| Change log entry 62543 | |
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| Processed by: | richwarm (2016-09-20 22:34:28 GMT) |
| Comment: |
<< review queue entry 59269 - submitted by 'bluppfisk' >> http://baike.baidu.com/item/%E7%8B%BC%E7%83%9F/14364 As you can read here, wolf dung contains nothing but fur and bones, which don't burn very well. The smoke signals were made with firewood which would be more visible and are easier to obtain in large masses than wolf dung. The origin of the word wolf smoke is because the nomadic tribes on the fringes of then China were called wolf people. ---------------------------------------------- Editor: Yes, the notion that they used dried wolf scats to generate the smoke signal is nonsense, debunked in the following article: http://www.chinaheritagequarterly.org/articles.php?searchterm=006_wolf.inc&issue=006 Not only that, but 狼烟 is not a verb phrase ("burn wolf dung to give alarm"). And "fire beacon" is wrong too. The fire beacons were used day and night (to create smoke during the day and light at night), whereas 狼烟 is clearly smoke that would appear only during the day > "The smoke signals were made with firewood ..." It seems it was not only firewood that was used for the fires: "Archaeologists have examined these piles of fuel intended for use in signal fires. They comprise dried Chinese tamarisk, reeds, diversiform-leaved poplar, the rose willow and other types of vegetation. [...] According to historical records, these beacon towers would signal by day using smoke formed from burning assorted vegetation, as well as foliage and timber from various local trees, while fires at night were fuelled by reeds." [ibid.] The baike.baidu.com article mentions vegetation such as 罗布麻、芨芨草、白茨、骆驼草、甘草, which doesn't sound like firewood. |
| Diff: |
- 狼煙 狼烟 [lang2 yan1] /fire beacon/to burn wolf dung to give alarm/ # + 狼煙 狼烟 [lang2 yan1] /fire beacon/ # Editor: + 狼煙 狼烟 [lang2 yan1] /smoke signal indicating the presence of hostile forces/ |