A legend of China’s national treasure: from Ya’an to the world
文 高富华 四川省雅安日报传媒集团编委、高级记者，中国国际茶文化研究会理事，四川省大熊猫生态与文化建设促进会副秘书长
世界上，有一个神秘的物种，从人类发现它的那一刻起，它就成了世界的宠儿，这就是大熊猫；在中国，有一个神奇的地方，大熊猫在这里被发现，从这里走向世界，由这里重回山林，这个地方叫雅安。一部雅安大熊猫史，实际上就是一部中国大熊猫史，一部世界大熊猫史。
In the world, there inhabits a mysterious species. From the moment it came into the sight of human beings, it has become the world’s most adorable creature. It is the giant panda. In China, there is a place full of wonders where the giant panda was discovered. From there the giant panda was introduced to the world and brought back to the wild. This place is called Ya’an. The giant panda history in Ya’an is actually a history of giant pandas in China and in the world.
大约40亿年前，地球上开始出现生命，先后存在过约5亿物种，至今尚存的约有近1000万种。很多物种在漫长的岁月中被大自然淘汰，如恐龙、剑齿象、剑齿虎等，唯有大熊猫，这种早在800万年前就开始出现的稀有物种，还保持着原始的外貌特征、生理习性，成为地球物种的活化石，原始生命的“遗老”。
Life began on earth about four billion years ago, and there were about 500 million species, with nearly 10 million still alive today. Many species, such as dinosaurs, saber-toothed elephants and saber-toothed tigers, have been eliminated by nature over the long course of history. Only the giant panda, a rare life species that emerged as early as eight million years ago, still maintains its original appearance and physiological habits, becoming the living fossil of the species on earth and the survivor of primitive life.
几千年前，“熊猫”就被记载进华夏文明，如今仍可在《尔雅》《山海经》《说文解字》等古籍中寻到其踪迹。大熊猫的诞生早于人类文明，它们经历了漫长的沧海桑田的地质变迁和第四纪冰川的洗礼，偏居于青藏高原东缘的高山峡谷中，顽强地生存繁衍。
Thousands of years ago, pandas were recorded in the Chinese civilization, and such records can still be found in ancient books such as Erya, Classic of Mountains and Seas and Shuowen Jiezi. The birth of pandas was earlier than human civilization. They experienced a long time of geological changes and the quaternary glacier, and then survived and multiplied in the high mountains and valleys on the eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
发现大熊猫：
探险家几乎都奔向同一个地方——穆坪
Discovery of giant pandas：
Explorers almost all head for the same destination — Muping
人类第一次清晰地听到大熊猫的脚步声，是在一个乍暖还寒的季节，在一个碧水青山、茂林修竹之地。
The first time that humans heard the footsteps of giant pandas clearly was in an early spring, in a place with clear waters, green mountains, and dense bamboo forests.
1869年2月28日，经过艰难的旅行，法国传教士阿尔芒·戴维（Armand Pere David）的身影出现在雅安宝兴县穆坪邓池沟天主教堂。
On February 28, 1869, after a hard journey, the French missionary Armand Pere David arrived at the catholic church in Dengchigou Village, Muping Town, Baoxing County, Ya’an City, Southwest China’s Sichuan Province.
与其说阿尔芒·戴维是传教士，倒不如说他是博物学家更准确。从小就着迷于昆虫和植物分类的他，在巴黎自然历史博物馆馆长亨利·米勒·爱德华兹等人的推荐下，接下了到中国传教并进行科学研究的任务。1862年，36岁的阿尔芒·戴维怀揣着科学家们拟定的动植物名录，从马赛港出发，踏上了到中国寻找动植物标本的历程。
David was more of a naturalist than a missionary. Fascinated by the classification of insects and plants from an early age, he was recommended by Henri Milne-Edwards, Director of French National Museum of Natural History in Paris, to preach and conduct scientific research in China. In 1862, David, at the age of 36, with a catalogue drawn up by a group of scientists, set out from the port of Marseille to China in search of specimens of plants and animals.
阿尔芒·戴维在中国有过三次“旅行考察”，第一次是到华北和内蒙古地区，第二次目的地便是宝兴穆坪了。打开中国地图，寻找到宝兴穆坪的位置——地处夹金山脉南麓，四川盆地西北边缘向青藏高原过渡地带的这片区域，山川秀丽，林木葱郁。“这里离成都虽然不远，但由于崇山峻岭的阻隔，仍是一个封闭之地。这里的高山和河谷都被原始森林覆盖，使得当地的野生动物得以生存和延续下来。”戴维在日记中记录了对这里的初印象。
David has made three trips to China. The first was to Northern China and Inner Mongolia, and the second to Muping. On the map, it can be seen that Muping is located at the southern foot of the Jiajin Mountains, the transition zone from the northwest edge of the Sichuan Basin to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, where there are beautiful mountains and rivers and lush forests. “Although it is not far from Chengdu, it is still a closed place because of the high mountains. The high mountains and river valleys here are covered with virgin forest, enabling the local wildlife to survive and continue,” David recorded his first impressions on this place in his diary.
就是这样一个小地方，却有很多“冰川活化石”被发现。1869年3月11日，阿尔芒·戴维在考察路上，遇上了一位李姓教友。李家中堂的墙壁上挂着一张兽皮，戴维一见，便呆立在原地，只见动物皮周身雪白，四肢漆黑，他惊呼道：“天啦！伟大的造物主居然创造出如此奇特的大型动物，它可能成为科学上一个有趣的新物种！”如今翻阅《戴维日记》，字里行间仍能感受到他当时的狂喜。
In such a small place, many “living fossils of glaciers” have been found. On March 11, 1869, David came across a Catholic villager named Li. On the wall of the living room of the villager’s house hung a piece of animal skin. When David saw it, he was so shocked. The skin was white all over, except for the black limbs. “Good heavens!” he exclaimed, “The great Creator created such an extraordinary large animal. It could be an interesting new species in science history.” His ecstasy can still be felt today through David’s Diary.
最终他确认了自己之前的直觉——这是一个欧洲没有的物种。这一天后来被定为“大熊猫发现日”，穆坪也成为世界知名的大熊猫模式标本产地。
Eventually he confirmed his hunch that it was a species not found in Europe. The day was later designated as the “Giant Panda Discovery Day”, and Muping became a world-famous place for giant panda specimens.
保护大熊猫：
从物种保护到栖息家园
Panda protection:
From species conservation to habitat protection
中华人民共和国成立后，保护大熊猫从物种保护到栖息地保护，从自然保护区到大熊猫国家公园，保护不断升级。
Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the protection of giant pandas has been constantly upgraded from species protection to habitat protection, from nature reserves to giant panda national parks.
迄今为止，雅安已建立起了7个以保护大熊猫为主的自然保护区，其中国家级自然保护区3个。1998年，雅安率先在全国禁伐天然林，大熊猫栖息地不断扩大。2003年，全球最大的半野生大熊猫基地落户雅安碧峰峡。当时雅安市人民政府联合成都山地所，向四川省政府递交了一份关于建立国家公园的报告，提议以雅安等地为中心，建立一个以大熊猫为主题的国家公园，集保护、科普、游憩于一体，为地方经济发展提供一种全新的可能与思路。
So far, seven nature reserves, including three at the national level, have been established in Ya’an, mainly to protect giant pandas. In 1998, Ya’an took the lead in China in banning the logging of natural forests, and the panda’s habitat has been expanding. In 2003, the world’s largest semi-wild giant panda base was built in Bifeng Gorge of Ya’an. In that year, Ya’an Municipal People’s Government, together with the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment (IMHE), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, submitted a report on the establishment of a national park to the People’s Government of Sichuan Province, proposing to build a national park themed with giant pandas centering on Ya’an and other places, integrating conservation, science popularization and recreation, so as to provide a new possibility and idea for local economic development.
2005年底，以夹金山为标志的“四川大熊猫栖息地”申报世界自然遗产保护地接受专家评审。评审首席专家戴维·谢泊尔在雅安留下一句话：“两个戴维在夹金山百年相约，我们的共同目标是，保护自然的宝贝和人类的宝贝，让大熊猫在栖息地生存，与人类和谐相处。”
At the end of 2005, the Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries represented by Jiajin Mountains declaring a world natural heritage site received expert evaluation. David Sheppard, the chief judge, said during his inspection visit to Ya’an: “I came to Jiajin Mountains one century after Armand David. Our common goal is to protect the treasure of both nature and humans, to allow pandas to live in their habitat and live in harmony with humans.”
2006年7月12日，在立陶宛首都维尔纽斯召开的联合国教科文组织第30届世界遗产大会一致决定，将中国“四川大熊猫栖息地”作为世界自然遗产列入《世界遗产名录》。这是世界上以野生动物为主体的最大遗产保护地，也是中国进入世界自然遗产保护名录的第一个以野生动物为保护主体的遗产保护地，雅安占了保护地核心区面积的52%。
On July 12, 2006, the 30th session of the World Heritage Committee (WHC), held in Vilnius, capital of Lithuania, decided to put Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries on the World Heritage List as a natural heritage site. It is the world’s largest protected area for wildlife, and the first protected area for wildlife in China inscribed on the World Natural Heritage List. Ya’an occupies 52% of the core area of the protected area.
2013年“4·20”芦山强烈地震灾后恢复重建总规提出建立“雅安大熊猫国家公园”，随后很快得到了回应，2014年，四川明确提出“大熊猫国家公园”概念。最终这一发轫于雅安的倡议，得到了中央的肯定。大熊猫国家公园的建设与试点方案正式进入中央最高决策层的案头。自雅安延伸到川陕甘的大熊猫国家公园落地中国西部。雅安40.8%的国土面积划入大熊猫国家公园，占公园面积的23%。其中“熊猫老家”宝兴县92.8%的国土面积划入大熊猫国家公园，宝兴现有野生大熊猫300余只，换句话说，近6万宝兴人只占有7.2%的面积，却让300余只野生大熊猫拥有了“好大一个家”。
The general plan for the restoration and reconstruction of Lushan after the violent earthquake on April 20, 2013 proposed the establishment of the Giant Panda National Park in Ya’an, which was quickly responded to. In 2014, Sichuan clearly put forward the concept of the Giant Panda National Park. Finally, this initiative, which originated in Ya’an, has been affirmed by the central government. The construction and pilot of the Giant Panda National Park has been officially put on the table of top policymakers of the central government. The Giant Panda National Park, stretching from Ya’an to other places in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu, came into being in Western China. 40.8% of the land area of Ya’an is included in the park, accounting for 23% of the park. Of these, 92.8% of the land area of Baoxing County, home of the pandas, is in the Giant Panda National Park. In other words, nearly 60,000 people in Baoxing only occupy 7.2% of the land, sparing a “big home” for more than 300 wild giant pandas.
放归大熊猫：
栗子坪、大相岭里的“新移族”
Release of pandas into the wild:
“New migrants” in Liziping and Daxiangling
人工繁育的大熊猫向何处去？重回大自然是它们最好的归宿。放归何处？专家的目光盯向了雅安南端的栗子坪。
Where do captive-bred pandas go? Nature is the best place for them. Then where should they go? Experts turned their attention to Liziping Township in Shimian County in the southern tip of Ya’an.
翻开中国野生大熊猫分布图，位于大小相岭大熊猫种群交流走廊带的栗子坪分外引人注目。自2009年起，栗子坪国家级自然保护区开始承接大熊猫放归工作，并于2014年成为全国首个“大熊猫野化培训放归基地”。让大熊猫回归大自然，从四川省雅安市最南端的石棉县开始，这里也因此有了“中国大熊猫放归基地”和“中国大熊猫放归之乡”的殊荣。
On the distribution map of wild pandas in China, Liziping, located in the giant panda population exchange corridor in DaXiangling and Xiaoxiang ling, stands out. Since 2009, the Liziping Nature Reserve has undertaken the work of releasing giant pandas to the wild, and in 2014, it became the first giant panda rewilding training base in China. Shimian County, as the first place to help pandas return to nature, is hailed as the “China giant panda release base” and the “China giant panda release hometown”.
栗子坪山间云雾缭绕、茂林苍翠；峡谷中或激流喧腾，或澄澈如镜。这一神秘深邃、令人向往之处，如今天蓝水碧，俨然一个茂林修竹的大熊猫乐园，是国内首个大熊猫野化放归基地，我国迄今野化放归的11只大熊猫中，有9只就放归在了栗子坪。据2015年第四次大熊猫普查统计，这一狭长地带上生活着30余只大熊猫，至今这一数字仍在增加，放归大熊猫“新移族”不断壮大。
Mountains in Liziping, shrouded in mist, are covered with luxuriant forests. Canyons there are either turbulent or clear as the mirror. This mysterious place with good environment which people yearn for is a paradise for giant pandas due to luxuriant bamboo forests. It is the first wild giant panda release base in China. As of today, 11 giant pandas bred in captivity have been released into the wild, including the nine now living in Liziping Nature Reserve. According to the fourth panda census in 2015, there were more than 30 giant pandas living in the narrow strip, the number of which is still growing and the number of “new migrant” pandas released to the wild is also growing.
人们希望通过放归的方式，让大熊猫能融入当地大熊猫种群中，最终增加遗传多样性，复壮这里的大熊猫小种群。2012年国庆节刚过，大熊猫“淘淘”奔向栗子坪的茫茫深山；2017年11月23日，大熊猫“映雪”“八喜”在栗子坪自然保护区放归，这是继2016年“华妍”“张梦”两只雅安大熊猫放归之后，全球第二次同时放归的两只大熊猫。
By releasing pandas into the wild, people hope the rewilding pandas can blend into the local wild panda population, and eventually increase genetic diversity and rejuvenate the small panda population there. Just after the National Day of 2012, giant panda Tao Tao ran freely to the mountains in Liziping; on November 23, 2017, two captivity-bred giant pandas Ying Xue and Ba Xi were released into Liziping Nature Reserve. This was the second time in the world that a pair of pandas in Ya’an have been released at the same time, following Hua Yan and Zhang Meng, who were released in 2016.
随着一只只大熊猫的放归，大熊猫放归监测队队长、西华师范大学生命科学学院副教授杨志松也成了栗子坪“新移族”的一员。他把办公室从南充搬到了石棉，他的工作地也从教室转移到了大山，“我在栗子坪野外工作的时间，多于在教室里授课的时间”。
As pandas were released into the wild one after another, Yang Zhisong, the leader of a team monitoring the release of giant pandas and an associate professor of the College of Life Sciences at China West Normal University, has also become one of the “new migrants” in Liziping. His office was moved from Nanchong to Shimian. His workplace was also moved from classroom to mountains. “I spent more time working in the field in Liziping than teaching in the classroom,” he said.
为了给放归在这里的大熊猫“新移族”一个完整的家，当地的彝族同胞也成为“新移族”，原居住在这里的彝族同胞整体搬迁。
In order to provide a complete home to the pandas released there, the local Yi people also became “new migrants”, who were relocated to another place.
回望栗子坪、大相岭的茫茫深山，或许放归在这里的大熊猫，未来还充满着艰辛与坎坷，但大熊猫真正的家在野外，让大熊猫回归自然是一切努力的终极意义。
In the vast mountains of Liziping and Daxiangling, perhaps the giant pandas released there still have a rough future ahead of them. However, the real home of giant pandas is in the wild, and it is the ultimate purpose of all efforts to bring them back to nature.
熊猫故乡：
让世界感受中国魅力
Hometown of pandas：
Let the world feel the charm of China
如果选择一种动物来代言中国，外形黑白分明，线条简洁柔和，外表憨态可掬、性情温和的熊猫当仁不让。
If we have to choose a kind of animal to represent China, the best choice is the black and white pandas with simple and soft lines, which are cuddly and sweet-tempered.
作为中国对外交流中的友谊使者，大熊猫在1957—1982年被赠送给朝鲜、美国、日本、法国、英国等9个国家，改革开放以来以“大熊猫合作繁殖”为基础的“熊猫租借”每次赠送或归国都会引发一股热潮。熊猫文化成为中国文化走向世界、影响世界的载体，是中华文化的一张响亮名片，与世界共享。
As an envoy of friendship in China’s foreign exchanges, pandas were given to nine countries from 1957 to 1982, including the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States, Japan, France and the United Kingdom. After China’s reform and opening-up, pandas were loaned to foreign countries based on cooperative breeding. Every time when they were given from or returned to China, it would set off a frenzy. Panda culture has become a carrier for Chinese culture to go global and influence the world. It is a good name card of Chinese culture, and a creature shared with the rest of the world.
熊猫文化植根于中华传统文化的土壤。2008年一部《功夫熊猫》，是西方文明对东方文化的多元图解，蕴藏了中国博大精深的儒释道思想。在全球化背景下的今天，熊猫既是象征团结进取的吉祥物，又是传递友好和平的使节，凝聚了世界的文化认同。
Panda culture is rooted in the soil of traditional Chinese culture. Kung Fu Panda, a film released in 2008, is a multifaceted illustration of Western civilization versus Eastern culture. It contains the profound thoughts of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism prevalent in China. Today, in the context of globalization, panda is not only a mascot symbolizing unity and progress, but also a messenger of friendship and peace, embodying the cultural identity of the world.
大熊猫没有天敌，与世无争，历经百万年依然呈现出顽强的生命力，如今成为世界上最受喜爱的动物之一，最有世界影响力的绿色旗帜，它带给世界最美好的祝福——“和平友好、和谐相处、和善坚韧、和气致祥”。1993年费孝通在与日本学者的学术交流中，以“各美其美，美人之美，美美与共，天下大同。”高度概括了人类社会及其文化未来发展的途径和光明前景，体现了中华文明中“和”的文化精髓，也为大熊猫文化作了恰如其分的注脚。
The giant panda has no natural enemies and is in harmony with the rest of the world. After millions of years, it still shows robust vitality. Now, it has become one of the world’s most beloved animals and the most influential green flag in the world. It brings the best wishes to the world — “Peace, Friendship, Harmony, Kindness, Tenacity, and Amiability for Propitiousness”. In the academic exchange with Japanese scholars in 1993, Fei Xiaotong, a famous Chinese sociologist, highly summarized the ways and bright prospects of the future development of human society and its culture by saying “Appreciate the culture of others as do to one’s own, and the world will become a harmonious whole”. This summary embodies the essence of harmony in Chinese civilization, and also makes a proper illustration to the panda culture.
绿色、生态、环保是当今世界广泛认同的发展理念，是人类价值追求的一大体现。1869年4月1日，“一个不可思议的物种”从大山中走进人类视野，它们择一山而终老，生活在绿水青山间，如今回归一片净土，熊猫唤起人类对生物多样性、土地、森林、气象、水流、大气动态变化等生态系统的重视。
Green development, ecological and environmental protection are widely recognized development concepts in the world today, a manifestation of human value pursuit. On April 1, 1869, “an incredible species” came into people’s sight from the mountains. They live in green mountains for their whole life. Now they have returned to a pure land. Pandas call people’s attention to ecosystems including biodiversity, land, forest, meteorology, water flow, atmospheric dynamics.
2019年，纪念大熊猫科学发现150周年暨大熊猫国家公园南部入口社区项目启动仪式在雅安举行，会上发表了《纪念大熊猫科学发现150周年共识》，倡议全社会共同保护和建设人与自然和谐共生的美好家园——让大熊猫保有荒野依旧的野生家园；让世界共建熊猫家园、共享熊猫文化；让大熊猫家园成为人与自然和谐共生的乐园。
In 2019, a ceremony was held in Ya’an to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the scientific discovery of giant pandas and the launch of a community project at the southern entrance of the Giant Panda National Park. At the ceremony, the Consensus on the 150th Anniversary of Scientific Discovery of Giant Pandas was published, calling for the whole society to jointly protect and build a beautiful homeland where man and nature coexist in harmony to let giant pandas keep their wild home as before, to let world build a panda homeland and share the panda culture, and to let the giant panda homeland become a paradise where man and nature coexist in harmony.
近年来，雅安在大熊猫国家公园体制试点上主动探索、先行先试，从设立碧峰峡熊猫山谷，打造宝兴“熊猫老家”，到积极构建大熊猫国家公园南部入口示范区，发起成立“中国·大熊猫文化联盟”，全力建设全域性、开放式、活态化的“国际熊猫城”，旨在打造世界大熊猫文化发源地IP。这也成为雅安以大熊猫文化为引领，树牢绿水青山就是金山银山理念的重要举措。
In recent years, Ya’an has taken the initiative in exploring the Giant Panda National Park system on a pilot trial basis. It has set up Bifeng Gorge Panda Valley, developed Baoxing as the panda hometown, built the southern entrance demonstration area of the Giant panda National Park, initiated the establishment of the China Giant Panda Culture Alliance, and strive to build a regional, open and active international panda city, aiming to build an IP featuring the birthplace of the world giant panda culture. These have also become important measures for Ya’an to take the giant panda culture as the guide, and insist on the concept that “Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets”.
对于有着800万年历史的大熊猫，人类认识它的历史只有150年，其却一跃成为四川的代名词，中国的代名词。
With a history of eight million years, the giant panda has only been known for 150 years, but it has become synonymous with Sichuan and China.
美国杰出的城市规划专家凯文·林奇在《城市形态》中说：“城市可以被看作是一个故事。”而“熊猫故乡”雅安的故事还会从自远古而来、与青山绿水相依的大熊猫身上一直讲下去。
Kevin Lynch, a prominent American urban planning expert, said in The Image of the City that “A city can be seen as a story”. The story of Ya’an, the hometown of pandas, should thus begin with the giant panda, a creature came from ancient times and relies on green mountains and clear waters to survive.
