We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Animals, Divination, and Climate: An Environmental Perspective on the Cult of the Pig in Ancient China.
- Authors
Min, Xiangpeng; Chen, Huaiyu
- Abstract
As they observed such natural phenomena as pigs bathing in water and black pigs crossing the river, ancient people associated pigs with water and also used their behavior to predict rainfall. What seems to be unique to China, however, is that the idea that the pig wallows immediately before it rains contributed to the rise of the cult of the pig in which the pig was portrayed as the controller of rainfall. Therefore, the ancient Chinese regarded the pig could predict rainfall, which seems a big issue that could not be found in other pig cultures, such as those in eastern Mediterranean region where the pig was regarded as an unclean animal due to its habit of wallowing in mud. In ancient China, the tradition of observing nature is combined with I Yin i I yang i and the Five-Phase theories, which were later incorporated into the ancient arts of divination, including the technique of predicting weather changes by observing the behavior and health of animals.
- Subjects
CHINA; SWINE; DIVINATION; RAINSTORMS; INTERTROPICAL convergence zone; ANIMAL social behavior; FOOD of animal origin
- Publication
ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature & Environment, 2023, Vol 30, Issue 1, p140
- ISSN
1076-0962
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/isle/isaa195