Bear's high cultural reverence in ancient China

[Montezuma]

Yellow Emperor (Huangdi or Youxiong) and Bear (Xiong)

I could have defined Yellow emperor in the first line in the first post but i didn't for some good reason since this figure is so important in Chinese culture, religion, ancestry and history i though it deserves a separate mention in order to express that how much its arbitration with the Bear intensifies this beast's cultural importance. 




Yellow Emperor was more than a single being since he was one of the fundamental five deites, a creator and benevolent, ruler an ancestor and protector of heritage. Even to this day, his legendary name as a mythological benevolent and ingenious God and as a great earthly divine ruler and forefather of great dynasties still live on. Anybody familiar with Chinese culture can see see indispensable and protagonistic role in myth and history. Its noteworthy that no other animal, not even the Dragon or Tiger, is associated with him except the Bear. Yes, the bear is the sole symbol of the Emperor which shows that what a sublime place the bear held not only in current and ancient china, but even in Prehistoric chinese landscape. To know more about the Yellow Emperor, see through down here a bit details. Internet is full of information in regard to him; and here is just a glimpse on his great works and personality.

"The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch or by his Chinese name Huangdi (/ˈhwɑːŋ ˈdiː/), is either an individual deity (shen) in Chinese religion, one of the legendary Chinese sovereigns and cultural heroes included among the mytho-historical Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, or a part of the Five Regions' Highest Deities (Chinese: 五方上帝; pinyin: Wǔfāng Shàngdì). Calculated by Jesuit missionaries, who based their work on various Chinese chronicles, and later accepted by the twentieth-century promoters of a universal calendar starting with the Yellow Emperor, Huangdi's traditional reign dates are 2697–2597 or 2698–2598 BC."



As depicted by Gan Bozong, woodcut print, Tang dynasty (618-907)

"Huangdi's cult became prominent in the late Warring States and early Han dynasty, when he was portrayed as the originator of the centralized state, as a cosmic ruler, and as a patron of esoteric arts. A large number of texts – such as the Huangdi Neijing, a medical classic, and the Huangdi Sijing, a group of political treatises – were thus attributed to him. Having waned in influence during most of the imperial period, in the early twentieth century Huangdi became a rallying figure for Han Chinese attempts to overthrow the rule of the Qing dynasty, which they considered foreign because its emperors were Manchu people. To this day the Yellow Emperor remains a powerful symbol within Chinese nationalism. Traditionally credited with numerous inventions and innovations – ranging from the lunar calendar (Chinese calendar), Taoism,wooden houses, boats, carts, "the compass needle","the earliest forms of writing", civilization and its benefits, and/or an early form of football – the Yellow Emperor is now regarded as the initiator of Han culture (later Chinese culture)."




Huangdi Shrine, Xinzheng City, Henan Province

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Emperor

Read from Page 268 to 277:

books.google.com.pk/books?id=ogPyDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA277&dq=yellow+emperor+bear&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&authuser=2&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjpm6fMq4CBAxUvnf0HHZg8BL4Q6AF6BAgLEAM#v=onepage&q=Bear&f=false

[Montezuma]

There is a lot of evidence behind showing the obvious and detailed connection of the Yellow Emperor with the Bear in past posts of this thread; however here is a bit more evidence in regard to this Bear Emperor.

"Ye Shuxian has also associated the Yellow Emperor with bear legends common across northeast Asia people as well as the Dangun legend."

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Emperor

"Near Dengzhou and Yuzhou is Xinzheng, said to be the hometown of the Yellow Emperor. He was also referred to as Youxiong and he founded the Youxiong state. The ancient peoples did not know why. Now, by applying modern cultural anthropology, one can see this as further evidence of the Yellow Emperor's tribes worshiping the bear totem. There is a village called Xiongzhuang (EE, Bear Village) in the Yellow Emperor's hometown. Later, the name was changed to Nengzhuang (EEE) for aesthetic reasons. The locals erected a bear paw-shaped ding in the memorial square, illustrating the lingering memory of the bear totem's popularity in the Central Plain."

"The dancing Youxiong is situated above the centre in the sky, and thus, this humanoid deity bear is a heavenly bear."

"The Yellow Emperor and nearly 30 kings of Chu named themselves 熊(xiong, bear)".

"The deity bear in the top centre embodies the totemic memory of the ancestors Zhuanxu and the Yellow Emperor".

books.google.com.pk/books?id=IoCFEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA311&dq=yellow+emperor+bear&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&authuser=2&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjpm6fMq4CBAxUvnf0HHZg8BL4Q6AF6BAgKEAM#v=onepage&q=yellow%20emperor%20bear&f=false

"The seminal Xiong (family name but also literally "bear") clan of the Yellow Emperor not only brought about bear totem mythologies in the epoch of Yushun, as well as those in Xia Dynasty under the reigns of Gun, Yu the Great and Qi, but also used Zhuanxu as conduit to relay the belief of bear ancestry over a vast area including the states of Qin, Zhao, and Chu, among others, and even took advantage of the transmission capacity between clans and generations of the Tungusic people, resulting in the implantation of the bear totem mythology in the prehistoric memory of the Korean people, which is crystallized in the best-preserved "bear mother, human offspring" mythology in the East Asia region today."

"It can be seen that "the Yellow Emperor," a extremely symbolic mythological character, is not only a sun god that embodies the godly power of rebirth after death and determination of time and space, but could also have been the central figure in beliefs of the bear god and prehistoric Chinese religions among people of Hongshan culture, which dates to more than 8,000 years ago. The bear flag of Yu the Great, the "bear" indicators in archaeological culture, and bear mythological narratives became links that helped Hongshan culture of the northeast, Qijia culture of the northwest, Yangshao culture of Shaanxi, culture of the Central Plain, and even culture of the Koreans relay and connect with each other, a phenomenon that indicates: the grand unification narrative featuring the Yellow Emperor positioned as the head of the Five Deities might have appeared much earlier than the Warring States period as imagined by people today."

books.google.com.pk/books?id=ogPyDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA277&dq=yellow+emperor+bear&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&authuser=2&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjpm6fMq4CBAxUvnf0HHZg8BL4Q6AF6BAgLEAM#v=onepage&q=yellow%20emperor%20bear&f=false

[oldindigosilverback]

/\ Yellow emperor and bear . That is very interesting. Keep the accounts coming .

[Montezuma]

/\ Well, the evidence that Yellow Emperor was a bear is alreadily shown in minutely and no inquiry is needed to accentuate this fact since its widely known to everybody that the Emperor was bear and his tribe worshipped bear. Lets move further and explore more.

Xia dynasty is the earliest recorded dynasty of Chinese civilization and its startling to see its founding fathers (Kings), as mentioned earlier, Gun, Yu and Qi or Yi transformed into Bears! And this further strengthens the bear's cultural symbolism in China's history. Here is some details about two transformations:





"Legend has it that Gun (the father of Yu) was also known as Count of Chong. It is generally believed that Chong can be used interchangeably with Song, as Gun was once the tribal leader near the Song Mountain. According to field research in 2007, tales concerning Gun and Yu spread over the Central Plain from Dengfeng to Yuzhou in Henan Province. The memorial stone dedicated to Qimu (Qi's mother and Yu's wife), to which Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty paid homage, still exists on the Song Mountain in Dengfeng, along with the Qimu tower, Yu's caves and a host of accompanying folk narratives. The ethnic memory manifested through folk culture centres around the core myths of Gun and his son Yu taming the flood."

"The graphic story of Yu transforming into a bear is vividly illustrated in Yu's temple in Yuzhou. The carved stones of the Han Dynasty in the Qimu tower in Dengfeng also bear Yu's stone relief from 2000 years ago. The combination of ancient and modern folk myths fully reveals the antiquity of stories about Gun and Yu changing into a bear, which complement the written documents. Some detailed oral myths also relate the birth of Yu. For example, "Yu the Great was born in the Bear Cave Mountain, 75 kms to the east of Yu Mountain (Song Mountain), now the west of Juci Mountain, north of Jishui River" (Zhao 1998; Guo 2005, 277-278). This fully integrates the myths of "bear mountain and caves" with Yu's birth in the inherited literature, demonstrating the relationship between rulers of the Xia Dynasty and the bear deity."


A picture of Yu transforming into a bear. Photographed at the Yu Temple in Yuzhou in 2007


books.google.com.pk/books?id=IoCFEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA311&dq=yellow+emperor+bear&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&authuser=2&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjpm6fMq4CBAxUvnf0HHZg8BL4Q6AF6BAgKEAM#v=onepage&q=yellow%20emperor%20bear&f=false

[Montezuma]

"The ancient Chinese attached a mythical nature to the understanding of the cyclical changes of animals exemplified in The Classic of Mountains and Seas:

"further east is a mountain called Xiongshan. There is a cave where bears live. A god-human constantly comes out of it. In summer the cave is open; in winter it is closed. If it opens in winter, there will be war. (Wang and Zhao 2010, 185)."

"Worthy of note is that the opening and closing of the bear cave is consistent with the seasonal shifts of summer and winter, which is in accordance with the hibernation of bears. The phenomenon of the bear entering and leaving the cave was recorded as "a god-human constantly comes out of it" in the above text, which suggests that the bear was considered as a divine being that can resurrect itself. Under the general rule of religious myths of the Neolithic Age, almost all deities with regenerative characteristics were regarded as goddesses or mother goddesses. It was the primitive empirical observation that it was the maternal body rather than the paternal body that alone reproduced the offspring."

"The opening of the bear's cave in early summer suggests the birth of a new life. The name of Qi (, open), the son of Yu, implies his deified birth out of a bear, or someone strongly associated with the bear spirit. Qi of the Xia Dynasty was also named as "Kai (FF, open)" in The Classic of Mountains and Seas and Mozi. "Kai" and "Qi" are synonymous, with the implication of the myth of the opening and closing of the bear cave in summer and winter, respectively, being shared by both. Ms. Tu Shan, the mother of Qi, played a direct role in the bear cave's opening and the birth of new life. When she turned into a stone, she was pregnant. When Yu demanded his son, the stone split asunder and delivered Qi."

"The birth mythology of the son, the father, and the grandfather (Qi, Yu and Gun), represents a chain of interconnecting narrative plots. Yu was born out of the bosom of his stone mother; Qi, the son of Yu, was also born out of his stone mother; Gun, the father of Yu. had the power to change into a bear and so did Yu. The mother of Yu changed into a stone and so did the mother of Qi. Over three generations, four characters played a part in the transformation of humans into bears, or in the strong spiritual association of humans with bears by means of their birth, in these mythological narratives."

"From the above discussion, it can be seen that the mythology of human beings born of stone is a symbolic expression of the periodic changes of hibernating animals. Primitive people observed bears entering stone caves to hibernate and imagined humans transforming into bears and stones, which suggested metaphorically the ending or closing of a life cycle. Bears emerging from caves after the hibernation signify the beginning of a new life cycle, which is understood mythologically as regeneration after death and resurrection."

books.google.com.pk/books?id=IoCFEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA311&dq=yellow+emperor+bear&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&authuser=2&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjpm6fMq4CBAxUvnf0HHZg8BL4Q6AF6BAgKEAM#v=onepage&q=yellow%20emperor%20bear&f=false

[Montezuma]

"Flags and banners were important primordial forms of media. As Liu Xiang's Garden of Persuasions: Pointing at War (Shuo Yuan: Zhi Wu, t) quoted The Art of War of Jiang Taigong: (Tai Gong Bing Fa, "Using different flags can ensure order". This indicates a specific function of flags, a function which continued into the Qing Dynasty, with their eight flag system. The closely related totem function of flags is evident from the etymology of the character for flag from the Great Chinese Dictionary:

"The ancient flags had bear and tiger images. As written in The Rites of Zhou, "Bear and tiger images are painted on flags. And Shidu makes flags". Zheng Xuan explains: "Shidu is the official in charge of six townships and six counties. Those who can paint bears or tigers will get paid. Bears and tigers symbolise valour and vigour, which can frighten away enemies."

"From the Yellow Emperor to Yu and from the Xia Dynasty to the Chu State, the continuous heritage of the bear-deity symbol from the prehistoric era is evident."

"During the Xia era ruled by Yu, the derogatory terms for people in the four directions bordering ancient China, invented in the context of Huaxia centralism, e.g. man (1), yi (), rong () and di (k), did not yet exist. However, the symbol system of five directional flags including the two celestial bodies (sun and moon), and three animals (snakes, birds, and bears) points to an early form of the "four barbarians" view of the neighbouring states. For example, the snake symbolises the south, which corresponds to etymological rules for the proper names for the south such as man (), shu () and min (), which view snakes as long worms. There is a worm () component in each name. The dragon, which does not exist in reality, is a composite of the bear on the ground, the bird in the sky, and amphibians in water. The features of a bear's head, a snake's body and an owl's claws can still be clearly seen in later images of the divine dragon, which can fly in the sky, swim in water and walk on land. The metamorphosis of the bear, snake and bird in The Tales of the Marvellous helps explain the origins of the dragon's abilities."

books.google.com.pk/books?id=IoCFEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA311&dq=yellow+emperor+bear&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&authuser=2&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjpm6fMq4CBAxUvnf0HHZg8BL4Q6AF6BAgKEAM#v=onepage&q=yellow%20emperor%20bear&f=false

[Montezuma]

"The bear totem belief is still popular in many hunting communities in northeast China. Viewed as a living fossil, looking to these cultures helps to restore and illuminate the history of bear totems from the "Youxiong State" (4000-5000 years ago) to the Xia Dynasty."

"Bear-god images, confirmed by western archaeology, in Eurasia date back 8000 to 10,000 years (Gimbutas 1999, 13). Although the inherited literature points to the Xia Dynasty and the Yellow Emperor's reign as the origins of the bear totem, this does not prove that the East Asian bear totem tradition only began at this time. Recent archaeological discoveries direct attention to more distant prehistoric times for the origins of the bear totem in East Asia."

"In the 1980s, bear skulls and clay bear heads and claws were unearthed in the Niuheliang Goddess Temple in Jianping County in the province of Liaoning. Since then, the fact that the ancestors of the Hongshan culture (5000 or 6000 years ago) worshiped a bear god became known to the world. In 2006, this author identified earlier bear-shaped stone carvings of Xinglongwa in Linxi County Museum of Inner Mongolia. In the meantime, goddess statues, dating back about 7800 years, have been unearthed as well (Ye 2007a). This corresponds fully with the prehistoric goddess religion discovered by archaeologists of the European Neolithic".

books.google.com.pk/books?id=IoCFEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA311&dq=yellow+emperor+bear&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&authuser=2&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjpm6fMq4CBAxUvnf0HHZg8BL4Q6AF6BAgKEAM#v=onepage&q=yellow%20emperor%20bear&f=false

[Montezuma]

"Compiled by the Archaeological Institute of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the book Baiyin Changhan (2004, 308) also highlights an unearthed bear-shaped stone carving from the same period: "It is round, having short ears and an erect body posture, two small round pits representing two eyes, and a mouth protruding forward. It has a height of 2.7 cm and a diameter of 1.5 cm." From bear-shaped stones in the Xinglongwa culture to clay bear-god carvings in the Goddess Temple of the Hongshan culture, all the way through to bear-shaped carved idols of shell in the lower Xiajiadian culture, the making of bear totem idols was a tradition that stretched and developed into the artistic modelling of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, in which the image of jade bear production became separated from the original totem worship and survived until the jade industry of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1736-1795). Though certainly smaller, jade production is still handed down over generations to this day."

"The excavators of the Niulianghe relics, Sun Shoudao and Guo Dashun, wrote that the Hongshan culture, dating back at least 5000 years, worshiped bears and that the dragon images on jade carvings unearthed in the Niuheliang stone tomb are actually bear-dragons. Research into the legendary Five Emperors era should be linked to the cult objects discovered from the Hongshan culture (Guo 2005, 207). By connecting jade sculpture to jade dragons unearthed from the Fu Hao ruins in Anyang, this author has already found how the bear-dragon entered Chinese history from the Xinglongwa and Hongshan cultures, and identified its relationship with Shang and Zhou bronze beast face patterns and taotie (a mythical beast) patterns (Ye 2006b)."



A jade carving of bear-dragon unearthed from the Fu Hao Tomb. Photographed at the Capital Museum in Beijing


"As for the key issue of how the bear became the dragon, one can offer new explanations for this by referring to folk beliefs that say that the bear is the snake spirit in The Tales of the Marvellous by Ren Fang. The bear's head and snake's body are the two archetypes that collectively construct the dragon symbol. The hibernating bear and the snake are integrated into a sacred animal capable of transformation and metamorphosis. It could fly in the sky, swim under water and walk on the land, traversing the three realms and thus shaping later imaginations of the dragon."

"The widespread Eurasian prehistoric deity bear image can be understood as an animal incarnation, or symbol, of the regenerating goddess. The bear caves that. according to The Classic of Mountains and Seas, "close in winter and open in summer" and from which "a god-human comes out of it" strongly indicate that hibernating bears were considered by ancient peoples as deities who could return to life after death. This belief in resurrection is a core concept of all important religions and myths around the world."




A deity bear holding two sheep depicted on a gold ornament of the Warring States Period, unearthed from Yi County. Photographed at the Hebei Museum

books.google.com.pk/books?id=IoCFEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA311&dq=yellow+emperor+bear&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&authuser=2&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjpm6fMq4CBAxUvnf0HHZg8BL4Q6AF6BAgKEAM#v=onepage&q=yellow%20emperor%20bear&f=false

[Montezuma]

The central Bear Flag of Emperor Yu.





link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-19-3096-6_13

"In the legend of the battle of Banquan, fought between the Yellow Emperor and the Yan Emperor, the former's army was composed of six beasts, among which the first four were bears".

books.google.com.pk/books?id=IoCFEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA311&dq=yellow+emperor+bear&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&authuser=2&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjpm6fMq4CBAxUvnf0HHZg8BL4Q6AF6BAgKEAM#v=onepage&q=yellow%20emperor%20bear&f=false

[Montezuma]

"Some beautiful carved jade figures of bears dating back to the Han Dynasty have been excavated, one near the tomb of the Han Emperor Yuándi (, r. 48- 31 b.c.)"



A stone bear from the tomb environs of one of the Han Emperor Wudi's (, r. 141-87 BCE) favorites, Huò Qubing (E), constructed to honor his many military successes against the Hun. Photographed while visiting the Maoling () Museum, summer 2006.


"The depiction of an eagle (ying) and a bear (xióng) represents a hero (yingxióng),  Raymond Li tells us that "Two bears watching each other [is said to represent] an intellectual competition between two heros" (shuangxióng douzhi ). Li has a very interesting agate snuff bottle in his collection with this motif."

"Throughout the Ming and Qing Dynasties, an embroidered rank badge of a bear denoted a fifth-rank military officer. It is sometimes difficult to discern a bear from a lion on rank badges as they were highly stylized, but one helpful clue on Qing Dynasty badges is to look at the mane and tail - it is curly on the lion and straight on the bear; unfortunately, this test does not hold true on Ming badges."




This bear can be easily confused with a lion but its straight as opposed to curly mane and tail allow us to identify it as a bear. Insignia badge for the wife of a fifth-rank military official. Qing Dynasty, Yongzheng Period (1723-35). Embroidery on silk, 37 x 38 cm. Courtesy of Judith Rutherford, gifted to the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2001.

books.google.com.pk/books?id=dAPQAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA231-IA4&dq=bear+in+qing+dynasty&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&authuser=2&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi555TnjYiBAxUC7rsIHaCQC3YQ6AF6BAgOEAM#v=onepage&q=bear&f=false

[Montezuma]

A chinese Jade Bear Ring from Shand Dynasty (1600 - 1000 BCE)

[Montezuma]

Two bear respective bear artifacts from Shang Dynasty.




www.granger.com/results.asp?inline=true&image=0102775&wwwflag=4&itemx=4





asia.si.edu/explore-art-culture/collections/search/edanmdm:fsg_S1999.120.3/

[Montezuma]

"Lions and bears resembled one another in Chinese art".

"Some, such as the lion and the bear, attained such importance that they were eventually selected to serve as the means of identifying the rank of the emperor's military officers."

"During the periods when China was ruled by minority tribes that had a basis in hunting (such as during the Jin, CE 1115–1234), deer, bear, birds, and other animals together with “mountains and forests” were popular textile designs."

books.google.com.pk/books?id=dAPQAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA231-IA4&dq=bear+in+qing+dynasty&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&authuser=2&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi555TnjYiBAxUC7rsIHaCQC3YQ6AF6BAgOEAM#v=onepage&q=bear&f=false

"Some bear bones were also unearthed in the archaeological excavations of the Yin Ruins. There are also records of hunting bears in the Oracle bones. In the Yinxu Women's Tomb, three round carvings and one embossed jade bear were found. The bear's postures were all sitting on the knees. They were not in the wild. From the morphological characteristics of the scoring, these also seemed to be young bear sculptures. Therefore, it is speculated that in addition to breeding wild animals such as deer, elephants, and monkeys, the Yin royal family in the late Shang Dynasty may have the custom of playing young bears."




books.google.com.pk/books?id=lOiJDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT53&dq=Bear+in+shang+culture&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&authuser=2&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjQt__Ju4qBAxXknf0HHZVNASgQ6AF6BAgJEAM#v=onepage&q=Bear%20in%20shang%20culture&f=false

Early tribes in China had animal names such as Bears.

[Gorilla king]

Reply #29:

This bear can be easily confused with a lion but its straight as opposed to curly mane and tail allow us to identify it as a bear.

Can it be that some ancient lion sculptures or paintings that made people think the lion is the king of beasts were really bears?

[brobear]

This bear can be easily confused with a lion but its straight as opposed to curly mane and tail allow us to identify it as a bear.

*Looks like a sloth bear (the ears). - Reply #29 what appears to be a rug.

[Montezuma]

Sept 1, 2023 23:51:01 GMT -5 Gorilla king said:

Reply #29:

This bear can be easily confused with a lion but its straight as opposed to curly mane and tail allow us to identify it as a bear.

Can it be that some ancient lion sculptures or paintings that made people think the lion is the king of beasts were really bears?

Basically, the resemblence between lion and bear in chinese culture is mostly mythical than being actual. You maybe right.

[oldindigosilverback]

/\ The most mythical animal in China is the dragon, the symbol of that country. It’s religion also glorifies many animals
Including bears like giant pandas.

[Montezuma]

"There is also evidence of early bear worship as far away as China, while in Korean mythology, the bear is viewed as an ancestor."

books.google.com.pk/books?id=8r_rAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA244&dq=bear+cult+in+china&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&authuser=2&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwilwpav4pSBAxUJ_rsIHXcNAo0Q6AF6BAgIEAM#v=onepage&q=bear%20cult%20in%20china&f=false

"In ancient China, shaman women wore bearskins to act as a better oracle (future tellers)."





books.google.com.pk/books?id=cG7CEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA25&dq=bear+cult+in+china&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&authuser=2&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjqh9uj45SBAxUth_0HHe7fBvI4FBDoAXoECAoQAw#v=onepage&q=bear%20cult%20in%20china&f=false

[Montezuma]

"Bears are symbolic of both strength and bravery. The Chinese name for the bear is bsiung, which is a homonym for virile as well as heroic."

www.google.com.pk/books/edition/Dictionary_of_Chinese_Symbols/Ul8kVMexa6gC?hl=en

"The bear's son plays an heroic role in many Old European and Chinese myths".




books.google.com.pk/books?id=iBSDddO-9PoC&pg=PA36&dq=bear+in+chinese+symbolism&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&authuser=2&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjSu47DvaqBAxXaYqQEHds1AFEQ6AF6BAgJEAM#v=onepage&q=bear%20in%20chinese%20symbolism&f=false

"The bear symbolises → man, just as the snake symbolises woman. The bear stands for strength and courage. The birth of a son is presaged by dreaming of a bear. 'The Great Yu', the mythical hero who diverted the great flood which his father had been unable to stem, was like his father - a bear".

"The constellation of the Great Bear (bei dou) is of special interest and significance. The literal translation of bei dou is "Northern Dipper', but the word dou= dipper refers also to an altar vessel used in religious ceremonies. Its handle corresponds to the shaft in our 'Great Wain'. This part of the constellation of Ursa Major is also known as the 'Cloud Dipper, and symbolises the penis in the marriage ceremony. In Chinese astronomy the constellation consists of these seven stars, and it is consequently referred to as the 'Group of Seven (stars)'.".





books.google.com.pk/books?id=Ul8kVMexa6gC&pg=PA34&dq=bear+in+chinese+symbolism&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&authuser=2&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjSu47DvaqBAxXaYqQEHds1AFEQ6AF6BAgKEAM

[Montezuma]

The actual (in early beginning) symbol of China isn't the Dragon, but the Bear!

"..Professor Ye used a large number of archeological objects and images to prove that the Chinese were originally "descendants of the Bear" before gradually becoming "descendants of the dragons".




books.google.com.pk/books?id=fSbsDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA96&dq=bear+as+symbol+of+chinese+civilization&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&authuser=2&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjwi-bS9quBAxW_T6QEHc4uBMIQ6AF6BAgKEAM#v=onepage&q=bear%20as%20symbol%20of%20chinese%20civilization&f=false

"Thus, one has reason to suspect that the original sacred symbol of Chinese civilization was a real beast, the bear, rather than a fictive creature, the

dragon".



"The gradual decline of the deity-bear belief was caused by the rise in the belief in the deity-dragon, another mythical image able to move from the darkness to the light, from heaven to beneath the sea. This is an excellent example of how cultural elements of the big tradition were lost under the influence of the small tradition."

books.google.com.pk/books?id=IoCFEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA308&dq=bear+as+symbol+of+chinese+civilization&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&authuser=2&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjwi-bS9quBAxW_T6QEHc4uBMIQ6AF6BAgJEAM#v=onepage&q=bear%20as%20symbol%20of%20chinese%20civilization&f=false