Editor's note: If anyone asks, is there any invention in the era of cold weapons that is very simple, but particularly important? Many people may think of stirrups at the first time. As the British historian of science and technology White points out: "Few inventions are as simple as stirrups, and few inventions are of such great historical significance." But this stirrup, which is called "Chinese boots" by Westerners and has a special significance in the history of riding in the world, has obviously unearthed the earliest metal relics in China, but many people are not confident in the time of invention and inventors. What's more, stirrups were invented by the Central Asians after the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and then spread strange theories such as East and West at the same time. So, who invented stirrups and when?
When it comes to the origin of Chinese stirrups, many people will take the illustrations of these pottery figurines in the National Museum of China (hereinafter referred to as the National Museum).
The seven figurines, which originated in 1958 in Jinpenling, Changsha, Hunan Province, are currently on display in Guobo's "Ancient China" basic exhibition, which explains this: "It is remarkable that some terracotta figurines have a triangular stirrup tied to the left front end of the saddle. The stirrups of these terracotta figurines appear only on the left side, but not on the right, and the rider's foot is not in the stirrup, indicating that the stirrup is for pedaling when loading the horse. Guobo's explanation sounds reasonable, but some careful viewers will say, since some figurines have a single stirrup, and some figurines do not, will the ceramic figurines without a single stirrup be pasted or damaged when firing? Then there is this western Jin Dynasty thing, is it possible that the stirrups on the pottery figurines excavated before the Western Jin Dynasty were seriously broken and damaged during excavation and restoration and not restored? Or was there something else that led to the fact that the stirrups were not depicted on the statues at that time? To take a simple example, many of the three colored horses of the Tang Dynasty did not create stirrups, can it be said that the horses of the Tang Dynasty did not use stirrups? The picture below is: the left is the Tang Sancai pottery sanhua horse on the right is the black glazed horse is the collection of the National Museum, and there is no stirrup image
Another point, the origin of these Hunan pottery figurines is not a traditional ancient Chinese horse production area, there are very few horses in Hunan at present, the only horse breed is the southwest horse, although the proportion of the 7 Western Jin Dynasty horse figurines of the National Bo is poor, but it can be seen that these horses are definitely not high-headed horses imported from the northern horse-producing area, to be honest, such a short horse breed does not need to use stirrups, and it is not as convenient as jumping on the horse on horseback when getting on the horse. If the stirrup is hung in that position and the stirrup is stepped on, it may be that because the center of gravity is too high, it will flip over to the other side of the horse's back and fall down, which is dangerous. The so-called single stirrup for the horse was really weird. Therefore, this is considered to be an alienated thing, and these few things can only be regarded as branches and not vein nodes in the entire history of the development of traditional Chinese harnesses. In fact, the study of traditional Chinese harnesses is likely to go astray without the study of Chinese horse breeds, in other words, the southern cavalry is not representative of the general significance of the traditional Chinese cavalry.
Put down this Western Jin Dynasty pottery figurines for the time being, we return to the long river of historical relics, the author believes that the sculpture of a separate horse does not shape stirrups, it is really difficult to judge whether there were stirrups at that time. However, with the image of a rider, it is much easier to explain than that. That is to say, it does not matter whether the shape of the stirrup cannot be molded, as long as you can see the shape of the rider's legs and feet, you will definitely know whether there was a stirrup at that time.
Friends who can ride horses know that when stirrups are used at rest, the rider's heel sinks, the soles of the feet step into the stirrups, and the stirrups are kept relatively stable with appropriate pressure.
In the forward state of the horse, the rider leans forward slightly, and the tip of the foot is slightly pressed down to help the horsepower, and once the horse stops, it will return to a static state.
Stirrup-free riding is also a horse riding, because the foot has no pedaling force point, the posture of the horse when it is stationary and moving is generally the same, the large and small legs are clamped to hold the horse's belly, and the lowest part of the foot must be the forefoot and not the heel. There is also an important riding principle, whether there is stirrup or not, the rider's heel must be directly below the hip, and the human center of gravity is on a vertical line. This is a must to maintain balance. All realistic portrait bricks, stones, terracotta figurines, or other evidence must meet this criterion.
Let's look at a piece of brick (Suzaku hunting pattern portrait brick) commonly decorated in the Central Plains of the Eastern Han Dynasty, friends who know how to ride and shoot will see at a glance that this must be a riding and shooting posture that appears in the stirrup state: looking back at the moon. The state of the feet in the portrait brick is supported, even if it is impossible to see whether there is a stirrup or not.
I deliberately made a clear rubbing for this Han brick.
Such brick decoration is not an isolated case, but a universal existence.
This kind of riding and shooting posture, if it is said that a few gifted people can also make it in a stirrup-free state, may be credible, but a large number of Chinese bricks are such a posture, is it not of universal significance? We can compare the posture of the Tang Dynasty hanging tire riding and shooting figurine legs and feet hidden by the National Museum, and the Tang Dynasty is a period when stirrups are clearly there!
The Western Han cavalry should still be in a stirrup-free riding state, after all, there are so many cavalry figurines unearthed from the Western Han Imperial Tombs there.
It can be seen that the time of the appearance of stirrups in China should be in the Eastern Han Dynasty at the latest, which is about a hundred years earlier than the traditional western Jin Dynasty that stirrups appeared. The following figure is a schematic diagram of the development and change of Chinese harnesses in Mr. Yang Hong's "Treatise on Ancient Chinese Weapons", in which he believes that there were no stirrups in the Eastern Han Dynasty.
From the perspective of cold weapon combat, the emergence of stirrups is to give the cavalry more combat modes. The rider is preoccupied with the horse's running state while riding. In the attack (full speed) state, like a man, the horse will naturally run in a straight line. Riders are safer. Shorten the run (jogging). Some horses will change direction suddenly, or come to a screeching halt. If the rider is inattentive and does not prejudge, the result is to directly lose the center of gravity and fall off the horse.
If there is a horse pedal. The rider went from one point of support to three points of support. When the horse changes direction, dodges, and makes a sharp stop, connecting the saddle's pedals and pedals can give the rider strong support, and the center of gravity can be easily adjusted back. At the same time, the supported calf can give the mount more precise support, make the horse more obedient, make more complex movements, and run more complex routes. Especially when riding and shooting, the pedals serve as two strong support points, making it easier for the rider to grasp the center of gravity and adjust the center of gravity, in extreme conditions or unexpected situations. Trained riders can adjust their center of gravity back with the help of horse pedals just by virtue of good muscle memory or conditioned reflexes. In the early days of riding and shooting without pedals, most of the time should be to let the horse stand still, and then shoot statically. Because without stirrups it is difficult to maintain balance dynamically. In the later stages of riding and shooting, it is already possible to shoot with the help of stirrups in running. Junbo's previous Hufu riding and shooting display is a specimen plus wax figure to show this (picture left), the right picture is that The military blog is now making a similar display board to the right picture, I think they are not as good as the design of the 80s of the last century.
There is no horse pedal when riding and shooting, but after the appearance of horse pedals, the Central Asian nomads invariably choose short pedals and standing postures (tiptoe pedaling, hips leaving the saddle) to reduce the interference of the pressure wave on the stability of the upper body and improve the accuracy and efficiency of riding and shooting. Without the pedals, this progress would be completely unimaginable.
The invention of the horse pedal allowed the cavalry to devote more energy to the enemy, and the efficiency of their weapons could be improved. Cavalry can see farther, better observe the overall situation of the battlefield, carry more weapons with different roles, and use more complex cavalry tactics. The invention of the horse pedal liberates 80% of a mature rider's energy and physical strength. The combat efficiency of the cavalry is a qualitative improvement. With the advent of stirrups, Chinese harnesses have become increasingly complex, and the contact area between the legs and feet of the riders and the abdomen of the horse has become smaller and smaller. Don't forget that in addition to the rider communicating with the horse through the reins, physical stress support and foot support are also important for horse control. Although the wide barrier mud after the Southern and Northern Dynasties of China separated the rider's legs and feet from the horse' close connection. But the ancients still used their legs and feet to tell the horse what he wanted to do. The picture below shows the Taoma of the Northern Dynasty of Guobo tibet
There is a sentence in the commentary: "Kick the stirrup with both feet, and the stirrups fly the tiger." This is the figurative explanation of the principle of foot support. Modern equestrianism, both western and English equestrian, gives priority to horse support with legs and feet. First of all, the horse should understand with the precise support of the leg, understand the rider's intentions, and react as quickly as possible to make movements, rather than tearing the armature by the reins and forcing the horse to submit. Dear readers, especially friends who are new to riding horses, when riding on horseback, do not patronize the reins of the horse, and use the exquisite combination of the driving of the legs and feet and stirrups and the pressure of body weight to tell the horse rider what the psychology thinks. Marco is a very spiritual animal!
In short, loving ancient military relics, loving the essence of traditional Chinese martial arts, validating theories from horse science and practice on horseback, and comparing the commonalities and differences between Chinese and foreign equestrian and equestrian theories are the commonalities of many people of our generation. This is also our advantage over our predecessors who only had access to written materials. So historical research really can't just stay on paper. Cultural relics are important, but sculptures and murals are also cultural relics, and practice is the only criterion for testing truth. In the process of writing this article, I received strong support and inspiration from Ma You: Brother Tan, Brother Qin, Brother Wu, and I would like to thank you together.
This article is the original manuscript of the Cold Weapons Research Institute. The original outline of the editor-in-chief and the author Leng Yan saw, any media or public account without written authorization shall not be reproduced, and the offender will be investigated for legal responsibility.