"Copper Running Horse" was discovered in August of 1969 to June of 10, and has been exhibited in Britain, France, America and other countries since April of 1973, and was designated as a national tourism graphic symbol by China National Tourism Administration in 1984. On June 5438+1October 65438+August, 2002, a total of 64 pieces (groups) of precious cultural relics such as "Copper Running Horse" were included in the first batch of cultural relics prohibited from leaving the country.

"Copper Running Horse" is small, with a height of 34.5 cm, a length of 45 cm, a width of 13. 1 cm and a weight of 7.3 kg. At the same time, a bronze guard of honor for chariots and horses was unearthed, including 38 bronze horses, 1 bronze cow, 1 axe cart, 4 chariots and chariots, and. Against the background of the honor guard of bronze chariots and horses, "bronze galloping horse" appears irregular and abrupt, and looks very "unsociable", but it is "bronze galloping horse" that has become the pride of China people today.

There are too many mysteries about "Copper Horse Racing": Who is its owner? When did you vote? Why did you vote? What's it called? What role does it play in the honor guard of bronze chariots and horses ... these have not yet reached a consensus in academic circles.

Looking at the "Copper Running Horse" from the front, grinning, ugly and lovely Wan Wen accurately grasped its characteristics. It seems that the article doesn't like peace, and the cultural and creative products should be diversified, but we should be alert to the result that designers can't synthesize opinions from all sides because of the sensitive topic, so they have to seek common ground with humor. There is no way to "make people laugh" under the atmosphere that people generally don't want to know in depth and like to evaluate based on a small amount of knowledge. But in the long run, pluralism may only become "interesting".

"Ugly" Tongbenma Doll

If you want to participate in the topic, get to know it first. Anyone can take a stand and seize the commanding heights. Talking about "nutrition" is the real skill.

Guo Moruo has a good eye for "Copper Running Horse"

1In August, 1969, Gansu Wuwei Qingxin People's Commune 13 production team dug a bomb shelter at the northeast intersection of Laman Road in Leizunan. On the morning of September 10, the ancient tomb was unexpectedly discovered, and villagers poured in, kicking the bones out of the tunnel and looting ancient money, bronzes and pottery. On September 15, the team cadres organized villagers to re-enter, transported the 20 cm thick copper coins paved in the tomb with a shelf car, dumped them nearby, let the children pick them up, and sold some of them to the waste station.

After the leaders of the brigade were informed, they informed the county cultural center to monitor the scene, trace the lost cultural relics, and concentrated the bronze chariots and horses stored by the production team in the main hall of Wuwei Confucian Temple. 1August, 970, some cultural relics were sent to the provincial museum.

According to Guo Moruo's secretary Wang, 197 1 year, Guo Moruo accompanied Sihanouk to visit Gansu and other places, and his official duties were busy. Lao Guo insisted on visiting the Gansu Provincial Museum. Among a large number of bronze cultural relics, he saw the "bronze galloping horse" at a glance and repeatedly said, "Great, beautiful, really ambitious."

Lao Guo explained, "I have been to many countries and seen many statues of horses and knights on horseback. The oldest statue is only a few hundred years old and has never been seen for more than a thousand years. However, our ancestors made such a vivid and wonderful bronze statue nearly two thousand years ago, which has reached an unprecedented level in terms of ingenious artistic conception, superb craftsmanship and structural mechanics and is the pride of our nation. "

After returning to Beijing, I got in touch with Wang, director of National Cultural Heritage Administration, and reported to the Prime Minister about the exhibition of "Copper Running Horse" in Beijing. At this time, the mane locks on the head and tail of "Tongpaoma" have fallen off, and there are several holes about 1 cm2 on the neck.

In April, 1973, Zhao Xiufu, an expert in bronze restoration in the Palace Museum,/kloc-0, toured abroad, attracting more than 4 million tourists. "Copper Running Horse" caused a sensation all over the world.

Copper galloping horse in Gansu Provincial Museum.

There is evidence of birth age.

It is difficult to determine the name, and it is also difficult to determine the age of birth of "Copper Running Horse".

In the introduction of "Copper Running Horse", it is generally written as "Made in the Eastern Han Dynasty". There is evidence to support this judgment, and there is also evidence not to support this judgment.

Supporters' evidence is that "Bronze Horse Racing" has a lock of mane on its head, which stands on its head like a horn. Wang Gujin, a scholar, pointed out, "This style is mainly concentrated in the relief bricks and stones of the Han Dynasty, as well as a small amount of relief and round carvings. Obviously, it suddenly appeared in the Han dynasty. " I haven't seen it before or after.

Mr. Wang Gujin believes that this style comes from Gandhara culture. Gandhara is a South Asian subcontinent country, which existed in the 6th century BC. It occupied today's Afghanistan and other places, and was included in the imperial territory when Alexander the Great marched eastward. After Alexander's sudden death, his men will be separated here for hundreds of years, and the nobles are all ancient Greeks. Gandhara is a fusion of ancient Greek civilization, ancient Indian civilization and ancient China civilization. The early Buddhist scriptures introduced to the Central Plains were all in Gandhara, and the sculpture art of Gandhara had a far-reaching influence on the Central Plains.

At the site No.1 of Sharif, Swat Saidu, an important relic of Gandhara civilization, the horsehead mane on the unearthed relief is also tied up, which is consistent with the "bronze galloping horse", and so is the horsehead mane of the bronze chariots and horses guard of honor.

Some scholars think it is a horse crown, which is made of bronze, carved into the shape of an animal's face and decorated on the horse's head. In the Zhou Dynasty, only the king, queen or vassal held Kyle to wear the horse crown, which decreased after the Spring and Autumn Period, but the shape of the horse crown was different from that of the "bronze galloping horse".

There is also evidence that among the bronze horses of the bronze chariots and horses guard of honor, there are inscriptions such as "Zhang Yechang" and "Left Riding a Thousand Men", which were only official positions in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

The irrefutable evidence is that more than 20,000 pieces of copper coins were unearthed from the same tomb of "Copper Running Horse", among which the small five baht with a diameter of only 1.6 cm came from the early Three Kingdoms and was common in Wei and Jin Dynasties.

I don't know what it's called "Copper Running Horse"

"Bronze galloping" is famous all over the world, but it is difficult to name it. There are more than ten kinds of sayings, such as "riding a dragon sparrow", "flying a horse with the sun", "riding a falcon", "flying a swallow" and "flying a horse".

"Copper Running Horse" flies with three hooves and steps on a swallow-shaped bird with one hoof. Birds have been used to describe horses since the Zhou Dynasty. One of the eight horses in Zhou Muwang is a "feathering", but the image of the bird on the "Copper Running Horse" is vague and difficult to identify.

One said it was "the sparrow". The sparrow is a kind of phoenix. When it was young, it looked like an ordinary waterfowl. When it becomes an adult, it can spread its wings to cover the sun and the moon. Once it flies, it will never land.

One said it was a crow (the sun). The ancients regarded the crow as the sun god, stepping on it with horses, and compared the dead to the immortal. Since Shang Dynasty, China has had the system of burying horses and chariots together. After Emperor Han Yuan died in 33 BC, he switched to painting and modeling. "Bronze galloping horse" may be a substitute for the burial of horses and chariots.

Said it was Fei Lian. Fei Lian, a bird-shaped Shen Feng, is one of the totems of the southern phoenix-worshipping tribe. Horses are regarded as dragons, so "riding on Fei Lian" is equivalent to dragons and phoenixes in the Han Dynasty. However, in historical materials, Fei Lian's bird's head (with horns), deer's body, snake's tail and leopard's writing are quite different from "Copper Running Horse".

Said it was a falcon. The bird at the foot of "Copper Horse Racing" is not a swallow, but looks like a falcon from its tail feathers. The falcon flew fast and was trampled by a horse, which highlighted the speed of the horse.

Some scholars believe that "Miscellanies of Xijing" says: "Emperor Wen returned from generation to generation, and nine good horses flew a swallow", and "Copper galloping horse" is the imagination of the famous horse "Flying Swallow" in later generations.

Some scholars think that this is a teaching tool for riding, and riding is judged according to the appearance of the horse. When the unearthed silk book Xiang mentioned the speed of horses, it was said that "attacking Wu" and "catching crows". The shape of "Copper galloping horse" is very similar to the steed in Yuan Heng Medical Horse Collection (a veterinary work in Ming Dynasty, commonly known as "The Classic of Cattle and Horses"), which is considered as a sign of a good horse.

The tomb owner almost killed Cao Cao?

"The Book of the Later Han Dynasty" said: "Two thousand stones died and twenty thousand were given to the tomb." Judging from the amount of copper coins in the tomb, it is known that the owner of the tomb is a general with a rank of 2,000 stones. The unearthed pottery bowl is engraved with the words "Zhang Jia Nuzong", so the owner of the tomb should be surnamed Zhang. However, from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the beginning of Yongning in the Western Jin Dynasty, there were few senior officials surnamed Zhang in Wuwei.

This was once considered as the tomb of Zhangjiang. Zhang Jiang used to be the satrap of Wuwei, later named Hou Zhe of Nanyang, and changed his surname. The inscription on the bronze horse reads "Zhang Jijun riding a horse". "Ji" came from Jixian County in the Eastern Han Dynasty, now Gangu County, Gansu Province, and Zhangjiang came from Luoxian County (now Guanghan City, Sichuan Province). Zhang Jiang was active in the late Western Han Dynasty. How can there be copper coins from the early Three Kingdoms in his tomb?

Some scholars believe that the owner of the tomb is the famous Zhang Xiu.

Zhang Xiu, a native of Gansu, was enfeoffed to Wancheng (now Nanyang, Henan) at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. He once surrendered to Cao Cao, who accepted Zhang Xiu's father's widow as his concubine. Seeing his dissatisfaction, he plotted to cut it off and was known by Zhang Xiu. He led the rebellion and almost killed Cao Cao. His eldest son Cao Ang, nephew Cao and valiant soldier Dian Wei all died. Later, Cao Cao was sent south to make meritorious service in the battle of Guandu, and was named "the general who broke Qiang". In the "bronze galloping horse" tomb, a seal has just been found, and the word "broken Qiang" can be slightly recognized.

Scholar Shan Jigang synthesized the research results of scholars such as Xin Min, and thought that the owner of the tomb might also be the ancestor Zhang Jun.

The Jin Dynasty imperial power crossed south, and the northern Zhang regime ruled Liangzhou, which was the largest settlement of the northern gentry. Zhang Jun was awarded the title of "General" in Jin for three times. It was extremely luxurious before death, and the grave was stolen after death. He got real pearl curtain foil, mica screen, glazed vase, white jade bottle, three liters quilt, red Yu Di, purple Yu Di, coral whip, agate clock and Huang Jinle. It may be that there are too many good things, and the grave digger ignores the "Copper Running Horse". This tomb has stolen holes, which is in line with historical records.

It is still uncertain whether the owner of "Copper Running Horse" is Zhang Xiu or Zhang Jun.

It is related to the importance attached to horse administration in Han Dynasty.

The central plains believed in horse gods since ancient times, or it was related to the prosperity of Zhou Dynasty in the west. "Zhou Li" records: "Mazu in the Spring Festival, leading the colt; Pasturing in the summer festival first, and granting Ma Zhengmu; Autumn Festival Jockey Club, Tibetan servant; Sacrifice horses in winter and offer horses. " It means to worship Mazu in spring, that is, the stars in the heavenly palace. Sacrificing the first animal husbandry in summer is the beginning of raising horses. Autumn Festival Horse Club, Horse Club is the beginning of riders. Shiben said, "Xiangtu is a good horse." Xiangtu is the ancestor of the Yin people, that is, the horse society. Sacrifice to the god "ma bu" or horse stance just look in winter. The god "ma bu" or horse stance just look is the god of horse disasters. Sacrifice is to get rid of horse diseases.

"Copper galloping horse" should be directly related to the great attention paid to horse administration in Han Dynasty.

The Western Han Dynasty was invaded by Xiongnu for a long time. "Historical Records" said: "Heaven emperor cut Hu and raised horses, and horses ate tens of thousands of horses in Chang 'an. "The horse-raising institution in the Western Han Dynasty is headed by a teacher, ranking first among the nine ministers, which shows its importance.

In order to ensure the military expenditure, the Han dynasty continued the policy of the Qin dynasty, and taxes were separated, that is, "taxes are enough to feed the soldiers." There are three kinds of taxes in the Han Dynasty, namely poll tax (mouth money, calculation tax), variable tax (adult men's service money) and family assets tax. Oral money is a poll tax levied on minors (3 years old to 15 years old, changed to 7 years old to 15 years old in the Han and Yuan Dynasties). 23 yuan, 20 yuan, the "son of heaven", and 3 yuan, the "car repairer", are dedicated to raising horses, also called horse money. The tax is calculated as "fifteen to fifty-six years in People's Republic of China (PRC)", and each person is 120 yuan, which means "keeping the treasury, chariots and horses".

There are funds to ensure that the Western Han Dynasty once raised 300,000 horses in border counties, and introduced improved varieties from the western regions to cross with local horses.

Scholar Zhou Benxiong found that Qin was basically a Mongolian horse before, with a shoulder height of about six or seven feet (about 140cm today). The jade horse in Fu Hao's tomb in Yin Ruins, the bronze colt in the Western Zhou Dynasty in Li Jiacun, Shaanxi Province, and the pottery horse on the edge of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum are all big in head, thick in neck, long in body and short in limbs. In the Han dynasty, the horse's head suddenly became smaller, the neck was slender and powerful, the chest was developed, and the trunk was short and strong.

"Copper Running Horse" is similar to the horses in the Western Regions, and retains the collective memory of "the era of emphasizing horses".

It takes personality to pass on for a long time.

"Copper galloping horse" looks like the "Tianma" in the Western Region, but scholar Shan Jigang pointed out that it has thicker muscles and stronger body, which has both the speed of the Western Region horse and the strength of the Mongolian horse. It should be a forked horse, which "represents the highest achievement of raising horses in ancient China".

In fact, the "copper galloping horse" is not running, but using reverse steps, which is not fast. According to the actual measurement, the normal step needs 1 200m, the reverse step needs 1 min 53.7 seconds, and the reverse step only needs 2 minutes 19.9 seconds.

Forked-column horses have the genetic stability of "walking to the right" when ponies are born, and naturally walk at this pace, which is called "walking in the womb" by locals. After riding, "people don't bump up and down, people sway from side to side", and there is a saying that "riding a horse is like sleeping", which is very suitable for riding.

"Copper Running Horse" stands on one foot and is soft in copper. Will it deform over time? With modern X-ray perspective, it is found that the ancients have long considered this point-iron bones were placed in the legs of bronze galloping horses, and the melting point of iron is 1.539, while the melting point of bronze is only 1.084.62. When the iron skeleton is just put in and poured with bronze, as long as the temperature is well controlled, the iron skeleton will not melt, which skillfully improves the supporting force.

"Copper Horse Racing" has an empty stomach. Before it was repaired, the original soil hollowed it out before letting it lie and stand. The ancient technology of controlling the center of gravity is wonderful.

Tong Benma went to the guard of honor, and the new vision of the North Night was provided.

Compared with the "bronze horse racing", the honor guard of bronze chariots and horses is neat but rough. The bronze horse was cast in two batches. The craft of the first batch of 30 horses is still rigorous, and the second batch of 8 horses is obviously poor. The two are far from being comparable in artistry.

Until today, scholars are still curious: "Copper Horse Racing" and the whole guard of honor simply don't match together. Why did you vote? This just shows that art needs individuality, and things with individuality can be passed down and become the pride of the nation. Encouraging creativity and protecting individuality, the successful principle of "Copper Running Horse" still has reference value today. (Author: Huang Yi Editor: Shen Feng)