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Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →For thousands of years, the cats found near people in ancient China were not domestic cats like today’s house cats. A 2025 DNA study identified them as native leopard cats (Prionailurus bengalensis). The earliest domestic cat in the study’s Chinese sample dates to 706–883 CE, leading the authors to infer that domestic cats reached China around 1,400 years ago, likely with merchants traveling the Silk Road.
What were the cats living near people in ancient China?
They were leopard cats, a wild species distinct from the domestic cat (Felis catus). The 2025 study found leopard cat remains in human-associated settings in China from at least 5,400 years ago until around 150 CE. Their presence near settlements indicates a long relationship with human environments, but it does not mean these animals were domesticated pets.
The distinction matters: an animal can live near people or take advantage of rodents around settlements without being fully domesticated. The study’s findings concern that human-associated history, not proof that Neolithic Chinese people kept house cats.
What did the DNA study examine?
Published in Cell Genomics in 2025, the study examined 22 small-felid bones excavated from 14 archaeological sites across China, spanning about 5,000 years. The researchers report genomic and radiocarbon evidence. From the sampled remains, they generated three nuclear genomes and seven mitochondrial genomes from leopard cats, and four nuclear genomes and 14 mitochondrial genomes from domestic cats. One additional mitochondrial genome was assigned to either an Asiatic wildcat or a Chinese mountain cat.
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These are results from the remains examined, not a count of every cat that lived in ancient China. The number and spread of samples provide evidence across multiple sites and periods, but they cannot establish that no earlier domestic cat remains exist elsewhere.
When did domestic cats arrive in China?
The earliest domestic cat identified in this study was dated to 706–883 CE and came from Tongwan City in Shaanxi. The study’s authors infer that domestic cats reached China around 1,400 years ago, likely through merchants moving along the Silk Road.
Tongwan City’s location on a Silk Road route supports that interpretation, but it does not prove the precise route, the people who brought the animal, or the circumstances of its arrival. The date belongs to the identified specimen; the proposed journey is an evidence-based inference, not a directly observed migration.
What changed from the earlier picture?
A 2016 study had already challenged the idea that Neolithic cat remains in China were domestic cats, identifying the remains it examined as leopard cats. The broader genomic and radiocarbon evidence in the 2025 study supports that species distinction across more sites and a longer timeline, while identifying domestic cats in China’s archaeological record much later.
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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →So the answer to “Were cats domesticated in ancient China?” depends on what “cats” means. People in Neolithic China had a long association with leopard cats, but the remains in these studies do not show that those animals were domestic cats or fully domesticated. The 2025 findings also do not settle the wider global question of where or when domestic cats were first domesticated.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Was the earliest domestic cat white?
The researchers genetically inferred that the earliest domestic cat identified in their sample was fully or partially white. That result applies to that individual specimen only; it does not establish the coat color of all early domestic cats in China.
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