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[Publius]

When in Guandong Province, I saw several talented performing monkeys and some less-talented begging monkeys. They were all trained, were bonded to their owners, and the monkeys I saw seemed to have no intentions of running away.



How long has this monkey-training tradition existed in China? Was this profession considered a trade, passed from master to apprentice, or was it something someone just picked up to make a living? Also, historically, how were these monkey training people viewed by the rest of society? Were they seen as nuisances or were they seen as mere entertainers? Were such entertainers scorned by Confucian ideologies?



The oldest reference I could find to performing monkeys was from “China’s Golden Age: Everyday Life in the Tang Dynasty”. In the book, Charles Benn wrote that monkeys performed amusing pole acts, somersaults, and were purportedly able to mimic human speech when fed mercury sulfide, which is an amusing claim. Here’s an account that I enjoyed:



“They also performed a skit in which they emulated drunks and fell to the ground, they would not rise even when their master told them that the street patrolman was coming. Only when he whispered that Attendant Hou—a fierce official whom all men feared—was on his way would they jump to their feet, eyes bulging in fright, and feign terror at hearing those words. Everyone laughed at that.” (Benn 166-167)
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Source:

Benn, Charles. “China’s Golden Age: Everyday Life in the Tang Dynasty.” Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.

[Mei Houwang]

“They also performed a skit in which they emulated drunks and fell to the ground, they would not rise even when their master told them that the street patrolman was coming. Only when he whispered that Attendant Hou—a fierce official whom all men feared—was on his way would they jump to their feet, eyes bulging in fright, and feign terror at hearing those words. Everyone laughed at that.” (Benn 166-167)

I guess from that passage the Tang also had patrolmen that told people to move along and stop blocking the road. Also sounds like the community is very close-knit, considering everyone seems to know "attendant hou".