda can share some of its public attention without threatening the status of the giant pandas and therefore, as I argue here it is gradually in the process of being shaping as an iconic species though the process is entirely different from that of the giant panda. In the following sections I will explore how this process unfolds in the panda base through the staging and representation of giant panda and the red panda.

5.3. Encountering Giant Pandas and Red Pandas

5.3.1. Chengdu Research Base The first panda base where I carried out my field work was the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding (CRBGPB), the biggest and oldest panda base in China. The panda base was created in 1987 and is located ten kilometres away from the city centre of Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province.17 The close distance between the base and city centre realizes one of the side aims of panda base, namely to improve accessibility of the public to the giant panda and also the red panda. The influx of huge numbers of visitors makes the tourism function the most noticeable among other functions of the CRBGPB. I chose to visit the base respectively in July 2019 and in January 2020. These two dates represented not only two different natural seasons but also two different touristic phases, the peak and slack seasons. July is the period of summer vacation and the weather of Chengdu in summer is suitable for trav- elling. In the winter, there is no fixed public holidays except the January New Year’s Day. The flow of visitors on any sightseeing spot of Sichuan usually show a stark contrast between the summer and winter season, but CRBGPB as I found out, is an exception. The flow of visitors, which was clearly visible in terms of congestion in the panda base, did not show significant differences between my two visits. The arrangement of opening hours of the base also partly reflect this situation: it is opened from 7:30 to 18:00 all year round without any

16 The data comes from the official website of the Red List of IUCN (https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/714/110023718), and the latest assessment of the species was on April 11th, 2015. 17 According to the official website of Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda (http://www.panda.org.cn/china/about/about/ 2013-01-10/54.html) 40 holiday rest or time adjustment according to the season change (unless there is any natural disaster or social emergency). This all year-round popularity of the panda base shows the enormous attraction of the giant pandas. The layout of CRBGPB is highly similar to a large-scale zoo, containing an exhibition area, tourist service areas and artificially built green landscapes. The green landscapes in the panda base are mostly in the form of bamboo forests. Although the bamboo is the most important food resource for both giant pandas and red pandas, the bamboos planted in the open spaces of the base are not intended for feeding the animals.18 Thus, the purpose of this landscape setting is not necessarily aimed for practical use but to contribute to the integration of the iconic species and the surrounding environments. Such landscape settings can usually be seen in a zoo setting, referring to an artificial environment that meets the aesthetic expectations of the visitors and evokes emotional responses of visitors like appreciation on animals (rather than the original habitat of the species) (Hanson 2004: 131). In this case, the landscape of bamboo forests implies that the leading role of the base is bamboo-eaters and enriches visitors’ impressions of the iconic species through emphasizing its main food. The panda base includes an exhibition building called “Panda Scientific Discovery”. The first floor of the building functions as a science popularization and education area which is open towards the public, other floors are used as the laboratories for the breeding and conservation of giant pandas which are closed to the public. The exhibitions and laboratories are used to showcase that the functions of the base and the stress that they are not only sightseeing spot but also has educational and scientific functions. These educational spaces can also be interpreted as a way for the government to convey an image to the public of concern for the panda and the environment in general. The government does not simply exchange economic values by the touristic iconicity of the panda from a pure domination angle, it also disseminates the relevant knowledge to the general public and promotes scientific researches on the species for better conservation. There are nine different exhibiting ‘districts’ where visitors can see real giant pandas in CRBGPB. Nearly all the districts are named as human residences, using the phrase ‘villas’ or delivery houses to designate them. The 14th Enclosure keeps its original name of ‘enclosure’ because it is one of the eldest building in the base. The strategy of anthropomorphism in naming the animal enclosures as ’villas’ establishes emotional links between visitors and pandas quickly and effectively. Also, it gives the deliberate suggestion to the visitors that all the pandas are taken good care of: they are after all ‘living in a villa’. The giant pandas are classified by growth stages into different groups which include cubs, sub-adults and adults and they are exhibited in different villas according to their age. Such practice enhances the educational function of the panda base, since it provides visitors with general knowledge about the complete growing process of the giant panda. Also, the classification contributes to the visitors’ experience in a positive way. Even though all the villas display the same species, the diversified classifications in terms of age groups gives visitors the feeling of viewing different animal groups, varying the villas from each other to enrich their experience. In addition, it is supposed to notice that all giant pandas, except panda cubs, are live separately in their own villas instead of in family groups, which takes the full account of the solitary living conditions of giant pandas in wild. Most of the time except the mating season, it can rarely see two giant pandas encountering in wild and they also avoid breaking into others’ territories marked by special scent (Swaisgood et al 2004). However, the ingenuity of naming enclosure and reclassifying the ‘exhibited species’ does not fundamentally change how visitors have contacted with the iconic species. Visitors watch giant pandas through glass or fences similar to any other zoo which has the giant panda. Also, the giant pandas have already gotten used to being surrounded

18 According to the official website of Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Foundation (http://www.pandahome.org/cn/dong- tai/daxiongmao/2019-04-15/6431.html) 41 by crowds and show no apparent curiosity towards visitors, rather taking care of their own business lying down for a rest or eating. However, this does not mean there is not any direct contact between giant pandas and visitors in the panda base. Donation offers a channel for those who want to get closer to and even touch the giant panda. People used to be able to touch a giant panda and then take pictures with it, if donating a fixed amount to the panda base to “panda research” (Cong et al 2014). The practice exposed critically not only the base’s disregard of animals’ welfare but also the domination orientation towards the giant panda in the official management of wildlife. This situation was ended in 2015 with a ban enacted by China's State Forestry Administration in which any close encounter between endangered animals and general visitors is prohibited wholesale.19 The shared death of four giant pandas in captive environments in 2014 leaded to the promulgation of the ban. All of these pandas died of what is called ‘canine distemper’, a syndrome which is highly suspected to relate to unregulated close and frequent human-animal contacts. Nevertheless, cutting off this possibility of being close to the animals made more people turn to another channel – volunteering. Well-trained volunteers are allowed to take care of giant pandas in the panda base and participate in relevant educational programs. Vol- unteers therefore have many chances to contact with giant pandas directly. After the ban, there was an increase of ‘fee-paying volunteers’. They paid for the status of volunteer and then gained access to giant pandas without any training. This loophole in policy was repaired in 2018 by China's State Forestry Administration with supplementary regulations which forbid all the commercial contact with giant pandas also under the name of volunteer activity.20 All of these efforts at regulation have proved that an iconic species with high charisma like the giant panda can evoke the public’s strong desire to close encounters, even though as in the case of giant panda the species does not originally have accessibility as one of the sources of its iconicity (as discussed in Chapter 2). Conversely, the example shows how increasing the accessibility of a species for a wider public can serve to enhance its iconicity, and below I will discuss the red panda as another example. However, any encounter in the panda base is in essence equal to the utilization of species’ iconicity for value exchange. The probable negative effects of the process on the species itself are barely considered unless it harms the subsequent value change. We now turn to discuss the display of the red pandas in the CRBGPB. The exhibition districts for red pandas in CRBGPB are obviously fewer than the districts for giant pandas in terms of sheer number and coverage area. Their somewhat lower status is underlined in the fact that the two main red panda districts are named as ‘playground’ rather than ‘villa’. Though the name is still typically anthropomorphic, the emotional implication towards general visitors is absolutely different and visitors’ associations also change in accordance with the changes of name and setting (cf. Trembly 2008). A playground is a relatively open space for free movement when compared with a villa. The name playground also implies that the species is fed in an open environment and there are less obstacles for close encounters between general visitors and the species. However, the setting of landscapes and equipment in No.1 Red Panda Play- ground is nearly a replica of a general panda ‘villa’. Only the settings in No.2 Red Panda Playground show distinct differences. Strictly speaking, the red pandas fed in this district are located in a semi-captive condition. The design of semi-captive environments was firstly come up with to satisfy the high demands for movement space of large animals in zoos (Hanson 2004: 130). The major portion of the district is designed for the free movements of the red pandas’ and in the landscape settings there are imitations of red pandas’ habitats. In addition, the red pandas are kept in natural family groups rather than as divided in age structure as the giant pandas, which is also a significant practice to provide a “closer to the wild” experience

19 According to the official website of Chinese Central Government (http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2015-01/09/content_28026 91.htm) 20 According to the official website of China’s Forestry Administration (https://www.forestry.gov.cn/main/146/20181105/1 42958090813662.html) 42 for the visitors. The visiting route is not totally straight from the entrance directly to the exit but includes some turnings and rounds to make sure that visitors can reach as many corners of the district as possible so that they are able to stay long enough in the district and have opportunities to view many red pandas under different conditions. When visitors enter into this en- closed area, they can stop at any time and may discover a red panda hiding in the tree nearby. However, through given with the illusion of closeness and a wilderness experience the visitors are only allowed to strictly follow the boardwalk as both sides of which are blocked by railings covered with metal mesh (see fig 6). It is forbidden strictly for visitors to climb over the railings or diverge from the path. This means that any close contacts of encounters between visitors and red pandas are limited. Nevertheless, the visitor experiences in the red panda exhibition area is still an upgrade from the feeling of viewing animals from distance as in the giant panda exhibition. There are many ropes and wooden slats set high between trees on both sides of boardwalks, so visitors can look up at red pandas climbing above their heads. Also, several tunnels are located beneath boardwalks for red pandas to pass between areas freely. More importantly, in the central zone far away from either entrance or exit, huge holes emerge on the metal mesh so that red pandas can go through it to enter the visitor area and proactively engage in close encounters with visitors. As I was walking through the read panda exhibition area and after I stepped into the No.2 Red Panda Playground, I heard excited shouts of general visitors which could be heard frequently. Many of these shouts were to the sentiment of ‘look at the cute raccoon’. Admittedly, the cuteness of red pandas contributes a lot to the first impression of the red panda to visitors. The cuteness of red pandas is a windfall for the panda base rather than a motivation for visitors to come to CRBGPB. However, the wrong name shouted out by visitors reflected that they had little regard for the ambition to promote the knowledge of the red pandas. All of these practices are certainly aimed to create multidimensional emotional links between visitors and red pandas, to increase visitors’ affections on the species and thereby also possibly to increase its popularity and iconic status. It should be admitted that this type of visiting experience has advantages over viewing captive species for instance in a zoo, but the most attractive part for a general visitor during the process is the feeling of and possibility to ‘discover’ or encounter the species, as supposed to simply watch an exhibited species (see Packer & Ballantyne 2012). No matter what the expected effect of promoting the popularity of the red panda is, whether to increase the knowledge and popularity of the species to protect it better or to obtain more economic values through relevant tourism, red pandas in this base are gaining public attention through existing within the scope of the popularity of the giant pandas. There is a close parallel to how they are protected in the nature reserves that select the giant panda as their flagship species but where other species are also benefitted from this focus. Even though such reserves are not established mainly for red pandas, they are still able to be well protected at the same time due to their status of being a symbiotic species to the giant panda and share the same habitats. Do we know what a wildlife or zoo encounter does to an individual in terms of sentiments for conservation? In fact, there is little research on the actual influences of a tour in a protected area or in a zoo on adult individuals in terms of support for species conservation or a subsequent interest on any animal. One survey of adult visitors to a zoo suggest a time limit of interest and concern which normally last no longer than a year (see Zwinkles 2009). Based on what has been discussed here, it’s hard to claim conclusively that the promotion of red pandas as an iconic species can function independently to promote the ecological conservations of this species. However, it is also necessary to point out that the shaping process is still ongoing in terms of evoking public awareness of red pandas. My following analysis on Chengdu Field Research Centre for Giant Pandas of CRBGPB can be regarded as a further analysis of the innovative form of shaping and manipulating the popularity of species and the negotiation of both government and public’s attitudes towards red pandas as iconic species.

Figure 6 Photo taken by the author

Figure 7 Photo taken by the author

44 5.3.2. Panda Valley The Chengdu Field Research Centre for Giant Pandas is a branch research institution of the CRBGPB. The primary research mission of the relatively new panda base, founded in 2014, is adaptive training and reintroduction of giant pandas. It was the Red Panda Free-ranging Area that newly opened in the same panda base in October 2019 that prompted my visit in January 2020, although it was firstly not listed among my alternatives for field work. Besides the official name, the base also has an elegant alias name – ‘Panda Valley’, which is an officially acknowledged name. Indeed, the name ‘Panda Valley’ is suggestive of the geographical features and the design concept of the base. Compared with CRBGPB, the site location and landscape settings in Panda Valley takes a step further in terms of landscaping to display the resemblance with the natural habitats of the pandas. The whole base is built along a narrow mountain valley; large ranges of native vegetation are well preserved and exhibition districts are scattered on both sides of the valley. Thus, the panda base on a map forms a long strip, which is unusual for a zoo in city or suburban areas (see Fig. 7). More noticeably, it is located closer to the city centre of Dujiangyan rather than Chengdu. The development of Dujiangyan is far slower than Chengdu in terms of urban economy and population size. Thus, this base lacks the location advantage of CRBGPB as a tourism attraction, which is also reflected in the lower visitor flow. However, since the touristic function of the ‘Panda Valley’ is moderate the scientific functions are instead strengthened and broadcasted more. The research districts in the base account for a larger proportion of the base which include Reintroduction Training Area and Reintroduc- tion Experts Work Station. These districts are not open to the public, and there is little visitors’ disturbance here. The naming of the giant panda enclosures strictly follows the naming system of CRBGPB so that all of them are called panda ‘villas’. However, the number of villas is much fewer than in CRBGPB. In Panda Valley, there are only three panda villas with six giant pandas. Because of the existing governmental regulations and potential risks to the pandas in exhibitions, the contact between general visitors and giant pandas in Panda Valley are kept similar to the traditional patterns of viewing captive animals in a zoo. Every villa consists of a complex composed of interior space and outdoor space and both of the spaces are intercon- nected for the free movement of the animals. The pandas tend to appear more frequently in the outdoor space and behave more actively there. They can be seen playing by themselves or munching bamboos by visitors looking over the fence (see Fig. 8). Occasionally, they move to the interior space for a better rest, since the disturbance caused by gathering visitors are diminished here by the block of thick glass windows so that it is relatively closed and quiet there. Overall, the distance between the giant pandas and the visitor in Panda Valley means that visitors are not able to build a real close or special connection with the pandas. Hence, the giant pandas here do not constitute a strong attraction for general visitors. The distance between visitors and the giant panda also means that the giant pandas cannot really work as well as a weathervane to promote the base. As a result, and in contrast to the CRBGPB, red pandas are pushed to a more prominent position in Panda Valley. Therefore, the mechanism of how red pandas are encountered and its effects on the popularity of the red panda can be interpreted more recognizably than in CRBGPB. Twenty red pandas are fed collectively in the district named Red Panda Free-ranging Area in the deepest Panda Valley, which covers a mountain region of around 22 700 m2. While the movement of visitors and encounters of red panda in CRBGPB are partly limited by isolating measures, close encounters between general visitors and red pandas may happen anytime within Panda Valley. Railings and metal mesh merely exist at edges for region division (see Fig. 9), and the movement space for both visitors and animals overlap essentially. Based on these frequent encounters, the exhibiting pattern is designed to mimic a wild non-captive situation, especially as the landscape settings are also similar to the primitive habitats. As discussed in Chapter 4.1., panda bases have been created as a compliment to the reserves to create an overlap between the natural habitats of the giant pandas and human communities from the 45 very beginning. In the red panda areas, stepping into the free-ranging area, visitors place themselves in an imagined wild world. What visitors see of the red panda, such as their normal and free life, enables them to actively associate the experience with the survival conditions of the red pandas in their natural habitats. Being immersed in such a scene tend to lead to deep understandings on the significance of unthreatened life for the species in the wild as well as concern about relevant conservation status (see discussion in Trembly 2008). In addition, wildlife located in an outdoor and habitat-like circumstance tends to be more active and display a more natural behaviour, which can in turn enhance visitors’ emotional reactions (Han- son 2004: 144). Such visiting experience can provide visitors with a feeling of privilege. When a visitor takes the initiative of a close encounter with a red panda or a red panda takes the initiative, the visitors’ perspective changes with their body movements so that what they see can change to be entirely different , and experience which cannot be created in a general tour in zoo (see Packer and Ballantyne 2012). In the Panda Valley you can as a visitor easily imagine yourself walking along a mountain trail following and interacting closely with a red panda (see fig 10). This interaction undoubtedly benefits the promotion of the red pandas.

Apart from how the visitors are made to be in close contact with the red pandas there is another important feature of the Panda Valley that should be mentioned, which is the design of the free-ranging area. Since Panda Valley is established against the mountain slope, the visiting process also means a physical exertion of the visitors as they have to climb to follow the paths. This design can also be interpreted as a variant of walking strategy in a general zoo. Braver- man (2011) argues that walking rather than other means of transportation adds a more meaningful part of a ‘zoo’ or animal exhibition experience even though it is strenuous for some of the visitors. In a zoo, it helps visitor to accurately identify the particularity of landscape, distinguish the landscape from urban space and daily life, and to immerse themselves into it. From the very beginning, this kind of landscape immersion was designed and thought of to evoke visitors’ strong interest in non-human nature. At present, it is accepted that the immersion contributes to visitors’ empathy when it comes to the survival dilemma of animals (see discussion in Hanson 2004: 158). However, there is still an enormous chasm between wild animals and animals in zoos or exhibition centres in terms of survival problems. For instance, a red panda in the wild have to scavenge for food. They are usually not fed regularly and or get to rest on a wide wooden platform as in the Panda Valley (see fig 11). So called ‘natural settings’ in zoos and exhibition areas are typically filled with artificial factors which are usually concealed skilfully or neglected selectively by visitors (and animals) (Braverman 2011).

46 Figure 8 Photo taken by the author

Figure 9 Photo taken by the author

Figure 10 Photo taken by the author

Figure 11 Photo taken by the author

48 6. The Tibetan Antelope: Iconic Species in Images

The Tibetan antelope, which is also called chiru, is in comparison to the other species discussed here. It is an interesting contrast as it is linked very closely to a specific region in China. The Tibetan antelope is strongly linked with a regional ethnic and cultural context, even though its social and cultural impacts have been expanding in recent years (cf Pei et al 2019), as I will also discuss in this chapter. The Tibetan antelope live on high altitudes and require huge living spaces (idem.). The strict ecological demands of the Tibetan antelope in terms of living habitats, means that the strategies and practices for popularizing and promoting the giant and red pandas are not feasible for the Tibetan antelope. Despite lots of attempts of raising the antelope there have been no successful experiment to breed Tibetan antelopes in a zoo environment (Liu 2012). The pristine habitats of the species, the core area of which is the Tibetan Plateau, the highest altitude plateau around the world, precludes the possibility to develop tourism under such harsh conditions. For the general public, the lack of possibilities of real contacts with the species, results in that the images and representations of the species become the only significant contact with the species. By contrast, the giant panda also emerges frequently as images and symbols to the great majority of the Chinese citizens, but the public also has a better possibility of contact. This difference provides me with a good comparison and alternate perspective for examine the promotion of the Tibetan antelope in comparison to the giant and red panda. Here I will take another approach, focusing mainly on the representation of the Tibetan antelopes through images and campaigns, and the types of the images range from static designs to films. The emergence of the Tibetan antelope in the form of images started many years after the images of giant panda was first produced (see Chapter 3). More specifically, the Tibetan antelope was not a theme for the mainstream art products promoted by the government until 2008, when it became one of the prototypes of Olympic mascots. The Tibetan antelope was then for the first time empowered with the same cultural status as the giant panda and emerged frequently with the giant panda in same images.

6.1. Tibetan Antelopes in Reality In the whole Qinghai-Tibet region, the Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii) is the only remaining ungulate with migratory habits. The species was firstly named by the British natu- ralist Brian Houghton Hodgson in 1826 and the world began to systematically know the species based on textual materials and the species’ skull specimen collected by Hodgson (Lowther 2019). The most severe decline in the population of the Tibetan antelope happened in the latter part of the 20th century mainly due to illegal hunting (Pei et al 2019). The main target of the poachers is the fur flayed from Tibetan antelope, which is the raw material for luxurious shawl shahtoosh21. Producing a shahtoosh needs to kill three to four Tibetan antelopes on average (Chang 2011). The main consumer markets of shahtoosh are developed nations like the US, Switzerland, France and so on. These consumers’ high demands for shahtoosh drive the bloody and violent industry. Poachers always trade the fur with international smugglers in Grimm of China. Then raw materials are transported to India and Nepal, the world’s production centre of the bloody luxury (idem.).

21 See the website of Natioanl Geogrpahy (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/04/tibetan-antelope-killed-to- make-luxury-scarves/) 49 To protect the Tibetan antelope, sizable vigilante groups organized by indigenous Tibetans, volunteers to fight against poaching and to protect the vital indigenous species. During a tur- bulent period in the late 20th century, violent confrontations as well as casualties occurred frequently from the sides of both vigilantes and poachers. In the 21st century, the intervention of protective measures, laws and regulations have curbed the illegal hunting (idem.). The Ti- betan antelope began to emerge more frequently not only in the forms of images but also in governmental propaganda discourses, with the construction of Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the world’s highest railway. The images of the Tibetan antelope were then used in the governmental propaganda for the railway. From the perspective of the government, the natural characteristics of the Tibetan antelope, conveys the function of a flagship species (see definition in Chapter 2) similar to the giant panda. In this sense, the image of the Tibetan antelope is meant to propagate the governmental efforts on environmental protection, and to show the abundance of the nation’s natural resources. Its importance is especially high as the Tibetan antelope is an endemic species like the giant panda, thus the function and meaning of the Tibetan antelope is amplified by association (cf Songster 2018: 114). Moreover, the antelope also became a symbol of the Chinese government’s ‘proactiveness’ in conservation. With the connection of the building of the Qinghai-Tibet railway, the government carried out the program of building underpasses, which was designed to guarantee that the railway wouldn’t influence the normal migration of the antelopes and to make it safe for the antelopes to cross the railway. However, though the underpasses are not sufficient enough to solve the problem that the railway disrupted the optimal seasonal migration routes of the antelope (see discussion in Xu et al. 2019), the Chinese government still defines this conservation program as a huge success. One reason for this is, because regardless of success or not, the project symbolise the official attitude towards wildlife from the side of the government. Through the symbol of the Tibetan antelope the government can thus attest that they have invested funds to guarantee the normal migration of an endangered species in this large-scale engineering project. Prior to this project the government was accustomed to selectively ignore conservation of indigenous species if it meant hindering construction progress or increasing budget but it was receiving increasing criticisms for non-action in terms of environment and for its predominant utilitarian motives22. On a deeper level, the government attempts to construct a metaphoric connection towards the general public through linking the railway with the indigenous iconic species: the normal life of the indigenous society can avoid being destroyed even after being introduced with modern- ization construction. Also, it should be admitted that the final outcomes of the protection of the Tibetan antelope are positive. According to the red list of IUCN, the Tibetan antelope has been rated as Near Threatened.23 The main contributions to the repopulation are both legislative and institutional measures. All the antelope-related hunting became illegal from 1993. Besides, various types of management stations have been established in all the distribution areas of the antelopes. Representatives are found in the different sections of administrative districts and are equipped to monitor possible poachers (Fox & Dorji 2009).

6.2. Making the Tibetan antelope a mascot After the Asian Games, the Chinese government and even the whole nation insisted in a stub- born obsession for holding major international events, especially Olympic Games which is

22 The construction of Three Gorges Dam, the largest hydropower station around the world, is an emblematic example. Even though it was proven that the construction of the dam could cause catastrophic results for endangered fish species in Yangtze River, which included disturbing spawning migration, reducing breeding ground and so on, the government still insisted original construction plan and took no remedial measures at all (Xie 2003). 23 The data comes from the official website of the Red List of IUCN (https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/15967/50192544), and the latest assessment of the species was on July 19th, 2016. 50 described as a dream for the whole society to pursue in official discourses. Indeed, Olympic Games is a significant approach to display and promote achievements of a specific nation or city. It can bring with extraordinary business opportunities through attracting massive amounts of international tourists watching games and after games with good promotion. Furthermore, public facilities, specifically built for the event and other supporting services remain and can be reused for other events (Griggs et al 2012). After one failure in 1993, Beijing finally gained the chance to hold the 29th Summer Olympic Games in 2008, and with this event the choice of the giant panda as a symbol was perhaps obvious, more surprising perhaps was the complimentary choice of the Tibetan antelope. With the 2008 Olympic games, the Tibetan antelope in the form of a mascot was shown to be in an equal position to the the giant panda for the first time. The name of all mascots for the Olympic games in Beijing in 2008 is Fuwa, which means lucky dolls in Chinese. It refers to five different mascots in fact, and their names are Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying and Nini from left to right (see figure 12). Their names are based on different syllables of Chinese characters. When these syllables are read coherently, they mean ‘Welcome to Beijing’ in Chinese. A qualified design of an Olympic symbols and mascots must sufficiently reflect the sportsmanship and the Olympic spirit at the same time while as it shows and promote the local culture as well as national characteristics (Collins 2011; see also discussion in Chapter 4.2). Thus, in the representation of the 2008 Olympic game mascots, one can see the figure named Huanhuan standing at the centre position. Huan- huan can be easily be recognized as an incarnation of the Olympic flame and he has the largest body size among all other mascots. At the same time, the features of all the mascots evoke Chinese folk art and local symbolism. The flame pattern on Huanhuan’s head is sampled from the old Buddhist murals in the Dunhuang caves which was established nearly two thousand years ago. The headpiece of blue figure Beibei is sampled form the pattern of water and fish in traditional New Year Paintings and both of the factors represent prosperity in China’s cultural context. The headpiece of the green Nini is a swallow-shaped kite which is a famous regional handicraft of Beijing so Nini can also be said to represent the host city (Gage et al 2013). Meanwhile the orange Yingying whose prototype is the Tibetan antelope has a Tibetan style cloud-pattern headpiece. From this perspective, the Fuwa image seems to have successfully presented the cultural range, regional diversity and even historical changes of the whole country (Collins 2011). Nonetheless, the Tibetan antelope is not equal to the giant panda in terms of the influences of their cultural iconicity. As I have shown here, after long and intentional process of shaping the panda as a symbol, the status of the giant panda as the national symbol has been accepted

Figure 12 Picture from the official website of Sougou Baike (https://baike.sogou.com/v51747.htm?fromTitle=福娃) 51 nationally and internationally. As a result, Jingjing whose prototype is the giant panda is the only mascot whose face design is not anthropomorphised, which means that the face design of the mascot is based on the original animal shape. It is a necessity to make the prototype easily recognizable not only just because the lovely face of a giant panda is attractive but also because the panda can be the key factor to help people without Chinese cultural background to quickly associate the event with China. However, the influence and popularity of Tibetan antelopes are obviously limited in a specific region. At the time of the Olympics it was not well-known to foreigners and even to some of the Chinese so in this case the prototype, the Tibetan antelope has been anthropomorphised to such an extent that it is even hard to recognize the prototype from the image. The Tibetan style headpiece and the anthropomorphised smiling face increase the conceptual distance between the mascot and the species in reality. Only the ideology behind the image can better explain the reason why the species is chosen as the prototype. Yingying and the Tibetan antelope are used as symbolisms to satisfy the authorities’ desire of building favourable impressions internationally, because the Olympics Games is regarded by the government as an open platform to show a nation’s political stability in front of the external world (idem.). The selection of an endemic species in Tibetan plateau is empowered with the symbolic function to declare the official attitude that different ethnic- ities can get noticed equally in a conservative and well-disciplined socialist country and to present relations between central authorities and local communities as stable (cf Griggs et al 2012). However, the actual propagandistic effects of the mascot may fall through in its expectations. On a deeper level, the blind self-confidence of the government motivates the strategy of pushing both the Tibetan antelope and the indigenous community that is represented by the species into the limelight. Since the beginning of 21st century, China’s central government has continuously used considerable economic investment as the principal way to handle Tibet-related problems. The investment relies on a national project called the Great Western Development which is aimed to close the economic gap between the western inland and other developed regions through supporting infrastructure construction and open markets in the western inland (Hillman 2008). Such policy towards Tibet fully exposes the rigid logic of the central government when dealing with ethnic affairs. The speeding economic growth comes in the first place and it is always regarded as the most effective tool to offset or even hide other social conflicts. Thus, the motivation from the authorities when selecting mascots can be surmised: Tibet after economic development is a qualified example for glorifying the image of the government where the Tibet antelope with its regional representativeness is seen as a rational and low-risk selection. Unexpectedly, there was an eruption of violence in Tibet in the same year of Beijing Olympic Games. These conflicts came to be associated with the mascot. The association totally transformed both domestic and foreign public’s interpretations of the mascot in a negative sense and also had direct impacts on public acceptance of the mascot. Moreover, other malignant incidents and natural disasters emerging in the same year were linked with the other Fuwa mascots in a similar way. As a result, the symbolic meanings that China’s government empowered on the mascots were partly perverted and Fuwa began to be dubbed as ‘Wuwa’ among the Chinese public, the new word meaning ‘witch dolls’ instead of ‘lucky dolls’ (Griggs et al 2012). The government was also so urgent to shape the symbolism of the Tibetan antelope that the natural properties of the Tibetan antelope were ignored. The prominent natural property of the species is their threatened populations and related fragile ecosystem, which definitely does not match the image of ‘regional prosperity’ that the authorities want to present (see discussion in Bonde 2009). A successful mascot of an international event should still be an enduring legacy for the country and even the world. Take the comparison of the 1990 Asian Games panda mascot discussed in Chapter 4.2. It is supposed to not only emerge at a short time period but also obtain the long-time effectiveness of cultural or economic values (Griggs et al 2012). It can be noticed that Yingying even lacks an outstanding particularity for public’s deep memory, not to mention long-term values. Accordingly, the Tibetan antelope has never emerged in the form of mascot in large-scale international event in China after the Olympic event. 52 By contrast, the giant panda is selected again as the prototype of the mascot of the upcoming 24th Winter Olympic Games held in Beijing in 2022. The mascot called Bing Dwendwen is a giant panda varnished with a layer of ice. The two factors, ice and the giant panda, are pieced together mechanically, but in reality, giant pandas do not need to live in an environment fully covered by ice. The design fully embodies the official recognition of using panda image as a shortcut. The giant panda carries enough symbolic meanings to represent the whole nation so that the simple combination of the species and ice, which is apparently used to highlight the theme of winter games, can easily accomplish the fundamental mission of a qualified mascot, which is to reflect both the generality of the event itself and individuality of the host country. Meanwhile, other potential species like the Tibetan antelope were excluded out of the animal candidates to avoid the possible huge chasm between public interpretations and symbolic meanings empowered studiously by the authorities.

6.3. Seeing Tibetan Antelopes in Films Before the first appearance of the Tibetan antelope in mascot form, it first appeared in cinema in 2004. This was significantly later the film debut of the giant panda (see Chapter 4.4.). The 2004 film featuring the Tibetan antelopes is not a product driven by national policy or government propaganda. The name of the film is Kekexili: Mountain Patrol and it combines the characteristics of both a blockbuster commercial film and acclaimed art film, which was unusual for the domestic Chinese film market at the time. The film director Lu Chuan earned great praise for the quality of the movie that was also very successful. The main motive of the film derives from the huge amounts of news reports about indigenous vigilantes’ efforts and sacri- fices to protect the population of Tibetan antelopes. The film takes place specifically in Kekex- ili, which is the major habitat for Tibetan antelopes (Wang 2005). In the film whose time length is 85 minutes, scenes with the Tibetan antelopes account for only one fifth of the total time or even less. Besides, most images of the antelopes show them in a highly vulnerable situation and in strong images that are upsetting for general audiences. Most of the images show bloodied and dead bodies of antelopes killed by poachers rather than the vigorous images of antelopes that gallop on the plateau. In general, the exposure of a species’ dead body tends to affect the public negatively in terms of acceptance or affection of the species. It is not a typical approach for the introduction or promotion of the protection of a species, since the natural resistance to death and bloodiness can function as a deterrent for the general public to know more about the species. Nevertheless, the actual responses to Lu Chuan’s movie prove that the dramatic effects of the killed antelopes opened up an unconven- tional channel to create emotional links between public and the species. This emotional link is based on compassion for what the species suffers, which in many ways differs from the sympathy created from a feeling of closeness and recognition established by the anthropomorphised strategies discussed in this thesis. Back to the film itself, the cultural symbolism of the antelope, which represents the close and harmonious relationships between indigenous people and indigenous species in Tibet, is not the emphasis in the film, even though such type of positive symbolic meaning is broadly applied to mascots and other artistic forms. Instead, the dying antelope conveys a contrary meaning. The images of the dying antelope can be interpreted to refer to both the decline and destruction of the old ecosystem and the traditional human community. This kind of representation can also be reflected in many human-related images in the film. For instance, the process of celestial burial in Tibetan community appears repeatedly both for deceased vigilantes and poachers. However, from the angle of the iconological symbolism, the film expresses an ex- ceedingly universal ideology, because the anxious appeal for the ecological conservation

53 transcends a specific cultural context. The film ultimately appeals to the environmental awareness of the audience as well as the self-experienced negative effects of ecological deterioration in the daily life. It is the highlighting of the wide-accepted ecological values and calls for rethinking of human-animal relations that contributes to the high regard of the film as a mile- stone for the development of the ecological film as an independent genre in China (Wang 2005). It is not possible here (lacking any audience surveys) to discuss in detail how the individual perception shapes the symbolic links between the Tibetan antelope and environmental issues. However, from the perspective of the film’s popularity and reputation at that time, it can con- clude that the Tibetan antelope, a species that cannot be seen in the wild by most people but only be on the screen, succeeded to guide general audiences to pay more attentions on the actual fragile ecosystem after watching the film. The increasing proportion of mutualism in China’s mainstream orientations on wildlife values is closely related with the urban sprawl and rising educational level. Meanwhile, the unbalanced regional poverty and general educational inequality limit individual and collective recognitions of absolute mutualism. The majority of Chinese publics still regard ensuring wildlife’s basic rights for a living space as the only necessity during the process of wildlife conservations. In truth, it is just the minimum level requirement for wildlife to survive. Even for some of those who have a strong sense of mutualism, deep and comprehensive considerations about animal welfare are still lacking commonly (Zinn and Shen 2007). What the film achieves well is to locate the species under the spotlight of public’s concern. The animal exploitation represented directly by the antelopes’ death is the cruellest threat on wildlife’s survival that the most of audiences can imagine. Hence, it can efficiently arise the practical public responses on species conservation. Compared with the mascot mode of representation discussed in the previous section of this chapter, the symbolism empowered on the Tibetan antelope in the film seems to be more acceptable and used more frequently in the subsequent antelope-related images. After the Olym- pic Games in Beijing in 2008, the antelope was seldom shown officially in public sight as discussed above. There may be two possible interpretations for the abandonment of the mascot image of the Tibetan antelope from the government. One is that the propaganda effects of the antelope mascot did not attain the anticipated goal in terms of representing the regional stability that authorities wanted to show to the outside (and inside) world. The other is that new social problems in China has emerged more frequently in regions other than Tibetan area these years so that the emphasis of the governmental propaganda has also been transferred from Tibet to other regions correspondingly. Nevertheless, it does not mean that the Tibetan antelope and the associated debates outright disappeared in domestic discussions. In fact, most of the emergences of Tibetan antelopes on screens after the Olympics were accompanied by the advocation for ecological conservation and strong resistance against poaching. The series of documentaries named The Migration of Tibetan Antelopes was televised in 2015 on CCTV (China Central Television) which is the largest official TV channel controlled by the central government. The series is to be regarded as somewhat of a duplicate of the essential elements of the film Kekexili. The broadcasting of the series has shown how that the non-governmental shaping of an animal’s popularity and symbolism and acceptance towards a species’ symbolism by the public are capable to affect or even instruct governmental shaping process, especially in a boom period of mass media. The series consists of 10 parts and follows the antelope’s long-distance migration, now with the sweeping images of antelopes’ herds. The forestry policemen fighting against poaching are at the same time significant objects of description. However, unlike the Kekexili film, the director’s personalized perspective and bloody scenes of dead antelopes are not retained in the documentary. The aim of the documentary from the government’s perspective is to promote environment education for all citizens. Thus,

54 the film has a preference for neutral and scientific expressions, rather than the emotional images and expressions deriving from the director’s individual artistic aspirations. As a matter of fact, the frequency of mentioning about the Tibetan antelopes and its environmental functions in the field of mass media has decreased sharply in today’s China and it’s hard to see how a Tibetan antelope-themed artwork or films causing enormous social repercussions again. I prefer to attribute this kind of gradual faded enthusiasm to the fast popularity of a species, which can lead to the public attitude that the intensive protection of the antelopes is not a necessity anymore. Based on that, it can even predict that the Tibetan antelope will become further from a real nation-wide iconic species in the future.

55 7. Discussion

When I began this study, I wanted to regard the giant panda as a reference to compare with other species who are potential iconic species or whose image has been deliberately portrayed as such. But comparing with the panda is difficult as I have had to acknowledge its unprecedented dis- tinctiveness. It is such an ‘all round’ species on which you can find nearly all kinds of characters of iconicity as discussed in Chapter 2. So, let me first just repeat the characters of iconicity I discussed in Chapter 2.

7.1. Defining Iconicity As mention in Chapter 2.1.1., iconic species as a terminology lacks a wide-accepted and specific definition. The exploration into iconicity also crosses over a wide range of different theoretical and conceptual thinking. However, I appreciate the openness of the concept as for me it allows the introduction of a new dimension of humanities, to study the relationship between society and animal that goes beyond its biological status. Also, this project could not have been realized based on a strictly standardized terminology. As a result, I introduce my own interpretation of various kinds of species’ iconicity drawing from the perspective of different disciplines and sources. I began with explaining the more conventional definitions of an iconic species based on and made them more comprehensive. The touristic iconicity derives from the attractive animal shapes, behaviours as well as contacts between animals and people, scientific iconicity which derives from research value and mysteriousness of the animal and cultural iconicity which derives from the symbolic meaning and historical status of the animal. In course of this study I have I expanded the understanding of iconicity first as a process and negotiation and to show how there are many elements that combines and reinforces and why a species becomes iconic. Though I have focused here on animals that the government specifically have intended to promote as symbols, I have also shown here that this process has been far from a one sided process as the public also reshapes these symbolisms – and new meanings are assigned to the symbolism of an animal. Also, I have stressed the importance of allowing the public to have a sense of connection to the animal either by panda bases or through virtually following the animal, or by other means – films or mascots, which reflects my attempt to tell the story of animal iconicity in the sense of a ‘lively ethography’ (see Chapter 2.1.2.). Last but not least, I also need to mention the methodologies that I have used to approach the subject. They worked well, especially the combination of approaches coming from several disciplines. Some of them are typical approaches which are frequently implemented in the field of hum-animal or animal history studies, while the approach of iconography is mostly used in the artistic field. This strategy of combining methodologies and sources mostly relies on the variety of my analysed objects. When it comes to the images, the approach function well for a more systematic and more reliable interpretation.

56 7.2. Learning from the Examples The retrospect of the history of iconic species in China (see Chapter 3) highlighted the regional characteristics and exemplifies some historical trajectories and situation whereby a species increases in popularity or is loaded with symbolism to become an iconic species. The chapter also served to introduce the reader to the eastern cultural background. Here, I will briefly summarise these examples and compare with the more in-depth studies presented in this thesis.

7.2.1. The Crested Ibis The crested ibis as discussed in Chapter 3 has a double symbolism which differs from other iconic species in a broad sense due to being in the special context of eastern society. The crested ibis with strong symbolic meaning in Japan was given as gifts by China to Japan. As this species had died out in Japan, it can be seen it became a symbol of diplomacy and friendship for China. An influential iconic species can function as iconic in various fields as shown in the case of ibis, without its iconicity being weakened. On the contrary, as shown in the case of the crested ibis the double symbolism rather increases its influences in another field. The same process we can also see in the case of giant panda as will be discussed more below. For Japan, the gift of the crested ibis is a more symbolic compared with the giant panda. The special status of the species brings reliable beneficial exchanges, which can be partly confirmed by the financial devotion from Japan to the in-situ conservation of crested ibises in China for a long time (Yan 1999). For China, the lack of the crested ibis in terms of indigenous cultural context provides the government with flexibility. It allows the government to utilize the species without any objections from the indigenous community and the strong associations or claims based on the historical or geographical status of the animal (the latter which is also exemplified by the Tibetan antelope). The targeted field and audience for the crested ibis reflect a strong ‘utilitarian’ approach of the government during the shaping process. The public can accept the crested ibis as a ‘birdy panda’ which needs to be protected for its own sake but also to maintain the emotional link between Chinses and Japanese. It is the particularity of the crested ibis that guides the shaping process of its iconicity, but potentially it also limits the transferability of this learnt experience when it comes to shaping other iconic species. In other words, the process of shaping crested ibis into an iconic species is rather coincidental. It’s hard to find another endangered species just like the crested ibis which has such different symbolism in two neighbouring countries and can still make new connections between the two cultural contexts. Other species mentioned in Chapter 3, whose symbolic meanings are rooted in the long-time national imagination (see Chapter 3.1.) or consumption of animal products (see Chapter 3.3.) can hardly reconnect two cultural contexts in such a positive way nowadays like the crested ibis , but even in a negative way such as ivory consumption.

7.2.2. The Giant Panda The analysis on the giant panda (see Chapter 4) is the most comprehensive and complicated one presented in this thesis. The chronicles of the shaping process of the giant panda into an iconic species is rather well known and it is also the best documented example with the thorough analysis presented by Songster (2018) which has been drawn on extensively here. But as shown in Chapter 4 the relationship between the giant panda and the public is also changing with new media. Before discussing this further I will first summarise the discussion in Chapter 4. The giant panda had no context in the cultural history of China before 1949. There were no traditional paintings whose theme was the giant panda, and the giant panda did not function as a symbol in the form of images or literature before this. Thus, the symbolism of the species itself is not recorded in history like texts or images. Rather changes in symbolic meanings have reflect the political changes and soci- oeconomic status in China after the 1950s.

57 On the one hand, the iconic status of the Panda and its connection to national identity has made the government use the panda as a means of propaganda and diplomacy. ‘Panda Diplomacy’ is the most striking instance of the governmental utilization of giant pandas, and it is also a typical display of the giant panda’s outstanding social value in terms of its potential ability to change social relations and even diplomatic models. ‘Panda Diplomacy’ can be briefly explained as using the giant panda as a diplomatic tool (similar to the case of the double crested ibis discussed above) and it can be classified under the category of public diplomacy where a specific country takes advantage of non-political diplomatic alter-natives to increase foreign citizens’ knowledge about the country, transform their original views on the country and motivate them to voluntarily participate in relevant interactions with the country (see discussion in Songster 2018: 225). The status of the giant panda has succeeded to integrate both economic and technological resources from the authorities such as in the form of financial input for the construction of panda reserves as well as in the form of technical input for the reproduction of captive giant panda, and the symbol of the giant panda itself has even strengthened the identity of Chinese people to some extent since 1949 (Songster 2018: 19; see above). In Chapter 4 I also analyse the use of panda mascots, namely PanPan which was used at the 11th Asian Games held in Beijing in 1990. It can be noticed that when a shaping process of an iconic species is truly achieved in China, the species cannot avoid a such chaotic phase of irrational treat- ment which is shown in the abuse of Basi. Government decision-making often lacks enough trans- parency for public participation so that the government takes it for granted that public’s blind love for the giant panda is easily satisfied and the mistreatment will be neglected. The increase of new channels for expressing public’s opinion in China (though strictly controlled and monitored), especially the introduction of social media, can become an efficient correction, which means that some of governmental misuse can be forced to change under the growing public pressure. Since the giant panda was regarded as a well-known iconic species by default throughout the creative process of PanPan the mascot, and all the following practices, including the mistreatment of the living panda Basi, to me belongs to the realm of utilizing the existing values of a mature and successful iconic species. Nevertheless, the commemoration of Basi after her death aimed to add new symbolic contents on the existing iconic species and enhance the public emotions towards the iconic species, so all such practices could be regarded to start a new round of shaping process. Thus, the shaping process in China is proven to be endless and alternate, the so-called accomplish- ment is always relative and temporary. As shown in the cases of PanPan and Basi the government becomes just a notable node for shaping the giant panda as an iconic species instead of the ultimate consequence. The utilitarian approach to the giant panda is also shown in the panda bases that are discussed in Chapter 5. Any encounter in the panda base is in essence equal to the utilization of species’ iconicity for value exchange. The probable negative effects of the process on the species itself are barely considered unless it harms the subsequent value change. Besides, the discussion on the panda base itself is the other linchpin. Beyond their significance for conservation biology and panda reproduction, panda bases also characterise the philosophy and continued insurance for a governmental- leaded system of wildlife conservation and utilization. In other words, panda bases are key institutions to make the panda-distribution policy more pragmatic. If the allocation of giant pandas among different zoos, both nationally and internationally, is treated as a process of reallocating rare nature resources, the panda base has been successfully shaped as monopoly organization to control over a natural resource, which partly exposed the ‘domination’ orientation of the authorities on giant pandas.

7.2.3. The Red Panda In Chapter 5, the analysis on encounter is in focus and I also move the discussion on encounter from the giant panda to the red panda. The promotion of the red panda in the panda base is mostly

58 inspired by the coexistence of these two species in the reserve. What I have observed in panda bases can definitely reflect the gradual governmental and public acknowledgment of red pandas’ touristic iconicity. Nevertheless, the degree of improvement of in terms of conservation as a result of increased popularity or iconicity can only be examined over long-term. At present the giant panda seems to have a brighter survival prospect when compared with the red panda. There are various factors which range from the national symbolism to the artistic image to support the public’s great affection towards the species as well as the constant enthusiasm towards the conservation of the great panda. Among all the factors, the encounters between people and giant pandas provided by the panda bases is not a decisive factor for the iconic status of the giant panda. The visual sense, rather than other senses is often defined as the core element when encountering a species (cf Mills 2017: 122), but seeing a giant panda through glass window and from a fixed distance does not have superiority in terms of enjoyment when compared with seeing it in a live broadcast shot by high definition video camera (as I discussed in Chapter 4.4.). Hence, it can be concluded that the strategy of encounter in the panda base is more valuable for the red panda in terms of increasing its popularity. However, it should also be stressed that the potential physical injury of visitors encountering the red pandas is higher as they are brought into closer proximity to people in the exhibition areas. Even in the panda base, the disturbances of the visitors on red pandas cannot be eradicated completely. Close encounters with people make the red pandas stressful and their aggressive and threatening behaviour may be a problem. Still, the strategy of attracting tourists through setting habitat- like landscapes and providing chances of close encountering with the species present a new trend of nature-based tourism, and such form of the tourism to me is a reflection of a new world-wide phase of species protection.

7.2.4. The Tibetan Antelope The Tibetan antelope is one of the representative species of the Tibetan plateau. The geographic distribution of the species results in its original symbolic connection with the indigenous human community which is established on the plateau, and the closed region determines that the influence scope of its symbolism is limited. The frequent armed conflicts between the poachers and vigilantes that protect antelopes attracted the attention of news media and then brought the species to a wider public space. Consequently, the harsh reality stimulated director Lu Chuan to present the tragedy of the species on big screen, which for the first time gave the wider audience an association with the species and ecological concern. It is not surprising that the government got the inspiration after the success of the film to utilize the species as a mascot in the international event for governmental propaganda. However, the political image was detached from the real animal shape and its survival conditions. Thus, the use of the Tibetan antelope as a new national symbol backfired. Then, the government turned to another use of the Tibetan antelope as a symbol, using it to convey proactive environmental conservation from the official side. During the analysis on Tibetan antelopes in images (see Chapter 6), I tended to emphasize the inevitable ‘failure’ when a species is deliberately empowered with a politic-oriented symbolic meaning but not logical interpretation of its natural features. Nevertheless, I also need to point out the public can also be aware of the benefits of the image form of the species. It helps the public to surpass the difficulty of encountering the species and to associate with the recognisable function- ality of the species in daily life, which can be both aesthetic and/or educational (Peng 2012).

59 7.3. Displaying Animals The analyses of the panda bases also require a discussion on the display of animals. After all, all the encounters I have discussed in the panda base are entirely shaped in a social context rather than the pristine surroundings it tries to evoke so in this sense they are similar to zoos. The situation where the red panda actively crosses the boundary between human beings and animals to break into the visitor’s space can only occur frequently in such a controlled artificial site. The inner structure of a panda base attempts to reshape or extend human’s emotional correlation with the species to further influence public attitudes on wildlife conservation. However, it is not necessarily the visitors’ concrete contacts with the animal in a limited space that improve the conservation directly. The visitors’ subjective definitions of the panda base itself as well as their anticipations about the visit experiences in the panda base also play a role to determine whether general visitors can support more to the species conservation after the visit (Hallman & Benbow 2006). As a matter of fact, the panda base is mostly highlighting its touristic characteristics. An obvious tourism orientation can be reflected in the design of landscape setting in the base and the base’s high similarity with the zoo also constitutes an implication for the public. Therefore, general visitors seem to treat the panda base as analogous to a zoo rather than a museum. More specifically, visitors associate the panda base as a visit to an attraction rather than as an information or educational centre about the pandas. The preference determines visitors’ expectations of their visits and also their overall experience. The association is important as, it is common for visitors to come to zoo for amusement and while they come to a museum for specific knowledge (Hyson 2004). The panda bases can be said to be caught in or even to be a product of this contradiction. The precondition of realizing its educational function is that enough visitors are attracted by the various types of encounters with animals. If the panda bases continue to develop their tourist-orientation, the targeted audiences of the panda base are probable to increase continuously. How- ever, the needs for environmental education are supposed to be balanced with needs for amusement. The most direct effects of practices including landscape settings and changes of traditional encounter patterns are the distinct improvement of the visit experience as well as the enhancement of the emotional link between the animal and visitors. These effects necessarily imply that the rising attraction of the panda base for general visitors to pay for the tour but does not guarantee visitors’ practical deeds to support the species conservation after the visit, since these deeds are eventually motivated by multiple factors. Actually, the intentions of the government when carrying out such practices follow the common hierarchy of values where the economic benefits derived from the tourism based on iconic species are prioritized.

7.4. Iconicity and Care for a Species It’s a necessity to discuss here that the frequent use of the ‘iconic species’ in governmental propaganda leads to the temporary shift of the public focus from the real species to the representation of the species. In the Panda case, this redirection of focus very much affected by and in line with the governmental intentions, at least until very recently - the public can then initiate to put pressure on government to conserve a species (Novacek 2008). In terms of care for the animal, this governmental redirection of attention can have negative side effects, but the public fondness on the species can ultimately guide the public awareness of biodiversity and other environmental issues. Many iconic species are certainly ecologically important for supporting ecosystems and for other species. However, in most cases the population decline of such a species does not lead to the deterioration of living environments for human beings in a direct and immediate way. Instead, it can lead to considerable destruction on a social level, which can be presented as partly disappearance of traditional culture and regional identity of a specific human community, or common feelings of the loss of emotional ties. Extra attention from public on iconic species thus is rarely purely ecology-oriented but rather derives from the interrelations between the species and human

60 society as discussed in Chapter 2.1.2. The correlations between people’s daily life and nearest surrounding natural environments stimulate individual’s personal development, and the public tends to absorb and internalize surrounding environments to enrich itself. Based on such sense of closeness in some cases, those species that used to exist in places near the human communities or even shared the same habitats in history have a great opportunity to inspire people’s imagina- tions and to be integrated into human culture, although such species may now have been dis- tanced away from human communities (by population decline or habitat loss), showed no inter- connections with human culture or even been extinct at present time (Brostrom 2005). As a result, a species that owns a historical connection with a specific indigenous community is more likely to become a steady regional iconic species and can stay visible and active in the view of people’s awareness for a long time (Bowen-Jones & Entwistle 2002). The survival condition of a concerned iconic species is equal cautionary information for both the authorities and the public to maintain the sustainability of the living environment for human beings (Novacek 2008). Moreover, protective measures towards such species shows a broad significance which can be expanded to the corresponding support of biodiversity. Hence, although the interactions between an iconic species and the human community have their own cultural foundations, the most universal meaning of the so-called ‘iconic species’ can merely be seen when breaking out the limitation of a specific cultural context. It partly reveals the link between human destiny and other non-human animals in a shared ecosystem and that is the root reason why shaping an iconic species is such a meaningful process.

7.3. Concluding Remarks When intending to promote a species and to increase its popularity, no matter if it’s a government and organisation or individuals in the public, the ‘shaper’ cannot avoid having a strong subjective desire to spread the information about itself or the information it wants to spread through the iconic species as a channel (DeMello 2012). They tend to shape new iconic species based on public preferences, and the authorities also keep shaping new iconic species in an interest-oriented way. Gov- ernments at all levels and social organizations in China have already been attempting to shape iconic species in order to pursue after various benefits behind the iconic species which included tourism value, governmental reputation and so on. Both of the public and the government have noticed that iconicity is a mixed blessing for the species: it can be very positive for funding and efforts of conservation but can also be problematic. For instance, in the case of the giant panda there is too much focus on giant pandas rather than the related environment and symbiotic species that support the species. Meanwhile, some of the problematic aspects are caused by the shaping process itself, such as excessive reproduction of the captive population and unscientific reintroduction. Although it is theoretically probable to shape a new iconic species which is related to a primary iconic species and is capable to replace the primary one, the giant panda still is unlikely to be replaced by any other species in terms of popularity and iconicity (Kontoleon & Swanson 2003; Buckingham et al 2013). What we learn from the iconic species is not about the decisive factor to promote a species’ status in wildlife protection and national cultural symbolism, but rather we recognize its wide-range impacts on human society and the diversification of human-animal interactions, the changing boundary between wildlife and human beings as well as some kinds of universal ambitions of human beings to use wildlife as representation to shape the society where they live. Driven by that, the shaping process of iconic animals cannot reach a complete rest but needs to integrate more and more new species.

61 References

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