French zoologist Buffon once said: "Among all animals, horses are tall and have the most well-proportioned and graceful coordination of all parts of their bodies."
Yes, if we look closely, we will find that horses are the most successfully evolved animals. They are strong, beautiful, moderately tall, and powerful. Camels are too ugly, cows are too stupid, elephants are too stupid, and deer are too small; others, such as rats and rabbits, are small and cannot be solved by security.
Horses originated 60 million years ago. Early horses were about the size of dogs and had 5 toes on all four limbs. By the Quaternary Pleistocene, it had a single hoof and its body became taller. Domestic horses are domesticated from wild horses. my country is one of the first countries to domesticate horses.
There are many existing types of horses, the most representative of which are the sweat-blooded horse, Mongolian horse , and Arabian horse .
sweat-blooded BMW was born in Dawan country , today's Uzbekistan . This kind of horse has a light body and graceful curves. It is said that when it runs, the sweat it sheds is red. At that time, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty launched a war with Emperor Dawan. Later generations deduced that it was to obtain the Dayuan horse, which illustrates the value of the Dayuan horse.
Mongolian horses are short, but they eat rough feed, endure bitter cold, have strong endurance, and can run long distances. Back then, Genghis Khan rode a short Mongolian horse, conquered the Xia Dynasty and swept across the Eurasian continent.
The Arabian horse is light and compact, with a curved neck and graceful shape. Shoulders should be moderately sloping. The limbs are strong and powerful, giving them strength and speed.
The largest horse is the British Shire horse, and the smallest horse is the Argentine pony. In addition, the more famous ones include Hequ horse, Southwest horse, Sanhe horse , Ili horse , Berb horse, Kazakh horse , Dutch warm blood horse ... Especially artificial hybridization intervention has made The variety of horses continues to increase.
There are also some distant relatives of horses, that is, my country's Przewalski's horse. Originally, it was extinct in our country. It was later introduced from abroad and is being released into the field for testing.
It is precisely because of the wide variety of horses and the different personalities and endowments of horses that "horse watching" has become a very respectable profession. The famous figures "Bo Le" and " Jiufang Gao " during the reign of Duke Mu of Qin Dynasty were all masters of horse-drawing at that time, so that today, "Bo Le" has become synonymous with discovering and cultivating talents.
When I was a child, I often saw Japanese army officers "riding foreign horses and crossing foreign swords" in movies. I thought that Japanese horses were all tall. In fact, Japanese horses are also in the same series as Mongolian horses, and are even smaller than Mongolian horses. When the Eight-Nation Allied Forces entered Beijing, the coalition commander laughed at the Japanese, saying they were "rabbits riding on dogs." This made the Japanese feel ashamed. After returning, they began to improve horses and introduced crossbreeds of British and Arabian horses. By the time of World War II, Japanese horses became Ocean horses. We saw the tall horse that the Japs rode in the movie, which was an improved horse.
Horses are closely related to human beings and are widely used in agricultural production and war. They have become human beings' friends in life and death. The history of China's civilization of more than 5,000 years has been written by horses for three parts. Without horses, history would be much inferior.
People in ancient times loved and loved horses, which can be said to have become a common practice. Due to the favor of horses, many popular stories and legends have been deduced. Such as: the magic of "Bole looks at horses"; the sharpness of "Youmeng cries for horses"; the experience of "an old horse knows the way"; the wisdom of "Tian Ji's horse racing"; the philosophy of "a blessing in disguise"; the argument of "a white horse is not a horse"; "referring to a deer as a horse" The cunning; the bold statement of "shrouding a corpse in horse leather".
In early mythology, it is said that during the reign of Fuxi, a dragon and horse appeared from the Yellow River, carrying the "River Map"; "King Mu of Zhou" in the Supplementary Records records: "The king controlled the eight dragons." King Mu drove eight horses, Traveling in the West.
Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty loved horses. He had the famous Zhaoling Six Horses , namely " Quan Maojun ", "Shifachi", " White Hoofed Black " and " Teller". "骠", "青铓", "飵隓子".In order to commemorate these six war horses, Li Shimin ordered the craftsman Yan Lide and the painter Yan Liben to use reliefs to depict the six war horses and place them in front of the mausoleum.
The person who was most passionate about horses was Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. Eight horses were brought as tribute from Central Asia. Qianlong liked them very much and asked the court painter Ai Qimeng to draw the famous "Eight Horses" for him. The eight horses in the painting are named "Jedi, Fanyu, Benjing, Chaoying, Yuhui, Chaoguang, Tengwu, and Qiaoyi" respectively. Each name has a meaning, such as Jedi, which means keeping one's feet on the ground; turning feathers, which means flying faster than a bird... The eight horses may roar, or leap, or look back, or raise their heads, and neigh, ready to go. , lifelike and ready to be seen...
"Eight Horses" is now in Nanjing Museum and is also a rare treasure in my country.
The biggest role of horses is in warfare. From the Shang and Zhou dynasties to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, horses were an integral part of the army. Whoever has more horses has more chariots and has greater military strength. Therefore, it is often said that "a country with a thousand cavalry" and "a king with ten thousand chariots".
After entering the Western Han Dynasty, chariots were replaced by cavalry. The vast pastures in the north are a natural place for raising horses. The huge nomadic cavalry became a disaster for the farming people. For example, in the Song Dynasty, was constantly pressed to the ground and rubbed by the grassland peoples; in the Ming Dynasty, it was also insulted by the Manchu and Qing who came from behind, and they lost to the "horse". The grassland people are good at using horses and can always bring out the power of cavalry. Think about the scene: a trumpet blast, thousands of horses galloping, mountains roaring and tsunami... Not to mention the bows, arrows, swords and guns coming from the horses, even these horse hooves are too much to bear.
Some northern peoples have reached the pinnacle of using horses to fight. The Jin army has iron pagodas, Xixia has iron kites . It is to fasten several war horses together and tie strong armor and sharp weapons in front of the horses. During the battle, the war horses marched in formation, and several horses were linked together to form a horizontal team. When given an order, the cavalry rolled and struck with thunder. The infantry had to deal with the enemy on horseback and also prevent the collision of the armored horses, so they were obviously at a disadvantage. When attacking, you cannot catch the cavalry; when you are defeated, you cannot outrun the cavalry.
Of course, when the Central Plains nation was glorious, they also relied on horses. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, in order to deal with the Xiongnu, Zhao State changed into the clothes of the Hu people and learned the horsemanship and archery of the Hu people, which is also the famous "Hufu cavalry and archery". With the addition of horses, the State of Zhao became instantly powerful.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was able to defeat the Xiongnu because of horses. Wei Qing and Huo Qubing organized a powerful cavalry group to chase and kill them for thousands of miles and plow through the courtyard to clear holes. Cao Cao led his troops to attack Wuhuan Tadun, and was defeated in one attack. The reason was Zhang Liao's cavalry troops. Yue Fei has repeatedly won against Jin Wushu . A large part of the reason is that Yue Jiajun is basically a cavalry unit. Yue Fei's general Yang Zaixing dared to lead 300 cavalry, dared to attack Jin Wushu's camp, and was able to severely damage Jin's soldiers, all because of the power of horses.
Horses are closely related to human life. In rural areas, horses are the main helpers for villagers, plowing fields, pulling carts, and riding horses. They are regarded as treasures by farmers. Horses are wealth and a resource that humans can rely on. In herdsmen’s homes, horses are food and transportation. The nation on horseback cannot do without the company of horses all year round. kumis and horse cheese are the best foods to satisfy your hunger.
Horse is a symbol of status. If a car has the character "horse" on it, it becomes a BMW, which enhances its status. Cinderella's lover is often "Prince Charming" rather than "Audi Guy". When the author was a child in the countryside, I saw people marrying brides, and they all used big carriages to pick up the bride. The stamping of horse hooves, the ringing of bells, and the momentum would definitely crush today’s BMW team. I vaguely remember that the boss had a straight back, his nostrils facing the sky, his long whip making a snapping sound, and he was very arrogant.
Horse is the messenger of beauty and the standard equipment of heroes. Wu Zui sets off the heroism of King Xiang; Red Rabbit Horse holds up the bravery of Guan Yunchang.Without the company of the black horse, there would be no Dangyang Bridge Zhang Yide's scolding; without the silver-helmeted white horse, there would be Zhao Zilong's seven in and seven out; even if Qin Qiong was sick, he would not be willing to sell the yellow gelding... The TV series "Passion" "Burning Years", Shi Guangrong broke up with his wife and went to the front line. Seeing his wife getting further and further away, he suddenly galloped on his horse and came back to say goodbye again. The war horses neighed and the iron hoofs stampeded, and a heroic spirit emerged spontaneously. Imagine that instead of riding a horse, Shi Guangrong ran over panting and sweating profusely. Will his heroic image be greatly compromised?
Horses are the best material for artists. Horse painting and horse carving are common art forms. Historically, there were many artists who were good at painting horses, such as Cao Ba, Han Gan, Li Gonglin, Zhao Mengfu, and Castiglione. The master of modern horse painting is Xu Beihong. The horses in his paintings never wear bridles. He strives to highlight the free and unrestrained style of horses and express his praise and celebration of freedom and strength.
Horses are also the object of poetry and eulogies. "When a concubine rides on a red earth and smiles, no one knows that it is a lychee coming" is a classic horse racing scene; "But the flying general in the dragon city is here, and he does not teach the horse to cross the Yinshan Mountains", which is the collision between man and horse. Literary writers never hesitate to praise horses: "raise your hand to catch the flying hound, bend down to scatter the horse's hooves" ( Cao Zhi ); "the dragon's spine is attached to the money, and the silver hoof is white on the smoke" (Li He); "the dragon and the horse are snowing on the snow" Mao, the Golden Saddle Wulinghao ( Li Bai ); "Frost hooves trample on the long catalpa trees, and the horse officials are lined up in the forest" (Du Fu)...
Not only poetry, there are also many idioms about horses: Thousands of troops Horse, leading the way, spirit of dragon and horse, horse to success, fighting and iron horse, busy traffic, lack of people and horses, chaos of war, horse and horse, it is difficult to catch up with the horse, the horse does not stop, single-handed, rein in the horse from the cliff, the horse is flying in the sky, the horse leads the way, recruit troops and buy horses, ten horses, go on a horse and watch the flowers, BMW and fragrant carriage, a smooth road, childhood sweethearts ...
People's feelings for horses are always pure and perfect. To ridicule a person's pride is often to be "arrogant"; to belittle a person's personality is often to say "a mangy dog"; to call a person stupid is often to use a pig. Comparison: "If you're not afraid of your opponents, you're afraid of your teammates." When someone talks about running fast, he or she is often said to be "like a rabbit." When describing a team as intolerant, it's often like a "chicken versus goose"; even the eagle in the blue sky is To mix with dogs and become a member of the "eagle and dog", horses are always a compliment, even if they are "willing to do the work of dogs and horses", there is no derogatory meaning.
Horses have spiritual energy and cannot speak on the battlefield. A comrade is not only loyal, but also protects his master. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, there is a plot where Zhan Ma Lu's leap Tanxi helped Liu Bei escape from Cai Mao. It is said that Yang family general Wu Lang was captured. A Liao Kingdom war horse, this war horse did not eat or drink, roared to the north and died. Hence the poem "The flying birds are heading south, and the horses are flying in the wind"
Of course, horses are also tragic. Eight Kingdoms. When the coalition forces attacked Beijing, Zeng Gelinqin's cavalry fought like a whirlwind, but they drank blood under the fire of artillery and bullets. During World War II, the Polish Army's cavalry waved their sabers and pounced on the German tanks. , there is no other way. In modern warfare, cavalry has long been replaced by rolling tanks and roaring fighter planes.
However, the contribution of horses cannot be erased, the spirit of horses cannot be destroyed, and the feelings of horses cannot be annihilated. , it is always "continuous cutting and chaos".
When watching "Water Margin", there is often a scene like this: "Wu Song shouted, cut a plate of good beef". I have never seen such a description - " Wu Song shouted, "Bring a plate of the best horse meat". People "eat pork, drink dog soup, boil mutton, roast steak", and even sighed "dragon meat in the sky and donkey meat on the ground", but who has seen " "Horse Meat House"?
Yes, in addition to kindness, awe and admiration, what else can there be in horses?
