One of the landmarks of the Tang Dynasty is the camel, the picture of the camel caravan walking on the sand dunes under the moon night can be equated with the ancient overland Silk Road, and many of the Tang Sancai also appear in the image of camels.
The earliest record of this animal in the pre-Qin literature was the camel, which was called "Feng Niu" at that time, and the Feng was a feng mound, which means a big bull with a hump, which is very graphic. Another commonly used is tuótuó, which means pocket. The name Camel was used until the end of the Tang Dynasty, and camels were supposed to be colloquial names in the Tang Dynasty.
[The camel is actually a big cow with desert resistance]
In the Tang Dynasty, the role of camels was similar to that of cattle, they could carry goods, pull carts, and skin, wool, milk, and meat could all be applied, especially in the Gobi region of the western desert, camels were much more adaptable than cattle.
Through the overland Silk Road caravan, most of them use camels as the main means of transportation, and it can be seen from Tang Dynasty paintings that Hu merchants and camels are standard, and the Silk Road must have the existence of camel caravans.
The main use of camels is to carry heavy goods, there are many records in the history books, during the New Year, because the well water in Chang'an was not good, it could only be used for washing, and dozens of camels were used every day to transport clean water to the palace.
The nomadic peoples of the north at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty also had some of the acts of starting crop cultivation, with records of camel ploughing. In the Central Plains, the price of cattle is lower, and although camels can also be used for arable land, it is obviously more cost-effective to carry goods.
Camel hair is also a kind of textile raw materials, divided into two kinds of thickness, coarse for hair, thin for fleece, Hexi, Shuofang with camel hair brown this local specialty tribute, but at that time the textile technology is relatively primitive, should only be made of felt and other rough things.
【Military camels can only be used as a means of transportation and transportation】
Militarily, camels are more of a logistical part, and there are very few records that prove that camels also charged, but like the Tian Shan Fire Bull Array, it was just a whimsical act, not a camel cavalry formed by the Western Great Eclipse.
The camels used as a means of transportation are often white camels, which are said to be able to travel five hundred miles a day. In general, camels are brown fur, white camels are relatively rare, and the tribes on the Mongolian steppe of the later Qing Dynasty paid tribute to the Central Plains regime."
Nine whites
"It's traditional etiquette, eight white horses and one white camel.
Legend has it that there is also a more divine camel called the Ming Camel, which is recorded in the Tang Dynasty notebook novel "Youyang Miscellaneous Tricks" that it can travel thousands of miles a day."
Lying on the hump, the abdomen is not on the ground, the feet are bent and leaking, then the line is thousands of miles."
, catch up on the fast horse.
In the encyclopedic book "Night Sailing Ship" in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, it is said that in the Tang Dynasty, there were Ming camel envoys, which were specially used to transmit border military aircraft, and Yang Guifei once privately used the Ming camel envoys to send lychees to An Lushan. There is a more unreliable explanation for the word Ming Camel, as it is said in the Song Dynasty novel "The Biography of Yang Taizhen", "
Ming camel envoy, there is hair under the abdomen, night can be bright, the day gallops five hundred miles
", this is not possible to listen.
[Camels can also be used to give people nicknames]
The ancients are the present people, and the use of camels to give people nicknames has been used in ancient and modern times.
The Tang Dynasty notebook novel "Chao Ye You Zai" records an official, because this person was tall and liked to walk with his head held high, and was known as "
Look at the willow camel
”。 Liu Zongyuan's "Liuhe Dongji" also records a name called "
Guo Qi camel
"The man who is sick is always hunched over, walking as if he were lying on the ground with his back bulging.
These people are high-ranking officials or wealthy businessmen, and their nicknames have been passed down, and it is estimated that ordinary people have been given such nicknames. Later, Mr. Lao She's "Camel Xiangzi" protagonist Xiangzi's nickname is Camel, which is tall and makes a living by pulling carts, and the connotation is slightly different.
Camels are so common that many things are named after camels, a musical instrument with a curved front end called a camel pipe, a kind of front-end curved cane popular in the late Tang Dynasty and Shu called a camel staff, a bridge with a bulge called a camel bridge, and so on.
[Camels, like horses, cattle and sheep, are bred by the pastoral supervisor]
One of the Nine Temples is under the Taibu Temple
Pastoral Supervisor
It was the Tang Dynasty institution dedicated to livestock breeding,"
The affairs of the herdsmen's lessons
", equivalent to the official ranch. The pastoral supervisor is also an official position, and the highest upper pastoral supervisor is from the five pins, which is considered to be of a relatively high rank among the transactional bureaucrats. (Old Book of Tang)
In the Tang Dynasty, there were sixty-five pastoral supervisors, mainly raising horses, but also including the breeding of cattle, sheep and camels and other miscellaneous animals.
The "Tang Law Discussion" stipulates that the basic survival rate and breeding rate of livestock in the pastoral supervision should be achieved, and the annual mortality rate of camels is allowed to be 7%, and the mortality rate of new tribute or capture from foreign domains can reach a maximum of 15%; for every 100 female camels, at least 70 camel cubs must be bred in three years. In the event of livestock disease, the permissible mortality rate is referred to by reference to surrounding private ranches. Shepherds who fail to complete their tasks, or who have lost too much of their lives, are subject to flogging, caneing, or exile.
Among the five major pastoral areas of the Tang Dynasty, only the Fanyang Pinglu pastoral area in the northeast did not breed camels, and other Qinghai, Hexi Longyou, Hedong, Shuofang and other places had a large number of horses and camels, and later Qinghai was occupied by Tubo, and the Tang Dynasty still had enough livestock pastures.
According to the Tang Huijiao, in the thirteenth year of Tianbao, there were 326,000 horses, 75,000 cattle, 200,000 sheep, and 563 camels among all the pastoral prisoners at that time.
Considering that the pastoral supervisor is a pasture used to breed livestock, the livestock must be put into use once they reach adulthood, and the number of horses and camels in use is higher, it is estimated that the camels served by the official envoys of the Tang Dynasty at that time should be on the order of a thousand heads, and the number of folk is far more than this number.
Where do adult camels and other livestock go?
The livestock bred in the pastoral prison grow up and are delivered
Taibu Temple
Assigned, under the jurisdiction of the Taibu Temple
The Stables Office, the Pastoral Department, and the Shayuan Supervisor
Mainly responsible for the use of livestock in the royal palace and officially.
Registrar's Office
It is the main agency responsible for livestock conscription, equivalent to the royal convoy.
Pastoral Department
Similar to the Royal Meat Factory, livestock cubs and dairy products were made here for the consumption of the Royal Palace.
Sand Court Supervisor
Responsible for bulk meat, mainly beef and mutton, for banquet sacrifices and imperial palace food, if the hundred officials have the treatment according to the regulations, the meat provided by the Shayuan supervisor is also responsible.
The Temple of Taibu is dedicated to the service of the emperor, and the corresponding prince also has it
Taishi Temple
Basically, there are institutions that serve the emperor, and there is also a set of institutions that serve the prince, of course, the scale is smaller.
The livestock used in the Emperor's forbidden army included horses and camels, which were under the administration of Menxia Province
Dianzhong Provincial Shangcheng Bureau
Responsible for management, many temporary assignments were set up during the Later Wu Zetian period, called envoys, including
Herdsmen, shepherds, idle stables, and flying dragons
During the Li Longji period, these envoys were gradually fixed, and the functions used by the livestock management of the AMTD Bureau gradually existed in name only.
The livestock used by other armies are under the command of the Army
Driving department
Responsible for management, including 1,639 stations in the world, while the superintendent also accepts the dual management of the driving department.
The management system of the entire Datang livestock is that the pastoral supervisor is responsible for breeding, and the Taibu Temple, the Shangcheng Bureau (each envoy), and the driving department are responsible for use.
In addition to their own breeding, livestock were also captured, paid tribute and traded in large quantities.
【Treatment of camels】
Camels are large livestock that are only smaller than elephants, unlike elephants, which are basically a plaything, camels have a great role, so the treatment is not bad. Of course, the most important strategic resource, such as war horses, is still incomparable, and the number is much smaller than that of horses.
The Six Classics of the Tang Dynasty stipulate that every four camels should be managed by a shepherd, and a bucket of beans, three salts, and a handful of hay should be supplied every day, and adjusted according to seasonal changes. The rules are very meticulous, in addition to camels, other horses, mules, cattle, sheep and even elephants are treated, of course, elephants are the largest and the largest supply.
There are also many regulations on the use of camels, including not allowing camels to be injured easily, treating diseases in a timely manner, not killing at will, not using official camels to transport personal goods, etc., and violators are subject to fines, whipping, cane and other punishments.
Each livestock has an archival record with words printed on the camel's face,"
Camels and sheep are officially named zhizhi cheeks
”。 This is true for official livestock, and for private animals, these marks are also an important basis for identifying the owner of the camel, and if the camel is lost or has a dispute over the ownership, the seal is used to determine the ownership. (The Six Classics of Tang)
Wang Fuzhi once said: "The reason why the Han and Tang Dynasties are open is only the prosperity of animal husbandry." "The Han and Tang dynasties occupied a sufficiently large livestock area, and livestock such as horses, cattle, sheep, and camels greatly enhanced the productivity development of the Central Plains regime and the physical quality of the people. But this is only the result of the expansion of the Han and Tang Dynasties, not the reason, and when it comes to some dynasties in later generations who want to spend money to buy peace, it cannot be kept by giving livestock areas to it.
Interpret history in a mathematical and engineering way of thinking, in a vain attempt to use the past as a metaphor for the present. Polytechnic men read history, welcome to pay attention to and discuss.