Historical Studies (Chinese Edition)

No.2, 2017

 

Hawk Culture in Eurasian Civilization and the Symbol of Ancient Royal Power

(Abstract)

 

Shang Yongqi

 

The hawk, the “divine bird” of the steppe peoples, was the object of worship by the ancients: more, it was a symbol of mysterious power favored by the ancient royal houses of Eurasia. The deification of the hawk has a close symbiotic relationship with the hunting culture of the steppes. Domesticated hawks were not only helpers in the hunt but also part of the king’s honor guard. The earliest falconry undoubtedly originated in Central Asia and Asia Minor, but it was by no means the kings’ invention. It is certainly true that the rulers of ancient Eurasian kingdoms were obsessed with hunting with hawks, but this is recorded differently in Eastern and Western literature. The peoples of the Eurasian grasslands directly linked the image of the king to the hawk and treated it as the symbol of royal power, so the sacred nature of royal domestication of the hawk was not in question. However, in ancient China’s Confucian civilization, with its profound agrarian base, there was no tradition of worshiping the “heavenly bird,” and falconry was more of a luxury amusement than an act of reverence or worship.