How and when domestic cats arrived in China has been a mystery. A new analysis of cat DNA suggests traders and diplomats likely carried the pets with them along the Silk Road 1,400 years ago.
Ancient DNA Reveals How Domestic Cats First Arrived in China
New research has revealed that China’s first domestic cats arrived around 1,400 years ago, likely traveling along the famous Silk Road trade route. This discovery pushes back previous estimates of feline domestication in China by several hundred years.
The study, described as a “knockout” discovery, suggests that domestic cats were initially regarded as exotic pets of the elite.
“Cats’ mysterious behaviors—alternating between distant and affectionate—added an air of mystique,” said Shu-Jin Luo, co-author of the study and principal investigator at Peking University’s Laboratory of Genomic Diversity and Evolution.
From the Middle East to China
Modern domestic cats (Felis catus) descend from African wildcats (Felis silvestris lybica), which first formed relationships with humans around 10,000 years ago in the Middle East. From there, they spread to Europe about 3,000 years ago, and by A.D. 600, merchants and diplomats began transporting them to China in crates and cages as luxury gifts for the elite.
Before domestic cats arrived, ancient Chinese farmers coexisted with native leopard cats (Prionailurus bengalensis), as evidenced by 5,400-year-old remains found in northwestern China. However, the researchers argue that this was not equivalent to domestication, challenging previous assumptions that cats were domesticated in China during the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. – A.D. 220).
The Largest Cat DNA Study in China
To investigate the timeline of feline domestication, Luo and her team analyzed 22 feline remains from 14 archaeological sites across China, spanning 5,000 years. Using nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequencing, they identified 14 domestic cats, with the oldest dating back to A.D. 730 in Tongwan City, Shaanxi Province—long after the Han Dynasty had ended.
Interestingly, these cats all shared a rare genetic marker (clade IV-B) in their mitochondrial DNA. The closest match to this lineage was found in a cat that lived in Dhzankent, Kazakhstan, between A.D. 775 and 940, supporting the idea that domestic cats traveled to China along the Silk Road.
White Cats and Cultural Significance
The study also suggests that the first cats introduced to China were likely all-white or mackerel-tabby with white patches. DNA from the Tongwan City cat revealed it was a healthy male with a long tail and either fully white or partially white fur. Even today, white cats remain more common in East Asia than in other parts of the world.
Following their introduction, domestic cats became deeply ingrained in Chinese culture and folklore. Ancient Chinese households performed specific religious rituals when adopting a cat, treating them as honored guests rather than mere pets.
A Major Breakthrough
Melinda Zeder, an archaeozoologist at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, praised the study, saying, “Tying them to the Silk Road is really boffo. It’s a knockout study.”
By retracing the journey of domestic cats along ancient trade routes, this research sheds new light on how one of the world’s most beloved animals first made its way into Chinese society.