Wolf cult in the steppes in the pre-xiong-nu period according to ancient chinese sources

Abstract

The cult of the wolf, a principal element of Turkic mythology, is generally associated with Gokturk legends and is often reduced to the inferences drawn from these legends. However, the wolf cult, which persists even today in the steppes and tundra of Asia, has a much older and more deeply rooted history, based on a wider and more diverse anthropological foundation. Additionally, research into Chinese sources that contain details of Turkic mythology is not yet complete. For instance, the earliest traces of the wolf cult in written sources are found in Chinese historical writings such as the Guo-yu, thought to have been completed in 453 BC, Athe Shi-ji thought to have been completed in 91 BC, Aand the Han-shu thought to have been completed in 111 AD. AThese sources mention that the Emperor of the Zhou Dynasty, Zhou Mu-wang, captured and brought "four white wolves and four white deer" to represent his military victory over the Quan-rongs, who also lived in the steppes of northern China. Although this brief and relatively obscure fragment is insufficient to draw definitive conclusions, aAnew development has corroborated this text: a ding (a three-legged bronze ceremonial vessel) with an inscription in honor of a Zhou nobleman named Bo Tang-fu, Awho lived during the Zhou Mu-wang period, was unearthed through archaeological research. Thanks to the inscription on the vessel, the issue mentioned in historical sources has been clarified further. As understood from the inscription, animals symbolizing power, such as oxen, tigers, panthers, white deer, and white wolves, were captured to represent the nomadic communities living in the steppes of northern China, which Emperor Zhou Mu-wang defeated during his Western Campaign in 964 BC. These animals were sacrificed during the Hui Ritual, a mimetic ritual unique to the Zhou, to wish good fortune for the ancestors. The Mai-zun Inscription on another ceremonial vessel was also analyzed for further details of the ceremony. Turkic sources on the cult of the white wolf also parallel Chinese sources: the Talas IV Inscription, the Ak-Tayci Legend, and the fragment about Bamsi Beyrek in the Dede Korkut Legends are prominent examples. Thus, the four white wolves taken by Zhou Mu-wang around 964 BC representing the Quan-rong tribe indicate that communities adopting the white wolf as a symbol existed in the steppes before the GokturksAand even before the Xiong-nu. AMoreover, the wolf cult and motif, which appeared sporadically in the Pre-Xiong-nu Period, began to show itself intensely during the Xiong-nu Period and again followed aAline of increasing visibility in the Gokturk Period. Consequently, relevant Ancient Chinese and Middle Chinese texts were translated into Turkish, these texts were compared with examples in Turkic mythology, historical and folkloric relations were established between these texts and examples, and it was attempted to reveal that the roots of the wolf cult in Turkic mythology are much deeper than previously thought.