Mythical Qilin and Bloody Horses: Ancient Animal Ambassadors

On August 21, the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, DC celebrated the first birthday of panda cub Xiao Qi Ji, which translates to Little Miracle. The zoo had held an online contest where the public could vote on a list of names. He “shared not one but two delicious fruitsicle cakes with his mother, Mei Xiang,” the zoo said on its website. The cub’s birth definitely comes as a little miracle during the Covid-19 pandemic and tensions between China and the US.The first pair of pandas, Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing , arrived in the National Zoo in April 1972, three months after former US president Richard Nixon’s historic visit to China. Historically, animals have played significant roles in China’s foreign relations. Sometimes they were gifts, like pandas. Sometimes they started wars. Another animal that once served as a national gift was the giraffe, as ancients believed it to be a qilin, a mythical and auspicious creature on par with the unicorn in Western cultures. .