Where falconry still flourishes: Mongolians with sporting birds near Peking

National Geographic Magazine published the photo on page 346 of their 1909 March issue (Vol. 13). The images were taken Ca.1900 by H. G. Ponting, a photographer working for the H.C. White Stereoview Company of Vermont, USA.

Under the NGO photo it says: In Northern China the sport of falconry is still very popular, and it is a common sight to see men walking out into the country with their pets perched on a stick held in the hand, to give them exercise and airing. Our photograph shows two Mongolians on their way to Peking with a number of young falcons for sale.

Besides this NGO photo, Ponting actually took another set of 3D photo for stereo-viewing (the second photo without a boy between the two traders).

胡瓌 出獵圖

Khitan "Out Hunting", Wudai (Five generation period五代, prior to the founding of Liao遼, 907－979 AD) - by Hu, Gui (五代 胡瓌 出獵圖)

The Kitan were a nomadic Mongolic people, originally from Mongolia and Manchuria (the northeastern region of modern-day China) from the 4th century. During the peak of their dominate,the Liao Dynasty (916-1125 AD.), they controlled a vast area north of, and including parts of northern China; but have left few relics that have survived until today, after the fall of Liao Dynasty in 1125.

The few paintings of 9-10 century AD. Khitan artist: Hu, Gui (胡瓌) preserved some aspects of Khitan culture that has been lost in history.

In this painting; four mounted falconers with three saker falcons (maybe center one was a Gyr--Hai Qin 海青) and a golden eagle were presented. The brown saker on the left was hooded, and the hood was typical Arabian/Dutch three-piece construction without the tuft. All hunting birds were held on gloved right hands. Holding hawks on right hands are only seen in Asian falconers, except Japan. Maybe practicing falconry together is a time of peace for the mainland Asian falconers as we can see from the picture that they weren't armed (except their short utility knives), while Japanese falconers needed to free their right hands to draw their long Katana sword when needed. Using glove or gauntlet was very common in ancient Chinese paintings, but never seen being used in recent Chinese falconers.

Based on historic record, falconry was the Khitan's favorite sport and Gyrs were the most wanted hunting bird, since swan was their most prized game. According to history account, the Khitan tax heavily on the Manchurian Jurchen for Gyrfalcons, which caused the revolt of the Jurchen tribe and the collapse of Liao Dynasty. The last Khitan state of Kara Khitai finally destroyed by the Mongol in 1218.

This painting is currently in the collection of National Palace Museum in Taiwan (http://painting.npm.gov.tw/npm_public/System/ShowImage.jsp).

元世祖出獵圖

劉貫道(約活動於十三世紀後半期)，生卒年不詳，大概在元世祖至元年間(一二六四-一二九四)在世。河北人，字仲賢，善畫。至元十六年稱旨，補御衣局使。所畫道釋、人物，全宗法晉、唐。畫山水宗李成、郭熙，佳處逼真。花竹鳥獸，亦能集合諸家之長，成為當時畫壇的高手。 此畫作於西元一二八０年，屬於大幅作品，畫北方沙漠地帶，一片黃沙坡地，景色單調。在沙丘無垠的遠方，正有一列駱駝馱隊橫越。近處人騎數眾，或張弓射雁；或手架獵鷹；或繩攜獵豹，皆為馬上行獵之狀。其中騎著黑馬、身穿白裘的，應為元世祖，與世祖並駕的婦女，似為帝后，其餘八人，應是侍從，其中尚有中亞黑奴兩名。 圖中人物、馬騎無論衣著、裝備皆刻畫精細，表情神態自然生動，而世祖的面容，更與本院所藏<元歷代帝后像>冊中的元世祖半身像相似，足證兩圖的寫實。雖然劉貫道的畫作傳世甚少，但由此軸中人物的傳神，可明劉氏善畫的美名，非憑空得。圖中侍從舉白松鶻及黑松鶻(或是兔鶻)各一架，特別的是；白海青戴的是現代所謂的荷蘭式鷹帽。另一侍從馬背後有一獵豹，地上另有一細犬。
本圖現藏台北故宮博物院 

Liu Kuan-tao, a native of present day Hopeh province, was a celebrated court painter of the early Yuan Dynasty. His figure paintings were in the style of the early Chin and T'ang masters, while his landscapes followed the styles of Li Ch'eng and Kuo Hsi. His animal and bird-and-flower paintings combined the virtues of the old masters to become famous at the time.

Appearing against a backdrop of northern steppes and desert is a scene of figures on horseback. The one sitting on a dark horse and wearing a white fur coat is most likely the famous Mongol emperor Kublai Khan with his empress next to him. They are accompanied by a host of servants and officials; the one to the left is about to shoot an arrow at one of the geese in the sky above. The figure wearing blue has a dutch-style hooded white gyrfalcon (海東青hai-dong-qing, or 松鶻 song-gu) and the one wearing green has a saker (兔鶻tu-gu) or dark gyrfalcon on their right gloved hand, and a trained Asiatic cheetah sits on the back of the horse in front. we can also see a sight hound on the right, maybe a central Asian Tazy breed. Two dark-skinned figures are perhaps from south Asia or Africa. In the background, a camel caravan proceeds slowly behind a sandy slope, adding a touch of life to the barren scenery. Every aspect of this work has been rendered with exceptional detail. Appearing quite realistic, even the representation of Kublai Khan in this painting corresponds quite closely to his imperial portrait in the Museum collection. Though few of Liu Kuan-tao's paintings have survived, this work serves as testimony to his fame in Yuan court art. The artist's signature and the date (1280) appear in the lower left.
This painting is a collection of Taipei 國立故宮博物院 National Palace Museum