著者
益満 義裕
雑誌
東洋文化研究 (ISSN:13449850)
巻号頁・発行日
no.6, pp.153-181, 2004-03-31

Dogs were the first animals to be domesticated amollg various livestock. Therefore, their association with man is the longest alld closest. Since dogs were the animal which rendered man loyalty like the horse, they were found useful. However, since the animal ate m an’ 刀@leftovers like the pig, it was looked down upon. From this reason, it seems that their status was low compared with other livestock. In addition, dogs were used for hunting, amusement, or as pets, and were also utilized in military affairs. Since it was believed that dogs barked and drove off evil spirits invisible to the human eye, they were buried in their master’s grave as a talisman, and were exposed in front of the gates of towns. It was also common to eat dogs in ancient China, and various recipes have become clear from excavated data. Moreover, situations that the dogs of those days were lively can be seer in the burial dolls and pictures of dogs.“Xianggoujing”, a book on dogs existed in the Han dynasty, in which guidance oll how to recognize a good dog was written. The depth of the people’s concern for the animal in those days can be imagined from this fact. It seems that the relation between man and dogs differed greatly from the present age.