During the Ming Dynasty, what kind of animal was the "Kylin" paid tribute by Southeast Asian countries during the Ming Dynasty?

During the Ming Dynasty, what kind of animal was the "Kylin" paid tribute by Southeast Asian countries during the Ming Dynasty?
In Chinese history, there are several auspicious beasts, symbolizing the supreme power of royal emperors, such as dragons, Phoenix and unicorn. Whenever these auspicious things fall from heaven, it is naturally a symbol of the jubilation of the whole country and the prosperity of the country and the well-being of the people.

in Chinese history, several auspicious beasts are symbolizing the supreme power of royal emperors, such as dragons, phoenixes, and unicorns.  whenever these auspices fall from heaven, they are naturally a symbol of the jubilation of the whole country and the prosperity of the country, and the well-being of the people. But do these creatures exist in the world? What did these creatures look like in the eyes of ancient people? It's always been a mystery.

No one knows whether Phoenix and Dragon have ever had this, but Kylin has been seen by some people, and it has been paid tribute as a tribute.

it's just that if you see what it looks like, 100% won't think it's a unicorn.

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because this animal, which is regarded as a tribute to the unicorn, is the giraffe that we all know today.


Kirin diplomacy


Ming Chengzu Yongle Autumn, Pangala, that is, today's Bangladesh paid tribute. The courtiers at that time exclaimed that the magical creature was a giraffe. Of course, in the Ming Dynasty painter's pen, it is a unicorn. There is a so-called "Ming people painting Kylin Shen du Song", which exists in the Palace Museum in Taipei.

as to why Bangladesh traveled thousands of miles to pay tribute to Kylin during the Ming Dynasty, people naturally thought that it had something to do with Zheng he. Yes, it does have something to do with Zheng he, but this tribute to Kirin probably has nothing to do with it. Zheng indeed contributed to Bangladesh's first tribute in Yongle's six years, but this time it is not. However, whether Zheng contributed to the tribute or not, this should not be a novel creature or caused the government and the public to marvel.


Why shouldn't I be surprised? Because in fact, some people saw giraffes as early as the Song Dynasty. It was called Kuala at that time, but because there were too few records, especially what it looked like, it was not clear at all that it was still regarded as a unicorn in the Ming Dynasty. It can be said to be speechless.

but it just shows that the opening up of the Ming Dynasty made people see a lot of new things. However, in line with the omnipresent concept of China, alien creatures can always find a Chinese species to correspond. So it is only natural that a giraffe corresponds to a unicorn. And it is not surprising that Yongle did produce a unicorn following the general theory of auspiciousness in prosperous times. In particular, it is even more amazing that a giraffe can reach Beijing alive after a long bumpy journey. After all, giraffes are quite delicate, and in terms of life habits, they are not so easy to withstand long-distance bumps.

for the Ming Dynasty, Kirin was also one of the few tributes that could be seen. At that time, there was a list of tributes:

" There are two different kinds of things: one is the stone of the cat's eye, the second is the five colors, the third is the big pearl, the fourth is the coral branch, the fifth is the golden perk, the sixth is the rose dew, the seventh is the unicorn, the eighth is the lion, the ninth is the flower deer, the tenth is the golden leopard, the eleventh is the camel rooster, the twelfth is the white dove


the views of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty on Xiang Rui directly determine what kind of auspiciousness will appear. For example, Mr. Zhu Yuanzhang is not interested in all kinds of auspiciousness. For example, in April of the second year of Hongwu,  "Huaian, Ningguo, Zhenjiang, Yangzhou, Taizhou, and Zezhou each presented twelve copies of Rui Maifan.

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but Mr. Zhu Di is completely different. to show that his throne came from the right way and was blessed by heaven, he did not hesitate to change history many times, smearing the skin of Zhu Yunyi and his father Zhu Biao (focusing on the records of Tianjin difficult to remember and Ming Taizong). Naturally, he also attached great importance to all kinds of auspiciousness. For example, Yongle built Fengtian Hall in Beijing 15 years, and Fengtian Hall was built soon after it was completed.  "there are five colors of auspicious light in the hall, from the sky to the sky, shining brightly, Qing Yun colorful sky, brilliant wheel, bright smallpox, as big as the sun wheel, revolving palace, covering the deficiency of Xiao Han."  these auspicious signs are obviously for the construction and relocation of the capital of Beijing.

after all, Mr. Zhu Di knew he was wrong when he started the army, so he often engaged in some feudal superstitions to create momentum, such as he was Emperor Wu. So it is not surprising that overseas giraffes are used as unicorns.

however, Mr. Zhu Di's contribution of auspiciousness is of practical significance, which is much better than that of the Jiajing Emperor. Jiajing Emperor counts everything as auspicious to practice longevity, such as white deer, crane, white geese, and even later white rabbits. As a result, Emperor Jiajing thought that there were too many auspicious events. Among them, more auspicious people include Hu Zongxian and Yan Song, who are important officials of the dynasty, especially Hu Zongxian, who has offered numerous gifts from white deer to white turtles, which can be said to be auspicious professional households.

so at that time, various places had to rack their brains for the sake of their auspiciousness, so the unicorn appeared occasionally as the ultimate auspiciousness. However, because it is difficult to obtain physical objects, records often appear but are limited to the "someone saw" series. This is similar to the auspiciousness of Phoenix in the Han Dynasty.


the obsession of ancient Chinese people with these auspicious beasts also fully reflects the emperors' desire for the theocracy of "being commanded by heaven".  through auspiciousness, it is very necessary to establish the authority of rule. That's why emperors such as Emperor Jiajing are so obsessed with auspiciousness. after all, with auspiciousness, that is God's license. From the unicorn, we can see that once the opening of offering auspiciousness is opened, then the wind of flattery everywhere will be difficult to contain. For example, during the reign of the Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty, there was an example: "strong" and Jin Zongbo, there was a county that produced a unicorn and died, and the carp said that this end could not be opened. Go, people all over the world said that they were auspicious. "

. "Today, the minister who likes to talk about happy events, played by Zhang Dawn, as soon as this wind opens, flatterers will follow."  so why the giraffe that appeared in China long ago became the "unicorn" of the Ming Dynasty is not the product of the pompous and flattering wind?