In ancient northern China, there was a myth of the ancestors of wolves. The wolf is a symbol of the inner spirit of these peoples, so it is considered a beautiful image. However, due to the long-term historical conflict between grassland people and farming people, nomadic cultural groups symbolized by wolves invaded and plundered farming people. As a symbol of fierce greed, wolves appear in the deep heart of farming people.

Is the wolf a totem of Mongols?

Viewpoint 1: Wolf has never been a totem of Mongols.

This problem was repeatedly mentioned when the novel Wolf Totem was published. After the film was released, independent documentary director Rasidoji wrote: As a Mongolian, he is too familiar with wolves. "Like my father's brother, I whipped and shot many wolves with rattan (stick whip), Nao Maosaoer Nomaosor (bow and arrow), Wuriga Urgaa (harness), Weiyiduq (cowhide trebuchet) and all grazing and hunting rattan that I could touch at that time. I don't remember myself. It was my youth in grassland and pastoral areas (sixties and seventies). Those tools are not allowed to be brought into yurts in our Mongolian life at all. Because they always deal with Adu (Weibo) Adu (hateful animal) and can't be in the same room with others. It is not allowed to harness people like Stark Chan and Yankee in the movie. We are afraid that people will become wolves and animals. We don't allow others to treat us as wolves and animals. On the contrary, we respect everything that people use. They will be taken care of and preserved, and they will often be wiped and maintained, such as bowls, milk buckets, milk tea pots and especially saddles. They will be carefully placed in yurts and put together with people. This has nothing to do with religion. But this can be said to be the simplest and simplest belief in the human world. "

Writer Guo Xuebo also believes that the legend of "Canglang White Deer Plain" cannot be used to prove the wolf totem. He wrote that the legend of "Canglang Bailuyuan" distorted the description in the opening paragraph of the Mongolian classic history book "The Secret History of Mongolia". "Belitudina and his wife, Hoai Yimalanle, are from Tenggis", which is the name of a couple. Belitie Chinar means purple metamorphosis, and Huoai Yimalanle means deer with different colors, but Jiang Rong directly regards this as "Canglang" and "Doe", saying that Mongolian ancestors are wolves and deer.

Viewpoint 2: Herdsmen's awe of wolves is mistaken for sacredness.

Du Qiaomu, vice chairman of Chifeng Writers Association and a famous poet in Inner Mongolia, said: The wolf is not the true totem of the Mongolian people. Herdsmen regard jackals as beasts, and there is a kind of awe in their hearts, which may be mistaken for sacredness. But as a literary work, novels are allowed, including Mongolian national spirit and wolf nature.

Duchom has been to the real Russian-Mongolian border grassland. First of all, he thinks that wolves are not friends of herders, because wolves feed on herders' livestock, such as cattle, horses and sheep, and they are opposites. Herdsmen's sheep are stolen and attacked by wolves. In the 1970s, there were wolves on the grassland. At that time, there were militiamen who besieged this animal that endangered collective property, and wolves were basically eliminated. So it's hard to see wolves in pastoral areas now.

How to understand this sentence in Wolf Totem? That is, as a fierce animal, herders have a heartfelt awe of it and may think it is sacred to wolves. A real old herder sees a wolf as a natural enemy. If they call it a god, people will definitely not hunt it, but in fact, when the wolf appears, the herdsmen will resolutely kill it and will not let the wolf eat the sheep, because the herdsmen have so little property. Herdsmen regard dogs as friends and wolves as wild animals. Awe and holiness are two concepts.