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The Spread of Chickens in East Asian Ancient Society and Its Meaning

Ko Eunbyul 1

1서울대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The domestication of chickens occurred relatively recently in the Chinese continent and the Indian sub-continent and has spread to all parts of the world. However, the rate of spread was not uniform in each region, and domesticated chickens did not easily spread to surrounding areas, which is quite different from the case of other domesticated species. Introducing and raising domesticated animals must meet all the environmental, economic, and social conditions of the region into which that animal is being introduced. Once introduced, these animals tend to become regarded as prestige products due to their scarcity. In Korea and Japan, the introduction and spread of chickens took place very slowly despite these regions being located very close to the Chinese continent, one of the central areas of chicken domestication. On the Korean Peninsula, chickens appear to have symbolized the founding power base of Silla, providing political capital due to its scarcity in the early days of its introduction. However, since wild pheasants were actively used for food and sacrificial offerings on the Korean Peninsula, domesticated chickens did not immediately replace them. It was only gradually over time that domesticated chickens replaced the wild pheasants.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.