Cats in the Tang Dynasty, 618 to 907

In China at least, it's believed the whole matter of human cohabitation with cats began with the leopard cat. Wu Zetian is a much reviled Empress in the middle of the tongue dynasty. She actually founded her own dynasty from the the Zhou. Han Yu was one of the great scholars of the Tang Dynasty. He wrote an essay where he noted how benevolent his patron's cat was. Neo-Confucian revival that's going to blossom in the song dynasties.