Abstract
Ancient Chinese has accumulated rich knowledge on non-human primates that are widely distributed in China with written literature and folklore for several thousand years. We used the method of critical text analysis and discourse analysis to make clear when and how ancient Chinese distinguished gibbons from macaques. We divided the progress into four main stages, which include Pre-Shang to Shang Dynasty (before 1046 B.C.), Zhou to Han Dynasty (1046 B.C. - 220 A.D.), Six Dynasties to Song Dynasty (220 - 1279 A.D.) and Yuan to Qing Dynasties (1279 - 1840 A.D.). We found that China's traditional cognition of gibbons and macaques emphasized the appearance of animals, organoleptic performance or even whether their behaviors were ’moral’ or not. They described them as human-like animals by ethical standards but ignored the species itself. This kind of cognitive style actually embodies the ’pursuit of goodness’, which is the feature of Chinese traditional culture. This study presents some original views on Chinese traditional knowledge of non-human primates. Keywords: Chinese traditional culture, Non-human primates, Gibbon, Macaque, Cognitive feature
