The Elephant and Its Ivory in Ancient China

FEW MAMMALS, probably, have so forcibly impressed themselves upon the imaginations of the peoples coming in contact with them as has the elephant. Living, he has not only been the noblest of big game animals, but has shown himself susceptible of taming and of utilization in a variety of ways for the purposes of peace, of war, and of religion. Dead, his ivory has been eagerly sought after, and from pakeolithic times has formed one of the principal media for the expression of the aesthetic impulses of the artist. It would seem, in fact, that the ancient trade in ivory has not as yet had accorded to it the study which it merits. Trade of a sort, more often than not probably of an intermittent, tribeto-tribe variety, has of course been going on the world over, from an extremely early period; and in the long run it has no doubt played a more important part in the diffusion of culture elements than any other agency. Early commerce, however, in the very nature of the case was always restricted to certain very definite classes of objects-those, namely, which combined in themselves the qualities of high value, of durability, and of easy transport. Among such were amber, jade, spices, and silk. Such, too, in a preeminent degree, was ivory. In view of the really great importance of the ivory trade in all ages, it seems rather curious that so little attention has been paid hitherto to the distribution of the elephant in protohistoric and early historic times. It is the purpose of this paper to present a brief synopsis of the available data concerning the Asiatic elephant and the traffic in its ivory during the earlier historical periods in regions where it has now disappeared, and particularly in ancient China. We are indebted for our first definite notices of the elephant in western Asia to the Egyptian monuments, and especially to those of the XVIIIth Dynasty. These not only mention ivory, both in the tusk and in the form of manufactured articles, among the items of tribute and booty brought to Egypt as a result of the Syrian expeditions of the Pharaohs; but the living animals themselves are spoken of more than once in the same connection

Ancient history · Archaeology · China · Geography · Chinese history and philosophy · Eurasian Exchange Networks · History · Japanese History and Culture

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