14 Patterns banned from marketing any tusks they obtained,and he proposed that the local officials should pay them half the price.His objective,it seems fair to guess,was to limit what he called"concealment and illicit dealings with others."4 The most likely reason,though,that the peasants made the effort to get their hands on tusks from time to time was that the returns from the combination of crop protection and ivory trading made the substantial risks seem acceptable.This is explicitly spelled out in another report from Zhangzhou(on the southeast coast),late in the twelfth century cE: Many of the common folk who won their living among the mountain gorges had their crops trampled on or eaten by elephants.Some were capable of snaring pits with crossbows and arrows,and were happy to have thus rid themselves of the damage;but when the officials demanded that they pay in the feet and the tusks as a tax,this was too much for them.The common people thereafter preferred to endure damage from the elephants and did not venture to kill them. Just recently,when some of them have presented tusks,the prefect has returned them.He has moreover given orders that families who kill elephants in the future can keep the tusks for themselves.Since the people know how to put an end to the harm caused by elephants,changes will be seen in the deep forests and the spreading footslopes of the hills,and the crops will flourish.s It would be interesting to know why tax policy was the decisive factor in tilting the balance of advantage for farmers here either against,or for,trapping elephants.Seeing that it is said that they were able,though unhappily,to coexist with elephants who ravaged their fields,one suspects that the crucial factor was the cash from the sale of ivory,not just stopping the loss of harvests. This brings us to the third front:the economic,military,and ceremonial uses of elephants.Elephants may have been domesticated in the Northeast in Shang times,though the evidence is thin."They were certainly hunted,though the numbers seem to have already been low.In the state of Chu,however,in the middle Yangzi valley,ivory was regarded as a routine product during the seventh century BcE."A century later there is a brief account stating that the ruler of Chu"had torches lashed to elephants to make them rush upon the army of the state of Wu."Is In 548 BCE,in the course of a rhetorical attack on the extortion of excessive presents by the ruler of the state of Jin,it was argued by Zichan,a statesman celebrated for his wisdom and skill,that "Elephants have tusks that are the cause of their death,since they are offered as presents, though he says nothing about where the ivory comes from.In the West,much later,in the third century cE,the inhabitants were said to "extract the tusks of
banned from marketing any tusks they obtained, and he proposed that the local officials should pay them half the price. His objective, it seems fair to guess, was to limit what he called “concealment and illicit dealings with others.”14 The most likely reason, though, that the peasants made the effort to get their hands on tusks from time to time was that the returns from the combination of crop protection and ivory trading made the substantial risks seem acceptable. This is explicitly spelled out in another report from Zhangzhou (on the southeast coast), late in the twelfth century ce: Many of the common folk who won their living among the mountain gorges had their crops trampled on or eaten by elephants. Some were capable of snaring pits with crossbows and arrows, and were happy to have thus rid themselves of the damage; but when the officials demanded that they pay in the feet and the tusks as a tax, this was too much for them. The common people thereafter preferred to endure damage from the elephants and did not venture to kill them. Just recently, when some of them have presented tusks, the prefect has returned them. He has moreover given orders that families who kill elephants in the future can keep the tusks for themselves. Since the people know how to put an end to the harm caused by elephants, changes will be seen in the deep forests and the spreading footslopes of the hills, and the crops will flourish.15 It would be interesting to know why tax policy was the decisive factor in tilting the balance of advantage for farmers here either against, or for, trapping elephants. Seeing that it is said that they were able, though unhappily, to coexist with elephants who ravaged their fields, one suspects that the crucial factor was the cash from the sale of ivory, not just stopping the loss of harvests. This brings us to the third front: the economic, military, and ceremonial uses of elephants. Elephants may have been domesticated in the Northeast in Shang times, though the evidence is thin.16 They were certainly hunted, though the numbers seem to have already been low. In the state of Chu, however, in the middle Yangzi valley, ivory was regarded as a routine product during the seventh century bce. 17 A century later there is a brief account stating that the ruler of Chu “had torches lashed to elephants to make them rush upon the army of the state of Wu.”18 In 548 bce, in the course of a rhetorical attack on the extortion of excessive presents by the ruler of the state of Jin, it was argued by Zichan, a statesman celebrated for his wisdom and skill, that “Elephants have tusks that are the cause of their death, since they are offered as presents,”19 though he says nothing about where the ivory comes from. In the West, much later, in the third century ce, the inhabitants were said to “extract the tusks of 14 Patterns
Humans v.Elephants:The Three Thousand Years War elephants,and do violence to the horns of rhinoceroses."3 The tusks were turned into ivory artifacts,like the tablets on which officials placed their papers for writing during imperial audiences;and the rhinoceros horns were used,ground up,for various medical purposes,especially as an antidote to poisons.At times the private sale of the tusks was forbidden-for instance,in the Far South in the late tenth century cE-but there was a black market in them all the same." The trunk was eaten.In Xunzhou and Leizhou (both in the Far South) around the beginning of the fifth century cE the flavor was said to resemble that of a piglet.Slightly later,a Tang writer,after noting that there were "numerous wild elephants"in the Far South,went on to observe that people competed to eat their trunks,the taste of which is said to be fatty and crisp, and to be particularly well suited to being roasted." In most of China the use of elephants in warfare died out in the course of the first millennium BCE.The exceptions were the West and Southwest,where it continued,perhaps intermittently,for almost another two thousand years.In the early 137os,the defenders of the city of Chengdu (in the West)used elephants carrying men in armor against the forces of the founder of the Ming dynasty,but were routed by the use of firearms.In the Southwest the anti- Ming resistance did likewise.According to the Ming Veritable Records: In the third month of 13882 the rebel Si Lunfa mobilized his entire forces of 300,000 men and more than a hundred elephants.He went back to ravage Dingbian [in the Southwest].Mu Ying,the Ming general,selected 30,000 brave horsemen to oppose them.The entire horde of bandits'sallied forth from their encampment and formed into ranks to await the conflict.Their leaders and senior officers all rode on elephants,and the elephants all wore armor.On their backs they carried fighting towers that resembled screens, and bamboo tubes hung down both sides,with short spears in them to prevent thrusts from the side.When the two lines met,the throng of elephants smashed their way through and continued on forward....The bandit'horde was heavily defeated.More than half of the elephants perished and thirty-seven were captured alive.2 Over two hundred years later,the Southwestern resistance to the Manchus made use of elephants commandeered from the non-Han locals,partly for military transport.After 1662,however,the curtain falls,and we hear no more about war-elephants in China. On the economic uses of elephants in late-imperial times,we can draw- with cautious care-on Xie Zhaozhe's Fivefold Miscellany,published in 1608. This is a collection of reports about natural phenomena and human affairs
elephants, and do violence to the horns of rhinoceroses.”20 The tusks were turned into ivory artifacts, like the tablets on which officials placed their papers for writing during imperial audiences; and the rhinoceros horns were used, ground up, for various medical purposes, especially as an antidote to poisons. At times the private sale of the tusks was forbidden—for instance, in the Far South in the late tenth century ce—but there was a black market in them all the same.21 The trunk was eaten. In Xunzhou and Leizhou (both in the Far South) around the beginning of the fifth century ce the flavor was said to resemble that of a piglet. Slightly later, a Tang writer, after noting that there were “numerous wild elephants” in the Far South, went on to observe that people “competed to eat their trunks, the taste of which is said to be fatty and crisp, and to be particularly well suited to being roasted.”22 In most of China the use of elephants in warfare died out in the course of the first millennium bce. The exceptions were the West and Southwest, where it continued, perhaps intermittently, for almost another two thousand years. In the early 1370s, the defenders of the city of Chengdu (in the West) used elephants carrying men in armor against the forces of the founder of the Ming dynasty, but were routed by the use of firearms.23 In the Southwest the antiMing resistance did likewise. According to the Ming Veritable Records: In the third month of 138824 the rebel Si Lunfa mobilized his entire forces of 300,000 men and more than a hundred elephants. He went back to ravage Dingbian [in the Southwest]. Mu Ying, the Ming general, selected 30,000 brave horsemen to oppose them. The entire horde of ‘bandits’ sallied forth from their encampment and formed into ranks to await the conflict. Their leaders and senior officers all rode on elephants, and the elephants all wore armor. On their backs they carried fighting towers that resembled screens, and bamboo tubes hung down both sides, with short spears in them to prevent thrusts from the side. When the two lines met, the throng of elephants smashed their way through and continued on forward . . . . The ‘bandit’ horde was heavily defeated. More than half of the elephants perished and thirty-seven were captured alive.25 Over two hundred years later, the Southwestern resistance to the Manchus made use of elephants commandeered from the non-Han locals, partly for military transport. After 1662, however, the curtain falls, and we hear no more about war-elephants in China. On the economic uses of elephants in late-imperial times, we can draw— with cautious care—on Xie Zhaozhe’s Fivefold Miscellany, published in 1608. This is a collection of reports about natural phenomena and human affairs Humans v. Elephants: The Three Thousand Years War 15
16 Patterns assembled by a connoisseur who was always playing in teasing fashion with his own and his readers'sense of what was plausible.He was an official in the Ministry of Works,becoming an expert in water control,and also served in Guangxi province (in the Southwest).He is therefore likely to have had some direct knowledge of what he was writing about in the items that follow. The people of Yunnan rear elephants the way those in the heartland of China rear cattle and horses.They ride them on journeys.They load them up with grain,and the animals have an exceptionally docile nature.On occasion they erect frameworks on their backs in which two people can sit face to face when feasting and drinking.When elephants meet with cere- monial arches,they invariably pass through them on their knees.When they are going up a hill they kneel on their forelegs,and going downhill they kneel on their hindlegs,maintaining stability to a greater degree than one can express. When,at times,people have been forcibly pillaged by bandits,they have cried out in desperation to their elephant.This has caused the elephant to grasp a large tree with the end of his trunk forthwith and to sally out to battle,at once putting the bandits to flight in disorder. There are times,though,when rogue elephants kill people.These rogues are trapped in pits and put to death. Xie then shifts to the use of trained elephants at the Ming-dynasty Court to maintain a sort of honor guard outside the audience chamber,and to carry the imperial insignia.The Chinese Court met,it should be remembered,at a very early hour in the morning.It was believed that people thought more clearly at this time of day. They are used for these purposes not only because of their imposing appearance,but also because they are mild-mannered and intelligent in a way that other animals are not.The elephants observe an order of prece- dence,each one having his designated position and category of fodder to consume. Every morning they stand on either side of the Palace gate.Before His Majesty's carriage has set out,they wander about at random,munching hay; but once the bell has sounded and the whips cracked,they line up on each side with a reverent demeanor.Once all the officials have gone in,they stand with their trunks crossed,and no one ventures to enter by going past them. When the Court is concluded,they once again resume their normal behavior. If one of them is ill and cannot take his place in the honor guard,a mahout will lead him to visit another elephant,and ask the latter to take the
assembled by a connoisseur who was always playing in teasing fashion with his own and his readers’ sense of what was plausible. He was an official in the Ministry of Works, becoming an expert in water control, and also served in Guangxi province (in the Southwest). He is therefore likely to have had some direct knowledge of what he was writing about in the items that follow.26 The people of Yunnan rear elephants the way those in the heartland of China rear cattle and horses. They ride them on journeys. They load them up with grain, and the animals have an exceptionally docile nature. On occasion they erect frameworks on their backs in which two people can sit face to face when feasting and drinking. When elephants meet with ceremonial arches, they invariably pass through them on their knees. When they are going up a hill they kneel on their forelegs, and going downhill they kneel on their hindlegs, maintaining stability to a greater degree than one can express. When, at times, people have been forcibly pillaged by bandits, they have cried out in desperation to their elephant. This has caused the elephant to grasp a large tree with the end of his trunk forthwith and to sally out to battle, at once putting the bandits to flight in disorder. There are times, though, when rogue elephants kill people. These rogues are trapped in pits and put to death. Xie then shifts to the use of trained elephants at the Ming-dynasty Court to maintain a sort of honor guard outside the audience chamber, and to carry the imperial insignia. The Chinese Court met, it should be remembered, at a very early hour in the morning. It was believed that people thought more clearly at this time of day. They are used for these purposes not only because of their imposing appearance, but also because they are mild-mannered and intelligent in a way that other animals are not. The elephants observe an order of precedence, each one having his designated position and category of fodder to consume. Every morning they stand on either side of the Palace gate. Before His Majesty’s carriage has set out, they wander about at random, munching hay; but once the bell has sounded and the whips cracked, they line up on each side with a reverent demeanor. Once all the officials have gone in, they stand with their trunks crossed, and no one ventures to enter by going past them. When the Court is concluded, they once again resume their normal behavior. If one of them is ill and cannot take his place in the honor guard, a mahout will lead him to visit another elephant, and ask the latter to take the 16 Patterns
Humans v.Elephants:The Three Thousand Years War Tr 17 sick one's place.After this,the other elephant will be willing to do so.If this procedure is not followed,the second elephant will not go. If an elephant commits an offense,or injures a human,the imperial command will be issued for him to be beaten.Two other elephants will twine their trunks around his feet until the offender topples onto the ground.Only when the beating has been concluded will he rise to his feet to give thanks for the favor received,with an attitude just like that of a human being. If one of them is demoted in rank,he always takes the position in the honor guard to which he has been demoted.He will not dare to stand where he was previously accustomed.This is much to be marveled at. In the sixth lunar month they are bathed and mated.The coupling takes place in the water with a female who floats with her face upward,in all respects like a human being.... Although these beasts are bulky and awkward in nature,and do not have an elegant shape,they nonetheless possess uncanny intelligence.Thus it is that many humans are not the equal of animals. The reader is at liberty to believe as much,or as little,of the details of this account of bureaucratized pachyderms as he or she feels inclined;but the underlying point holds good.By late-imperial times,the elephant only survived in China in what amounted to a ritual circus at the capital,and on the southwest frontier." This sketch is the preliminary approximation of a description of the long-term human impact on the environment in China since the agricultural revolution and the early Bronze Age.The retreat of the elephants maps in reverse,both in space and time,the growth of the Chinese farm economy.More rigorously,the space dominated by elephants in China was the complement of the space domi- nated by humans.It also symbolizes the transition,slow at first but then accel- erating,from an environmental richness counterbalanced by perpetual dangers from wildlife,to a sedentarized human dominance accompanied by a relative security from wild animals,but also-at least from the perspective of an Australian who has lived many years in the bush-an impoverished life of the senses,and a scarcity or disappearance of many of the natural resources on which humankind had previously existed. There is another necessary perspective.In some areas the human struggle against wild animals was a matter of life and death.In the early first millen- nium cE,though the exact period is cloudy,in the lands of the Bai people around Lake Erhai in western Yunnan there were large pythons-known in Chinese as mang-that daily devoured not only livestock but also people
sick one’s place. After this, the other elephant will be willing to do so. If this procedure is not followed, the second elephant will not go. If an elephant commits an offense, or injures a human, the imperial command will be issued for him to be beaten. Two other elephants will twine their trunks around his feet until the offender topples onto the ground. Only when the beating has been concluded will he rise to his feet to give thanks for the favor received, with an attitude just like that of a human being. If one of them is demoted in rank, he always takes the position in the honor guard to which he has been demoted. He will not dare to stand where he was previously accustomed. This is much to be marveled at. In the sixth lunar month they are bathed and mated. The coupling takes place in the water with a female who floats with her face upward, in all respects like a human being . . . . Although these beasts are bulky and awkward in nature, and do not have an elegant shape, they nonetheless possess uncanny intelligence. Thus it is that many humans are not the equal of animals. The reader is at liberty to believe as much, or as little, of the details of this account of bureaucratized pachyderms as he or she feels inclined; but the underlying point holds good. By late-imperial times, the elephant only survived in China in what amounted to a ritual circus at the capital, and on the southwest frontier.27 This sketch is the preliminary approximation of a description of the long-term human impact on the environment in China since the agricultural revolution and the early Bronze Age. The retreat of the elephants maps in reverse, both in space and time, the growth of the Chinese farm economy. More rigorously, the space dominated by elephants in China was the complement of the space dominated by humans. It also symbolizes the transition, slow at first but then accelerating, from an environmental richness counterbalanced by perpetual dangers from wildlife, to a sedentarized human dominance accompanied by a relative security from wild animals, but also—at least from the perspective of an Australian who has lived many years in the bush—an impoverished life of the senses,28 and a scarcity or disappearance of many of the natural resources on which humankind had previously existed. There is another necessary perspective. In some areas the human struggle against wild animals was a matter of life and death. In the early first millennium ce, though the exact period is cloudy, in the lands of the Bai people around Lake Erhai in western Yunnan there were large pythons—known in Chinese as mang—that daily devoured not only livestock but also people. Humans v. Elephants: The Three Thousand Years War 17
18 m Patterns Surviving accounts have become mythologized,but it is clear that a heroic and at times desperate struggle was needed to destroy them.2 Only when this had been done was it safe to farm the fertile lakeshore marshland.One of many such battles over habitat.The descendants of these pythons survive today on the eastern side of the Erhai,but much diminished in size and,so far as one can tell without a special inquiry,in danger. It is important to balance the awareness of what has been lost by victories like this against our predators with a robust realization of how much has been won.Philosophical regrets,inspired by an understanding of our inseparability from the rest of nature are not mere folly or romanticism.But in cases such as this they encompass less than half the story
Surviving accounts have become mythologized, but it is clear that a heroic and at times desperate struggle was needed to destroy them.29 Only when this had been done was it safe to farm the fertile lakeshore marshland. One of many such battles over habitat. The descendants of these pythons survive today on the eastern side of the Erhai, but much diminished in size and, so far as one can tell without a special inquiry, in danger. It is important to balance the awareness of what has been lost by victories like this against our predators with a robust realization of how much has been won. Philosophical regrets, inspired by an understanding of our inseparability from the rest of nature are not mere folly or romanticism. But in cases such as this they encompass less than half the story. 18 Patterns