History of the Han Dynasty Cows and horses were bullish

At the turn of the Qin and Han Dynasties, there were many years of war, the economy was in decline, and all industries were waiting to be revitalized. In particular, there was a shortage of horses. Restoring agriculture required oxen and horses; in the face of frequent harassment by the nomadic Xiongnu, a large number of cavalry were needed to deal with it. Regarding the rigid demand for horses, the country has placed horse breeding as a top priority and launched a series of measures.

"Three Character Classic" says: "Horses, cattle and sheep, chickens, dogs and hogs. These six animals are fed by people." The first of the six animals is the horse. Horses are important domestic animals that have been domesticated and used by people for a long time and have become an important tool for warfare and transportation. In the farming era, cattle were a good helper for people's production and labor, determining the size of productivity and the size of the harvest. Cows and horses are considered by the Han people to be “great uses of the country” and are highly valued, so they naturally appear frequently in Han portraits.

1 The policy favored raising horses

At the turn of the Qin and Han Dynasties, there were many years of war, the economy was in decline, and all kinds of industries were waiting to be prospered, especially the shortage of horses. The restoration of agriculture required the power of cattle and horses; in the face of the nomadic Xiongnu Frequent harassment required a large number of cavalry to deal with it. Regarding the rigid demand for horses, the country has placed horse breeding as a top priority and launched a series of measures.

The government and the people attach equal importance to the horse breeding industry and implement multiple strategies. As early as the beginning of Emperor Liu Bang's reign, the "Suanfu" was introduced, "for the purpose of managing troops, chariots and horses." People between the ages of 15 and 56 had to pay a certain amount of money to develop the chariot and riding business. After that, the government established official stables widely in inland counties and recruited people to raise and train horses. For example, in Chang'an, the capital, there were "Six Stables for the Emperor", each with "ten thousand horses." By the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the number of stable horses alone reached 400,000.

During the Han Dynasty, 36 priest gardens were built in the western and northern border areas with abundant water and beautiful grass. "Han Jiu Yi" records that these large-scale frontier horse farms employed 30,000 official slaves and maidservants, "raising 300,000 horses, selecting them for training, and giving them to six stables." The official stables are equipped with handmade workshops for manufacturing horse equipment. These horses can be neatly dressed and dispatched to the front line at any time, just like the current state-run military factories.

In the private sector, people are rewarded for raising horses, which can partially replace the expenditure on taxes, tribute and corvee. When horse breeding reaches a certain scale, the government will provide corresponding grazing areas and increase the amount of tax exemptions. The increase in folk enthusiasm for horse breeding has rapidly increased the number of horses. In the early Han Dynasty, there was a shortage of horses. It was difficult for the emperor to find horses of the same color for his chariot, and some generals had to ride in bullock carts. By the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, among the people, "there were horses in the streets and in groups among the common people." According to records such as "Salt and Iron Theory", farmers already had horses to plow their fields, and people had horses to ride on.

The prosperity of the private horse breeding industry is reflected in the market. There was a "Horse Market" outside Luoyang City in the Eastern Han Dynasty. It was larger in scale than other markets and was close to the main road with convenient transportation. There are "market officials" in the market who are responsible for managing transactions, and there are horse parking areas, trading offices, etc.

2 The quality of horses has been greatly improved

The raising and management of official horses in the Han Dynasty had detailed regulations from the allocation of officials to the selection, feeding, use and treatment of horses. Unearthed Juyan Han bamboo slips record the horse's ration: "One post horse eats three stones and six buckets of food." From the record, we can also see the feeding method of "horses will not be fat without night grass": "Eating four hundred and nine wild rice Twelve bunches, three hundred and fifty bunches for night use."

The improvement of horse quality in the Han Dynasty was highlighted by the vigorous introduction of foreign horses. Due to long-term captivity and driving, the original horse breeds in the Central Plains have greatly reduced their running ability and endurance, making them unsatisfactory for cavalry. When Chao Cuo of the Han Dynasty discussed the military differences between the Central Plains and the Xiongnu, he said: The horses of the Huns "went up and down the mountains and slopes, entered and exited the streams, and the horses in the Central Plains were not like them; the dangerous roads were steep and narrow, and they relaxed and shot, but the horses in China were not like them." ".

After entering the Han Dynasty, Haomen horses, mainly produced in the northeastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, were introduced to the Central Plains in large quantities and were suitable for pulling and riding. Starting from the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, more efforts were made to introduce good horses from the Western Regions. Horses from the Western Regions belong to the desert species system and are light, flexible and fast. Emperor Wu learned that there was a sweat-blooded horse in Dayuan in the Western Regions, which was of excellent quality, so he sent an envoy with a thousand gold coins and a golden horse to ask for it. Later, he sent General Li Guangli of the Second Division to attack Dayuan twice, and obtained "dozens of good horses, and more than 3,000 male and female horses (pìn) below medium-sized horses" ("Historical Records of Dayuan"). The introduction of horse breeds from the Western Regions has greatly improved the quality of horses in the Central Plains. "The horses are stronger and stronger after they are mixed with wild horses."

In order to popularize the knowledge of horse breeding and horse physiology, during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty, bronze horses were also cast for people to observe and learn, so that people could intuitively understand the characteristics of each part of a good horse.

This "Horse Kicks Off" from the Luoyang Han Painting Art Museum was collected from Jiangsu. The horse is majestic and suddenly attacks backwards, catching the man behind him off guard and falling down. The pictures capture the wonderful moments of life, making people smile immediately after watching them.

3 Horses show national power and majesty

Browsing the Han Dynasty stone portraits, you can always see the strong body of the horse.

Cavalry uses the most horses in battle. During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, chariots played the leading role first. The Chu State continued to expand its territory with the strength of the "Kingdom of Thousand Chariots". It dared to go to the gate of King Zhou in Luoyang to ask about the size of Zhou Ding; Later, King Wuling of Zhao promoted "Hufu riding and shooting", which made Zhao strong for a time, and the Xiongnu riding and shooting technology he brought quickly spread to the countries in the Central Plains. "Warring States Policy" records that Chu "mounted three thousand horses", Zhao "mounted ten thousand horses", Qin "mounted ten thousand horses", etc. Cavalry, which is flexible and adaptable to complex terrain, gradually replaced chariots.

In Han Dynasty portraits, it is no longer rare to see a heavily armored chariot with three soldiers standing on it.

The rubbing "Cavalry Battle" depicts the thrilling scene of cavalry fighting. On the uneven battlefield, from right to left, a cavalryman turned around, drew his bow and arrow, and shot at the enemy cavalry. The arrows are a series of arrows. When the first arrow is about to hit the target and scare the enemy back to avoid it, the second arrow is already full and ready to be fired, which will surely kill the enemy. Pity the second man. When he was hiding from the arrow, a cavalryman leaned forward with a sword and stabbed him, forming a pincer attack from both front and back. The tension of the cavalry battle comes alive on the page.

It was because Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had a huge cavalry group that he was able to march deep into the desert and attack the Xiongnu through the water-scarce zone hundreds of kilometers outside the Great Wall that was difficult for infantry to cross. In the sixth year of Yuanshuo (123 BC), Huo Qubing participated in the Battle of Monan with the general Wei Qing. He led 800 knights hundreds of miles away from the army to hunt down the Xiongnu and killed more than 2,000 people. He was named the Champion Marquis. What supported the triumphal song was the huge loss of war horses. Wei Qing's attack alone resulted in "more than 100,000 horse deaths" for the Han army.

Riding ceremonial guards was one of the important symbols of the social hierarchy at that time. Officials were "ranked in order of superiority and inferiority" according to the number of mounted guards. Therefore, a large amount of horses was used. In the first year of Yuanfeng (110 BC), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty went on a tour of the Five Plains and arrived at Shuofang, near the Beihe River. He led 180,000 fine cavalry and flags flying for more than a thousand miles, which shocked the Xiongnu.

In the Exhibition of Exhibitions, many vehicles are protected by infantry and cavalry in front and back, such as this "Guard Picture". This is not only a record of the social conditions at that time, but also often shows the higher status of the tomb owner or his yearning for high-standard etiquette.

4 The health of cattle is a national matter

Cattle played an extremely important role in ancient agricultural civilization, determining productivity and being the foundation of the country.

"Hanshu Bingji Biography" records the story of Bingji, the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, asking about cows.

One day in late spring, Bingji went out and encountered a fight between pedestrians. Dead and injured people were lying on the roadside. Bingji ignored him and drove by, which made his subordinates feel strange. After a while, when he saw that the cow driven by the old farmer was staggering and panting, Bingji immediately asked the driver to stop and asked his entourage to ask the farmer how far he had driven the cow and why the cow was panting and sticking out its tongue. The subordinates were puzzled and asked Bingji why he valued animals so much but ignored people. Bingji replied: "Pedestrians' fights can be handled by local officials such as Jing Zhaoyin. My duty is to examine their political performance. I will reward those who have merit and punish those who are guilty. The prime minister is a senior official of the country. It is inappropriate to interfere with these matters on the road." The cow matter is different, it is a national matter. It is spring and the weather should not be too hot. If the cow is panting because it is too hot, then the current solar terms will be abnormal, so it will definitely affect the farming. I want to ask about the cow." After hearing this, the subordinates sincerely admired Bingji for his ability to catch the big ones and let go of the small ones.

"Book of the Later Han·Zhang Di Ji" says: "There are more diseases among cattle than ever before, the cultivated land is reduced, the price of grain is quite high, and people are in exile." This clearly shows the importance of cattle to society. It is an annotation of the allusion of "Bingji Wenchuan".

In Han Huan's "Five Cows Picture" from the Tang Dynasty collected by the Palace Museum in Beijing, there is a poem written by Emperor Qianlong: "One cow has its head and four cows are idle, and the grand scene is high and the emotion is imagined; the licks and snots only exaggerate the tunes and the dwarfs, The last two lines of the poem praise Bing Ji, the emperor of the Qing Dynasty and the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, who had a high position and shared the same heart.

The oxen in Han paintings include those plowing fields and pulling carts, some showing off their power against tigers, and some rolling around on the ground. The most novel thing is that it directly depicts the scene of morning bulls mating, and the images of horses kicking children are presented on the pillars on both sides of a tomb chamber. The Han Dynasty inherited the livestock breeding technology of the Pre-Qin Dynasty, which accelerated the growth of horses. This picture of breeding cattle also confirms the high level of livestock breeding.

"Salt and Iron Theory" records the punishments of the Han Dynasty for the protection of cattle and horses: "Those who steal horses will die, and those who steal cattle will be punished with shackles." Such harsh punishments were combined with scenes of raising cattle and horses carved into the tombs. , we can see the importance of cattle and horses in the hearts of Han Dynasty people.

The booming horse and cattle industry in the early Han Dynasty played a major role in defending the country and strengthening the people in the Han Dynasty!

Editor: Guo Xiajie; Editor: Guo Xiajie