论文部分内容阅读
Killer bees， sharks and vipers are certainly terrifying for some， but none of them are worthy of the title “most dangerous animal”； for that， we need only look in the mirror. As humanity expands and eats its way into the future， perhaps it’s time for us to examine our relationship with other species， and there’s no better place to start than the very beginning. Things were certainly a lot tougher a few thousand years ago. Man had to fight nature to eke out a living. Over three thousand years ago the ancient Chinese carved their early thoughts about wild animals on to the oracle bones. The 兽 （sh7u）， or “beast”， character originally had a prong on the left， representing a weapon and a simple sketch with a few strokes representing a hound. The prong has two pieces of stone tied on top of each branch and a coil of rope wound in the middle of its shaft. This combination depicts a man who is well-equipped for hunting his beast. So， this character is meant to mean both beast and “to hunt”. From animal bones to turtle shells and from bronze vessels to paper， the written form of the character changed with the medium as well as time. Thus， we end up with獸 ， in which you can still find traces of the original form. To further simplify its written form， the right part of the character was omitted while a few corners on the left were cut to reach this modern form. To avoid confusion， people later created another character with the same pronunciation to represent hunting， which is 狩. So， in modern Chinese， 狩猎（sh7uli-） means to hunt， and 兽 means beast.
Usually， 兽 refers to furry land mammals. Big cats， the top of the food chain， are regarded as兽王 （sh7uw1ng， king of beasts， usually equal to lions or tigers）. But when it comes to fiction， 兽 knows no boundaries. Mythical creatures， such as dragons， are 神兽 （sh9nsh7u）， while the popular online game World of Warcraft is translated to 魔兽世界 （M5sh7u Sh#ji-， literally “world of magical beasts”）. On other less exciting occasions， 兽 simply means animal. For example， veterinarian is 兽医 （sh7uy～） and animal diseases are 兽疫 （sh7uy#）.
Usually， 兽 refers to furry land mammals. Big cats， the top of the food chain， are regarded as兽王 （sh7uw1ng， king of beasts， usually equal to lions or tigers）. But when it comes to fiction， 兽 knows no boundaries. Mythical creatures， such as dragons， are 神兽 （sh9nsh7u）， while the popular online game World of Warcraft is translated to 魔兽世界 （M5sh7u Sh#ji-， literally “world of magical beasts”）. On other less exciting occasions， 兽 simply means animal. For example， veterinarian is 兽医 （sh7uy～） and animal diseases are 兽疫 （sh7uy#）.