The "Treatise on Geography" in the Book of Tang says, "Yingzhou offered leopard tails as tribute." Such animal…
The "Treatise on Geography" in the Book of Tang says, "Yingzhou offered leopard tails as tribute." Such animals are still common in the border mountains today. Those with coin-like markings are considered the finest, while those with mugwort-leaf markings are ranked next. In Dream Pool Essays, Shen Kuo says, "The Eastern Hu call the leopard shilasun." Today, however, shelisun and the leopard are fundamentally two different kinds. Shen likely made this mistake because shelisun was also known by the name "native leopard."