China's treasures are quite numerous, from golden monkeys, giant pandas, Chinese alligators to Chinese rhinoceros, all of which cannot fail to arouse the world's amazement. Speaking of the Chinese rhinoceros, it is a great pity that the giant beast with horns on its face is dressed in armor.
On the land of China, the Chinese rhinoceros, which the Chinese are proud of, has disappeared. Will they ever come back?
The crying Chinese rhinoceros
The Chinese rhinoceros is burly and powerful, and it was once a rare population living on the continent of China, but now that China is rising, there is no wild Chinese rhinoceros in the land of China.
The Chinese rhinoceros is actually a collective name for the population of three rhinoceros native to China, which are the Indian rhinoceros, the Sumatra rhinoceros, and the Javan rhino. The body shape of the Chinese rhinoceros is very distinctive, powerful and majestic, with dark gray and purple skin, hard and thick skin, quite the style of auspicious beasts in ancient times.
The Chinese rhinoceros is infinitely powerful, fat, and fat, and its overall weight can reach a terrifying 1 ton, which can be described as a real heavyweight animal. Despite their large size, they are relatively docile and timid and tend to avoid crowds. Chinese rhinos have been found throughout most of China, and they prefer to live in mountainous and forested areas with plenty of water.
The Chinese rhinoceros has its signature sharp horns, protruding from the long horns, which are very domineering, and they are like the unstoppable unicorns of European myths and legends. In fact, in ancient China, the rhinoceros was also a sacred beast, and it was quite important in the hearts of the ancients. The Chinese rhinoceros always gives people a sense of majesty and awe-inspiring in their possession.
The Chinese rhinoceros has a large head and small eyes, and the long sharp horns that are already protruding appear more abrupt and towering. The Chinese rhinoceros has thick limbs and a huge body, and its slow-moving posture gives people the feeling of a "stupid old man". In fact, the Chinese rhinoceros does not move, and if it moves, it will produce a devastating and decaying lethality.
Chinese rhinos are easily frightened and irritable, and when they are cornered, their tempers become quite irritable, stabbing each other with the long horns of their snouts, and it is difficult to end without a fierce "bloody struggle". It is worth mentioning that the Chinese rhinoceros is very hidden and runs quite fast, capable of running at speeds of up to 50 kilometers per hour.
Such a rare and exotic Chinese rhinoceros population has declined with the passage of time, and according to the research of experts, the figure of rhinoceros has existed from prehistory to modern times in the vast territory of the mainland.
However, due to the influence of many reasons, the last Chinese rhinoceros on the land of Shenzhou said goodbye to all Chinese in 1992. In fact, the Chinese rhinoceros had already let out a deafening cry a long time ago, but it was too late to save this rare wild species.
Success is also a "strange" angle, and defeat is also a "strange" angle
According to the multi-party investigation of Mr. Sun Ji, Ran Wanli and others, the reason why the Chinese rhinoceros was "wiped out" on the land of China gradually surfaced. Due to the influence of indiscriminate hunting, climate change, and excessive human encroachment on natural resources, Chinese rhinos in the wild are homeless and unsupported, and the wild population is gradually shrinking under the greed of human beings and the increasing shortage of living space.
From an archaeological point of view, as early as the Neolithic period, Chinese rhinos were already very active in South and North China. Rhino bones have been excavated from Neolithic sites several times.
In the long ancient history of the mainland, the figure of rhinoceros is not uncommon. However, most of these rhinos are the object of human exploitation. The rhinoceros's single or double horns make it look very intimidating, a feature that caters to the ancient people's preference for exotic animals. Just like the Colosseum in ancient Rome, which was full of violence later, the more rare and powerful the species, the more it arouses people's desire to explore and conquer.
It is understood that in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, people have been eyeing the unique rhinoceros horn, and the wild rhinoceros was captured to cruelly take the horns, and the rhino horns were used by the people at that time to make a me, that is, a unique shape of the wine vessel.
The rhino horn is large and hard, and it is difficult to remove it completely, so the ancients did everything to successfully remove the horn, so that the rhinoceros was tortured. The ancients were full of reverie about this wild animal with strange horns, and in the process of exploration, they selfishly and cruelly used it for their own use, cutting the horns to make wine vessels. This practice was so common at the time that wild rhino populations were devastated.
In the Warring States Period, when the killing was fierce and the etiquette was broken, the rhinoceros in the wild was even more brutalized by the ancients. It turned out that in addition to the horns, the thick skin of the rhinoceros was also targeted by the ancients. At that time, wars were frequent, and the army needed a lot of protective armor to fight, and the rhinoceros was an ideal protective aid due to its hardness.
The ancients were like a deciduous oxen, cutting off rhinoceros skins and using them to make leather armor for war. Although this is a wonderful discovery for the ancient goose people, it is tantamount to a premeditated "catastrophe" for the rhinoceros herd that originally lived leisurely and leisurely in the wild.
In addition, according to the records of the Yin Shang oracle bone inscriptions, the brutal slaughter of rhinoceros by the people of the time was revealed. The ancients burned the forest to hunt rhinos, and the number of rhinos slaughtered in a mighty rhino hunt operation could reach 71. Since then, wild rhinos have begun to cry silently.
The rhinoceros horn, which was once again deified, was the last straw that broke the camel's back
The use of rhinoceros skin as defensive weapons by the ancients ended around the Qin and Han dynasties, when military technology made great progress, and harder iron-clad combat uniforms appeared. So, do wild rhinos have breathing room at this time? The answer is no, because at this time, the rhinoceros was pulled to the front of the stage again, and the rhinoceros horns on their bodies were deified again.
Traditional medicine believes that rhino horn is very useful and has miraculous effects in curing diseases. In addition, for the ancients who had great limitations in cognition and feudal thoughts, the peculiar rhinoceros horn was like a holy object from heaven, which had the effect of warding off evil spirits and seeking good fortune. Under the influence of these factors, wild rhinos are once again being poisoned.
In modern times, due to the frequent agricultural activities and the excessive exploitation of natural resources, the wild rhinoceros, which was already struggling, was homeless. It is understood that in the 19th century, the wild rhinoceros population had stepped on the red line of endangerment, and in the late 19th century, the wild Liangguang area also disappeared.
Since then, wild rhino populations have gradually disappeared in other places, and in 1992, with the roar of hatred, China's last wild rhinoceros also waved goodbye to the mainland of China and drove west. Will the Chinese rhinoceros ever come back? In fact, the answer can already be glimpsed, from the fact that rhinos have been continuously encroached and exploited in the long history, China's rhino wild population has long been damaged and difficult to recover.
The collapse of the Chinese rhinoceros on the Shenzhou continent is a lesson for example, and now the Przewalski's horse is also facing such a difficult situation, and it is hoped that the cry of the Chinese rhinoceros can awaken mankind's protection and attention to the precious wild animals.