Mankind's evolving relationship with animals 从远古人类的猎物到今日被保护的珍稀动物

Killer bees, sharks and vipers are certainly terrifying for some, but none of them are worthy of the title "most dangerous animal"; for that, we need only look in the mirror. As humanity expands and eats its way into the future, perhaps it is time for us to examine our relationship with other species, and there is no better place to start than the very beginning.

Things were certainly a lot tougher a few thousand years ago. Man had to fight nature to eke out a living. More than 3,000 years ago the ancient Chinese carved their early thoughts about wild animals on to the oracle bones. The 兽 (shòu), or "beast", character originally had a prong on the left, representing a weapon and a simple sketch with a few strokes representing a hound. The prong has two pieces of stone tied on top of each branch and a coil of rope wound in the middle of its shaft. This combination depicts a man who is well-equipped for hunting his beast. So, this character is meant to mean both beast and "to hunt".

From animal bones to turtle shells and from bronze vessels to paper, the written form of the character changed with the medium as well as time. Thus, we end up with 獸, in which you can still find traces of the original form. To further simplify its written form, the right part of the character was omitted while a few corners on the left were cut to reach this modern form. To avoid confusion, people later created another character with the same pronunciation to represent hunting, which is 狩. So, in modern Chinese, 狩猎 (Shòuliè) means to hunt, and 兽 means beast.

Usually, 兽 refers to furry land mammals. Big cats, the top of the food chain, are regarded as 兽王 (shòuwáng, king of beasts, usually equal to lions or tigers). But when it comes to fiction, 兽 knows no boundaries. Mythical creatures, such as dragons, are 神兽 (shénshòu), while the popular online game World of Warcraft is translated to 魔兽世界 (móshòu shìjiè, literally "world of magical beasts"). On other less exciting occasions, 兽 simply means animal. For example, veterinarian is 兽医 (shòuyī) and animal diseases are 兽疫 (shòuyì).

For birds in the animal kingdom, we turn to the character 禽 (qín). In a surprisingly similar development, this character originally represented a net with a long handle, a piece of equipment used to catch birds and other wild animals. Like 兽, it refers to the animal itself and how to hunt it.

Later, the hand radical扌was added to create a new form for the action, which is 擒, and it is still in use today, as in 擒拿 (qínná, catch, arrest or capture). Today, 禽 refers to all kind of birds. For instance, poultry is 家禽 (jiāqín, home birds), while wild birds are 野禽 (yěqín). Predatory birds are 猛禽 (měngqín, fierce birds). Bird flu is, you guessed it, literally 禽流感 (qín liúgǎn).

When put together, the resulting phrase 禽兽 (qínshòu) refers to feathered and furry animals in general and can also refer to people who are inhuman as well. 衣冠禽兽 (yīguānqínshòu) means a beast in human clothing, or brute. Similarly, 人面兽心 (rénmiànshòuxīn means to have a human face but to have a beast’s heart. 禽兽不如 (qínshòu bùrú) describes people who are more beastly than beasts. 兽性 (shòuxìng) represents a brutish nature or the beast in man; when this consumes you, it is a 兽性大发 (shòuxìng dà fā) situation.

It is not just in brutality that humans bear a resemblance to animals. A beast at bay will put up a desperate fight (困兽犹斗 kùnshòuyóudòu), and so will humans. 如鸟兽散 (rúniǎoshòusàn) describes people fleeing helter-skelter, which literally means to scatter like birds and beasts. However, more often than not, 兽 is deemed as dangerous and hostile to humans. Therefore, a great disaster is represented by 洪水猛兽 (hóngshuǐměngshòu), meaning fierce floods and savage beasts.

After such a long history of treating animals as resources and enemies, it might be time for us to leave these 飞禽走兽 (fēiqín zǒushòu, flying birds and walking beasts) alone and cherish and protect the 珍禽异兽 (zhēnqín yì shòu, rare birds and beasts) while we still have the chance.

Courtesy of The World of Chinese, www.theworldofchinese.com

The World of Chinese

(China Daily European Weekly 06/21/2013 page27)