In China, the panda is known today as “daxiaongmao” (大熊猫) which literally translates as “big bear cat”. In English, it is the giant panda bear. However, when looking closely at the Chinese name, one would be forgiven for questioning whether it should not be called Big Cat Bear? Since it is indeed a cat-like-bear….
在中国，熊猫如今被称为“大熊猫”，字面意思是“大熊猫”。在英语中，它是大熊猫。然而，仔细一看这个中文名字，人们会质疑它是否不应该被称为“大猫熊”？因为它确实是一只像猫一样的熊……
During the 1930s, the Sichuan Museum held an animal exhibition in which the pandas featured therein were most popular. The museum’s official signage had named the bears, “maoxiong” (猫熊), meaning a bear with cat-like appearance), written in the traditional way; right to left.
20世纪30年代，四川博物院举办动物展览，其中展出的大熊猫最受欢迎。博物馆的官方标牌将这些熊命名为“猫熊”，意思是长得像猫的熊，用传统的方式书写；从右到左。
However, since around the 1920s, all books, legal documents and newspapers were written in Vernacular Chinese using a national standard, also known as standard or modern, written Chinese. The Chinese journalists who visited the museum exhibit were, as a result, used to reading Chinese headlines left to right and wrongly reported the bears as xiongmao. Media reports at the time were so widely popular that, even some time after it was reported a mistake had been made, xiongmao stuck.
然而，自20世纪20年代左右以来，所有书籍、法律文件和报纸均采用国家标准（也称为标准或现代书面汉语）以白话文书写。因此，参观博物馆展览的中国记者习惯于从左到右阅读中文头条新闻，并错误地将这些熊报道为“熊毛”。当时的媒体报道非常受欢迎，以至于即使在报道错误一段时间后，雄猫仍陷于困境。
When it was officially named in English, it became known as Panda, a word borrowed from French that is found to be connected to the Nepali word Ponya, which they used to describe their red panda. Before 1901, when it became Panda, the animal was simply known in English as Black and White Cat Footed-Animal.
当它以英文正式命名时，它被称为“Panda”，这个词借自法语，被发现与尼泊尔语“Ponya”有关，他们用这个词来形容他们的小熊猫。在 1901 年更名为 Panda 之前，这种动物在英语中简称为 Black and White Cat Footed-Animal。
Throughout Chinese history, the humble bear has been called at least 20 different names, some of which include “spotted bear huaxiong” (花熊) and “bamboo bear zhuxiong” (竹熊). Despite official writings of its Chinese name in Taiwan; damaoxiong (大猫熊) gained popularity in 1988 and is still used today, with linguists arguing that this version makes the most logic and is more grammatically correct.
纵观中国历史，这种不起眼的熊至少有20个不同的名字，其中包括“花熊”和“竹熊”。尽管台湾官方有其中文名称； “大猫熊”于1988年流行起来，至今仍在使用，语言学家认为这个版本最符合逻辑，语法也更正确。
Declared an endangered species in the 1980s, it is thought there are only 2,000 Big Cat Bears left in the world today. Mostly found in Western Sichuan province and the surrounding forests, Giant Pandas can also be seen at Nanjing’s Hongshan Zoo.
大型猫科熊在 20 世纪 80 年代被宣布为濒危物种，目前世界上仅存 2,000 只。大熊猫主要分布在四川省西部及周边森林，在南京红山动物园也能看到它们。
