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"Large Twig" Variety In the Western Chou dynasty (over 3000 yrs ago), two books: The Book of History and The Book of Songs take note of an animal "Pi" that resembles a panda. Pi or pixiu are ancient Chinese names for the giant panda. In the Qui dynasty (221-207 BC ), the earliest dictionary describes the mo, the giant panda, as a white leopard with a small head, short limbs and black and white markings. It is said to have eaten copper, iron, and bamboo stems. The Annotated Readings of the Book of Songs refer to an animal known as zhu yi or bai hu as an animal resembling a white bear. With the many names and different descriptions it becomes hard to tell if the descriptions are of a giant panda or another animal.
In ancient China the giant panda was considered rare and a symbol of might and bravery. The panda has been apart of Chinese culture for over 2000 yrs. When the Empress Dowager Bo’s (179-163 BC) tomb was opened 2100 yrs after her death, a giant panda skull was found along side her. A historian noted that in the Western Han dynasty (206 BC - 24 AD) the emperor had a garden of rare species; the giant panda was his most treasured animal. The first emperor of the Tang dynasty is said to have once held a banquet where he honored 14 subjects by presenting them with panda skins. His grandson son is said to have sent two live pandas with several pelts to Japan to help seal trade agreements. Pandas have also been used as gifts from China to a foreign government in more recent times.
A legend attempts to explain how the giant pandas got their beautiful and unusual black markings:
A long time ago, when pandas lived in the mountains of Tibet, they were white as snow. They were friends with four female shepherds that watched their flocks, in the mountains near their village. (Some versions only refer to 1 girl, not 4.) One day as the shepherdesses where playing with a panda cub, a leopard leapt out of the bush and tried to attack the cub. The young shepherdesses threw themselves in front of the cub to save it and were killed by the leopard. (According to some, it was just a panda, not necessarily a cub.) The cub survived and told the other pandas of the girls’ deaths. All the pandas in the area were saddened by their deaths and held a memorial service to honor them and their bravery. To remember their sacrifice for the cub, the pandas all wore black ashes on their arms (as was the local custom). As they wept for the shepherdesses, they wiped their eyes with their paws, they covered their ears to block out the sound of the crying and they hugged each other in grief. As they did these things the ash spread and blackened their fur. The pandas did not wash the black off their fur as a way to remember the girls. To this day, pandas are covered with the black markings to always remember.