This monograph uses an archaeological approach to decipher folk classification of animals in ancient societies. Ningning Dong collates faunal data from three late Neolithic and early Bronze Age sites in central China and integrates multiple lines of evidence. The analyses demonstrate a folk taxonomy remarkably different from the Linnaean system. The results show that age might have served as a critical categorical filter, particularly in ritual contexts, and that the wild/domesticated dichotomy was established no earlier than the Shang dynasty. This perceptual distinction is unlikely to have been synchronised with the initial occurrence of domestication in the early Neolithic. Animal categories constituted a vital part of a broader classificatory scheme that concerned the organisation of the cosmos as a whole.

This book, integrating multiple lines of evidence and their contextual information, attempts to investigate folk animal classification in central China during the late Neolithic to the early Bronze Age through archaeology.

This volume opens a door into the rich history of animals in China. As environmental historians turn their attention to expanded chronologies of natural change, something new can be said about human history through animals and about the globally diverse cultural and historical dynamics that have led to perceptions of animals as wild or cultures as civilized. This innovative collection of essays spanning Chinese history reveals how relations between past and present, lived and literary reality, have been central to how information about animals and the natural world has been processed and evaluated in China. Drawing on an extensive array of primary sources, ranging from ritual texts to poetry to veterinary science, this volume explores developments in the human-animal relationship through Chinese history and the ways in which the Chinese have thought about the world with and through animals. This title is also available as Open Access.

China's breathtaking diversity of natural habitats--from mountains and deserts to grasslands and lush tropical forests--is home to more than 10 percent of the world's mammal species. This one-of-a-kind pocket guide describes the characteristics, geographic distribution, natural history, and conservation status of all 558 species of mammals found in China. An up-to-date distribution map accompanies each species account, and beautiful color illustrations by wildlife artist Federico Gemma depict a majority of the species. The definitive text is written by leading specialists and follows the most current global standards for mammalian systematics. This field-ready pocket edition of A Guide to the Mammals of China makes the rich mammal fauna of China accessible to ecotravelers and naturalists like never before. The comprehensive pocket guide to all of China's 558 mammal species Describes the physical characteristics, geographic distribution, natural history, and conservation status of every species Features up-to-date distribution maps and stunning color illustrations throughout Written by a team of leading specialists