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Cloud-Cat and the “Cat-Star Movement”
At least 20 years ago, dogs were undoubtedly the “official” pet, with their breed, lineage, and even fur and gait serving as a reflection of their owners’ status and taste. However, as small dog breeds and domestic cats became increasingly popular, this dynamic began to shift. An undeniable fact is that house cats are far more suited to urban life and people’s daily routines than pet dogs. If we do a rough calculation, the financial and time costs of owning a dog are nearly several times higher than those of a cat. In terms of space and interaction, dogs require more living space and regular companionship. Therefore, when budget, space, and time are limited, the choice between a cat and a dog becomes clear.On social media, any cat-related meme or image spreads across borders effortlessly. In the ongoing “Cat-Star Movement,” cats have been celebrated and admired by young people around the world. For several years, cats have dominated online traffic in China. Topics related to cats on platforms like Weibo and WeChat have garnered billions of views—almost ten times more than those related to dogs. This is just a snapshot of China’s “cloud cat” phenomenon. Many people, due to living conditions or health reasons, are unable to own cats, but they often spend time on social media platforms or in their friend circles, following the daily lives of various cats. This act of “cloud cuddling” or “cloud raising” cats has become a popular trend. In essence, cats are an extension of our emotions. But why cats? For us, this has never really been a question.Cats are ageless creatures. Even an elderly cat maintains its graceful stride, while young kittens sometimes exhibit an uncanny maturity. This unique feline posture and beauty, symbolizing mystery and strength, have often been used as themes by artists and writers. According to legend, the ancient Egyptians stroked cats to enjoy the pleasure of caressing a lion. Cats are also timeless creatures. Whether stray or domestic, their arrival is always unpredictable. It’s as if they can sense your expectations and deliberately go in the opposite direction. This erratic behavior creates an ambiguous dynamic between cats and humans. Furthermore, the aloofness of cats can sometimes give us the illusion that they know everything. They rarely express individual emotions, and their steady gaze seems to reveal nothing but certainty. In fact, as solitary creatures in the wild, cats may not have evolved much in terms of communication, as, aside from food, they rarely need the existence of symbiotic species. This may explain the iconic “cat face” of indifference. Of course, cats can instantly switch from adorable to arrogant, and then become aggressive hunters. However, in urban life, they often hide this trait, retaining only their sensitivity and intuition. Perhaps, in their remaining wild nature, cats resemble us more than we think. In the natural world, it seems that only cats have approached civilization alongside humans.
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How Do Cats Solve Our Emotional Problems?
Haruki Murakami is a typical “cat-loving” writer. He once said that the only thing standing between him and happiness was a cat. This could also be interpreted as him wishing to become a cat himself. Cats have always been part of Murakami’s life. From his poor student days, when a cat named Peter became his study companion, to his marriage and the opening of a café with his wife, Yoko, he named a cat he had kept in Mitaka after Peter. The Japanese writer Tatsu Shiga once shared a story about Murakami and his cat, Bucci, napping together. Murakami dreamed that the cat spoke to him in Japanese, and upon waking, he told Bucci that he had understood its words. But the cat didn’t respond and had a very displeased look on its face. Murakami is said to have kept 15 cats, some of them famous, like Kirin, Bucci, and Kami. He once said these cats felt like parts of his own body, and when he woke up in the morning to find one of them gone, he would feel an empty void inside. Indeed, just seeing a cat brings comfort. Cats are an inspiration and an eternal subject for creative work.Susan Herbert, a contemporary British artist, made cats the central theme of her work starting in the 1990s. Her first book, The Art Cat Gallery, featured famous figures from classic paintings transformed into mysterious, feline forms. The most famous pieces from this series include The Girl with the Pearl Earring Cat and Mona Lisa Cat. These paintings became some of the first “cat art” to go viral on the internet. Later, she began creating portraits of famous movie and theater scenes, like Chaplin in The Tramp and Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, reimagined as cats. Similarly, Japanese printmaker Tadashige Nishida, also a cat enthusiast, spent his life creating cat-themed works, often depicting black and white cats with shiny, intense eyes.Peng Lei, the lead singer of the band New Pants, refers to himself as a “homebody” and spends most of his time at home writing songs. His studio is filled with quirky collections, such as vintage cassette players, entire sets of Star Wars toys, and of course, his own cat drawings. Peng Lei’s cats, like him, rarely express themselves overtly. He has kept cats since 2000, and they have always been a part of his life, from marriage to parenthood. Interestingly, Peng Lei never gave his cats names, nor did his family ever call them by any. Instead, he used their distinguishing features to label them: the “masked cat,” “striped cat,” “yellow cat,” and so on. This perhaps reflects his desire not to humanize them too much but rather preserve their essence as cats.Cats are companions, and they are a form of healing. In this call for contributions to the cover story, I read letters from several elderly people sharing their small stories with their cats. It’s clear that in today’s society, elderly people’s emotional relationships with pets are changing. They have begun to view cats and dogs as true members of the family, always caring for them and cherishing their presence.
A passage from the novel Blossoms is one of the most memorable pieces I’ve read in recent years about the relationship between humans and cats. In the book, Betty and her grandmother once quarreled over raising a little rabbit. As they were pushed to the brink by the changing times, Jin Yucheng wrote:When the kitten carried Betty and her grandmother, along with the goldfish and carp, through the night breeze of Shanghai, they headed south, arriving at the banks of the Huangpu River. Two fish jumped into the water, while on the shore, the ship’s bow anchor rope lay still, and the three cats stood motionless.This passage, sparse in words, evokes a quiet imagery where the rabbit and the cats seem to symbolize death itself. The scene hints at the loudness of fate and the silence of God, with the three wild cats, messengers of death, ultimately sparing the young Betty and her grandmother, who are caught in a vast, empty space of uncertainty and fear.
