Once a neglected figure in ancient China’s folklore, literature and artefacts, the panda has become a national treasure and a defining symbol of the modern nation.

How did this black-and-white creature, long overlooked, come to occupy such an iconic place in a country’s cultural imagination?

Palaeontologists have discovered panda fossils across China, some dating back eight to nine million years.

According to early human scholar Wei Guangbiao, many of these ancient specimens show butchery...