Images of Dogs in Chinese Rock Art

Abstract

The paper analyzes images of dogs in rock art of China. According to the semantics of compositions the following groups can be distinguished: hunting dogs, herding dogs, guard dogs, using of dogs in rituals, mythological and folklore motifs and other images. According to the distribution of different thematic groups of images, two big areas - northern and south-western - can be seen. In northern regions of China (Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Gansu Province) the scenes of practical use of dogs (hunting, grazing, guarding herds and dwellings) prevail, which can be explained by the characteristics of the economic structure of the nomadic peoples who inhabited these territories. The images of a horseman followed by a dog and a bird of prey seen in Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia can be interpreted as depictions of some motifs of heroic epos of Central Asian nomadic peoples. Other compositions in northern regions have been found to depict not only “realistic”, but “mytho-ritual” interpretations as well. In south-western regions (Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Yunnan Province, Sichuan Province) the images of dogs in ritual and/or a mythological context are more common. It is likely connected with the less practical importance of dogs in the agricultural economy and the higher status of this animal in the spiritual culture of the peoples of Southern China. Rock paintings in Cangyuan County, Yunnan Province, is an exception that combines the images belonging to both traditions, namely a picture of a hunting dog and a dog as a sacrificial animal. Some images cannot yet be deciphered unequivocally.