Daoism and Animals E. N. ANDERSON AND LISA RAPHALS The Animal World ofAncient China three-legged crow in the sun, and the humanoid owl. Ancient China was a world rich in animals. The ancient Chinese knew their fauna inti­ In dramatic contrast to the devastated modern mately. The Classic ofPoetry or Shijing mentions landscape, China's biodiversity was the greatest at least ninety-three species, including twenty­ ofany temperate land. It was a land ofvast lush one mammals (one mythical), thirty-five birds forests, rich grasslands, fertile mountains, and (one mythical, the phoenix), three reptiles (plus enormous expanses of wetland-marsh, swamp, the mythical dragon), one amphibian, thirteen and river bottom. In these dwelt elephants, fish, and nineteen insects.! Here and elsewhere rhinoceri, pandas, apes, tigers, leopards, and in Chinese literature, there is a striking aware­ countless smaller forms. ness of insect life. The songs of the Shi jing re­ The earliest Chinese artifacts from the Shang flect the fresh, direct vision ofpeople who knew dynasty (traditionally 1766-II22 BCE, actually animals from daily experience. The wasp carries somewhat later) include many representations off the caterpillar to feed its young; the rats of dragons and other imaginary creatures, but nibble the grain; the spider spins her web over relatively few portrayals of real-world animals. abandoned doorways. Actual animals depicted include water buffaloes, By the Warring States period (ca. 403-221 tigers, sheep, and birds. Pigs, the most com­ BCE), China's heartland-the North China mon animal found in archaeological remains, Plain, the loess uplands west of it, and the Yang­ are conspicuously absent. In succeeding peri­ tze and Huai river valleys - had already been ods, more and more animals were portrayed, transformed by humans and biotically impov­ as were countless imaginary creatures, such as erished. Rhinos and elephants were exotic crea­ the nine-tailed fox, human-headed birds, the tures, known from trade with non-Chinese ANDERSON AND RAPHALS groups on the margins. The common animals Attributed to Sima Tan in the Historical Records Animals in Early D ofdaily experience were domestic: Horses, don­ or S'hi ji (ca. roo BeE), the term has been keys, cattle, goats, dogs, buffaloes, sheep, pigs, widely used to refer to mystical and quietistic Animals appear in chickens. Ofthese, the last four were native, the interpretations of two texts: the Dao de jing, ings. First, their pI others introduced (as domesticates-although a collection of gnomic verses still wildly popu­ obvious. They pn some had local wild forms) but known for mil­ 200 BeE, lar today. probably compiled abound medicine. Meat, Ie, lennia. Pigs, then as now, were by far the most and Zhuangzi, attributed to the fourth-century derived medicatiot important meat source. Chickens and dogs were BeE figure Zhuang Zhou. Recent archaeologi­ rioned. In the early common, but horses were a luxury for the elite cal finds and contemporary scholarship have cation that such us' and cattle were uncommon beasts of the plow. brought about a reappraisal of the term as ap­ Excessive consumF Rulers kept large game parks, in which they plied to pre-Han texts. Sima Tan's use of the with luxury and dil hun ted deer and other large animals. These were term included a number ofthinkers whose com­ the general tendenc seen by many social critics as wasteful luxuries mon ground was skepticism about active, inter­ was frequently ant that tied up good land. ventionist government. Most of them talked natural process, in Animals per se are not a distinct category in about the need to find dao- the Way. the proper The horse prob: most Chinese texts. Daoist or otherwise. More way of living, acting and governing-but so did tioned animal in eal typically, texts that talk about animals at any most other Chinese philosophers. rifled with wealth, F length use the four or five distinct categories of Another important source was the Chu ci or it was an importal beasts, birds, insects, and fish. with the occa­ a collection ofearly poems by Songs o/the South, elites. One of the r sional addition of dragons and snakes. court officials of Han and immediately pre-Han Zhuangzi attacks w The term Daoism is equally problematic, be­ times. Most of these invoke shamanistic and/or the happiness and j cause of the unclear affiliations of some of the Daoistic images, and some are frankly Daoist. the misery and bad texts and practices in which animals are most The Chu ci is incredibly rich in animal and plant prevalent. Most textual accounts of animals images, mentioning at least eighty-eight animal When they live 0 come from the Six Dynasties period. While hagi­ species, many of which are imaginary. Its pages and drink the w; ographies from the Dao zang are unproblemati­ are rich with dragons, rainbow-serpents, wasps their necks and s cally Daoist, the same cannot be said for the as big as gourds, and ants as big as elephants. swing round and I Soushen and other literature dealing with Even the "real" animals are often completely un­ ji yokes on their nee anomalies, which prominently features accounts identifiable. crossbar: the hors, of animals, both "normal" and anomalous. The is the most philosophically Zhuangzi crossbar, wriggle, In this essay we focus discussion on actual challenging, and the most rich and diverse, of riage hood.3 animals or on individual instances of animals the early sources. Like other early Chinese that are described as anomalies for their kind. works, it was edited and supplemented in the Daoist texts also de This approach largely omits the many accounts Han dynasty, but it retained a solid core ofearly ures mounted on , of mythological animals (the dragon, phoenix, material-presumably by Zhuangzi himself­ and other creatures, unicorn, and the use of animals as purely that have come to be called the "inner chapters." Second, animals directional symbols. We draw on both standard The mentions approximately seventy­ Zhuangzi ancestors, as they st texts from the Warring States period and on re­ five animals, many of them mythical or uniden­ communities. Arch cently excavated archaeological texts. tifiable. Like other early Chinese writers. Zhuan­ practice back to hi! gzi (and the other authors of the material that animals mentioned has accumulated around his name) were con­ oxen, and sheep. n scious of even the smallest insects. A pig louse Early Daoism that Daoists protes becomes a symbol offoolish security, and insect apocryphal anecdot The term "Daoism" as a specific bodyofthought transformations are recorded in exquisite, if bio­ be minister ofstate, is anachronistic when applied to ancient China. logically inaccurate. detaiP self to a sacrificial 1 277 DAOISM AND ANIMALS ~torical Records Animals in Early Daoist Thought point that it is better to be a tortoise dragging erm has been its tail in the mud, free, safe, and unhonored and quietistic Animals appear in many contexts in these writ­ than to live the stiff, artificial, and highly uncer­ ~ Dao de jing, ings. First, their practical value is immediately tain life of a courtier. In some cases, straw and II wildly popu­ obvious. They provided food, clothing, and pottery models were often substituted for the )Und 200 BeE, medicine. Meat, leather, silk, wool, and animal­ real animals, thus saving the latter. "Straw dogs" fourth-century derived medications are very frequently men­ were also used as a metaphor for humans in the Ilt archaeologi­ tioned. In the early Daoist texts there is no indi­ face of Heaven, which treats humans with the ~olarship have cation that such uses were considered immoral. calm indifference of ritualists disposing of sac­ he term as ap­ Excessive consumption of meat was identified rificial straw dogs after the ceremony. m's use of the with luxury and disparaged for that reason, but Finally, animals were also used as models for ~rs whose com­ the general tendency ofanimals to eat each other how to move in powerful, natural, spontaneous, It active, inter­ was frequently and explicitly mentioned as a and healthy ways. In a section of the Zhuangzi f them talked natural process, in harmony with Dao. that probably dates from the Han dynasty, the Vay, the proper The horse probably is the most often men­ anonymous commentator is a bit sarcastic about Ilg-but so did tioned animal in early Chinese texts. It was iden­ those who "huff and puff, exhale and inhale, ... i. tified with wealth, power, and worldly glory, and do the 'bear-hang' and the 'bird-stretch.'" 5 As s the or Chu ci it was an important source of energy for the all of us know who have any acquaintance with early poems by elites. One of the most striking passages in the Chinese martial arts and sexual yoga, the ways !iately pre-Han Zhuangzi attacks worldly power by contrasting of the bear are still with us, along with the ways Ilanistic and/or the happiness and freedom of wild horses with of the monkey, the crane, the snake, and many rankly Daoist. the misery and bad behavior of captive ones: other animals whose motions offer salutary ex­ limal and plant amples of how to move. :y-eight animal When they live out on the plains they eat grass inary. Its pages and drink the water, when pleased they cross ;erpents, wasps their necks and stroke each other, when angry What Animals Did g as elephants. swing round and kick at each other.... Ifyou put completely un­ yokes on their necks and hold them level with a Animals were not viewed simply as useful things. crossbar, the horses will know how to smash the They had varying degrees of spiritual or numi­ )hilosophically crossbar, wriggle out of the yokes, butt the car­ nous power.