Tang Dynasty pottery dancing horse, collected in Tianshui City Museum, red pottery texture, height 42 cm, length 41.3 cm. Unearthed in 1976 in Beishan, Qinzhou District, Tianshui City, it stands on a three-legged platform, with its left front hoof bent, shaking its head and tail, opening its mouth and hissing, doing a dance, its posture is elegant and vivid.
(i)
"Dancing horse", as the name suggests, refers to a horse that can dance according to the beat, and after artificial training, the horse can make a kneeling salute and some dance movements for people to watch. This activity, as one of the important components of ancient sports culture, is extremely artistic.
The earliest record of dancing horses in mainland China comes from Cao Zhi's "Table of Horses of the Emperor Of Xianwen", and Cao Zhi dedicated a Dawan "Zizi" dance horse to Cao Cao. This horse "or understands the language and knows the music", and the pitching and churning, walking and galloping are in tune with the rhythm of the drums, and have a natural sense of music. Because this kind of dancing horse was recognized in the ancient Chinese upper class, the horse dance activity flourished, and the dance horse, which was originally only a sports activity, also had a "world" meaning. The role of "friendly exchanges" played by it has built a bridge of exchanges between different nationalities, different languages and different cultures, and for a time the "Western Regions Sacrifice Of Dancing Horses", "Henan National Sacrifices Dance Horses", "Shule King Sacrifices Dancing Horses" and so on have appeared, and dancing horses have become the carrier of international friendship for a while.
When it comes to "dancing horses", many people will immediately think of the cultural relics in the collection of the Shaanxi History Museum - gilded dancing horsebit cup pattern silver pots. The two sides of the pot belly mold two corresponding to each other's dancing horse images, which impress the viewer and instantly bring people into the prosperous Tang Dynasty.
(Image from the Internet)
It is conceivable that hundreds of dancing horses dressed in gold and silver, accompanied by the beat of the song "Pouring Cup Music", jumped up and danced, drumming their heads and tails, and dancing in a dance posture. At the climax, the dancing horse jumped on the three-storey bed and spun like a fly, and the leading dancing horse would pick up the wine glass full of wine on the ground and celebrate the birthday in front of Xuanzong, which was such a grand scene. Many literati in the Tang Dynasty wrote many poems about dancing horses, such as "Bend your knees and cup to the festival, dedicate yourself to life without boundaries, and even the final feast of the cup, hanging your head and tail drunk like mud." "All are described as a unique ancient entertainment activity of dancing horsebit cups to celebrate birthdays."
(ii)
This treasure from the Tianshui Museum in Gansu Province, the Tang Dynasty Pottery Dance Horse, stands on a three-legged platform, with its left front hoof bent, shaking its head and tail, opening its mouth and hissing, and dancing. Its posture is elegant and its appearance is vivid.
Tang Xuanzong, under the background of the grand scenery of the Tang Dynasty, made full use of his supernatural musical endowment to organize the once monotonous dancing horse sports event into a magnificent cultural and sports event, and the brilliant event naturally became a good theme for the literati to sing and sing, "Dancing Horse Words", "Dancing Horse Fu" and so on, and Xuanzong himself also used the "Heavenly Court of Music" as a rhyme as the proposition of "giving a scholar". Taking the dance horse song as the rhyme as the proposition of the open section selection, it can be seen that "dancing horse" was all the rage at that time.
The good colts that galloped on the battlefield were once warriors who defended the country, and they were trained as "dancers" and heroic "athletes", and they didn't know how many brain holes they needed to open?
At the beginning of the 20th century, dressage (English name: Dressage) became more artistic and ornamental, and gradually became a competitive sport. Wearing a black wide-brimmed top hat, a tuxedo, and pedaling high-barreled riding boots, accompanied by a melodious and soothing melody, the rider drives the horse to perform various steps in the prescribed 12 minutes, completing a variety of coherent and standardized movements.
In 1912, the dressage dance steps, also known as fancy riding and horse riding, officially became the Olympic Games competition - people dressed, horses walking dance steps, riders and horses integrated, while showing strength and beauty, tension and rhythm, coordination and unrestrained, with a strong ornamentality.
But in any case, the "dancing horse" is undoubtedly the artistic presentation of equestrian riding in the entire Medieval era, and the "dressage dance steps" in the Olympic Games reflect the highest realm of equestrian riding art.
From conquest and killing to costumed dance steps, the feeling of "Ma Fang Nanshan" behind it is full of peace concepts that transcend the times and the nation.
The Silk Road "Dancing Horse" witnessed the exchange of Chinese and Western civilizations a thousand years ago, and the Beijing Winter Olympics embodied the Olympic spirit. From the Silk Road Dance Horse to the Beijing Winter Olympics, the theme slogan of the Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games is being interpreted: "Together for a Shared Future"!
Wen 丨 Benliu News Correspondent Liu Fuxing Reporter Jing Wen
Photo丨 Courtesy of Tianshui City Museum