From a Mystery to a Myth:How the Panda Was Established as a Symbol of China

In recent decades,the panda has been established as a national"sign of China".However,the panda was seldom ever mentioned in the historic records from ancient to recent times.The very few possibly relevant descriptions of panda-like animals seem to portray ambiguous mythic creatures.The naming,re-naming,symbolisation and resymbolisation of the panda has involved several stages of semiosis.An exploration of this process reveals the ways in which historical contexts and the aesthetics of popular culture have combined to reinterpret the panda from a little-known,seemingly magical creature to an animal of great symbolic importance for the nation.This detailed examination of the great panda explores how a wild creature in nature became established as a symbol with multiple cultural connotations.