People often like to use the word "unbridled" to describe the free-jumping imagination. As the source of China's tourism symbol, the bronze galloping horse, a cultural relic of the Han Dynasty that has been unearthed for 55 years, embodies the romantic imagination of the ancients.
May 19th is the 14th "China Tourism Day", let's take a look at the romance and ingenuity that belongs to the ancient "top stream".
Although the bronze galloping horse is cast in bronze throughout, it conveys a sense of agility and strength. The horse neighs with its head high, its three legs soar into the air, and its right hind hoof steps on a bird, and its mane and tail are raised back, which freezes the dynamic moment of "speed is comparable to birds and beasts, and a thousand miles of leaping".
Archaeologists said that the copper galloping horse was unearthed in the 60s of the 20th century in the tomb of Lei Taihan in Wuwei City, Gansu Province. This artifact has a very special shape, completely different from the style of other funeral chariots and horses that show a standing and quiet posture, and may be an object specially designed and cast by the tomb owner during his lifetime.
Since its excavation, the copper galloping horse has always had its own various "names". Horse stepping on Feiyan, Feiyan Liu, Ma Chao Dragon Sparrow, Horse God Tiansi...... Many of the names either interpret the shape of the copper galloping horse, or express different perceptions of the birds on which it is riding, or understand it from the background of the era in which the copper galloping horse is located. In terms of the controversy of its name, the bronze galloping horse, as a masterpiece of ancient Chinese bronze art, has also inspired the infinite imagination of contemporary people.
In addition to the highly imaginative aesthetic shape, the reason why the copper galloping horse can support its weight of more than 14 catties with only one leg is because its casting process is very exquisite.
When the ancients cast the copper galloping horse, they followed the traditional pottery casting method of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, and cast the horse's head, horse body, horse legs, birds under the hooves and other parts separately and then cast them into a whole, and the horse's tail and horse Yingluo were inserted separately in the reserved holes.
Ban Rui, deputy director of the Gansu Provincial Museum, said that through X-ray flaw detection, it was found that the ancients also skillfully used bronze and iron, two metals with different melting points, to design and manufacture special components as stiffeners in the right rear support leg of the copper galloping horse, and at the joint between the horse body and the horse's leg root casting, ankle joints, hooves, feet, wrists and other stress points were specially made of tenon and tenon joints to make a solid "iron bone copper leg".
"It's like adding steel bars to a concrete column, which greatly increases strength and support." Ban Rui said.
In 1983, the copper galloping horse "passed five passes, cut six generals", stood out among a number of ancient "competitors", was identified as a Chinese tourism symbol by the former National Tourism Administration, and was included in the first batch of cultural relics prohibited from going abroad (territory) exhibition by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage in 2002.
As for why the copper galloping horse was selected as a symbol of Chinese tourism, Ban Rui said: "On the one hand, the copper galloping horse is a concentrated embodiment of the wisdom, aesthetics and superb skills of the ancients, and has important iconic characteristics. On the other hand, the fusion genes of the copper galloping horse itself are also in line with today's tourism exchanges and cultural exchanges. ”
The cultural relics do not speak, and the spring and autumn are long. The beauty of Han and Ma more than 2,000 years ago "hit" the hearts of ancient and modern Chinese people at the same time.
In the summer of 2022, cultural and creative doll products based on copper galloping horses will become popular all over the Internet and become the "top stream" of cultural and creative products. By the end of 2023, the sales of this series of cultural and creative products will reach 7 million yuan.
Cui Youxin, the person in charge of the cultural and creative center of the Gansu Provincial Museum, said that at first, the cultural and creative team only paid attention to the cute expression of the copper galloping horse, and as the imagination flowed endlessly, they gradually came up with the idea of giving the character to the copper galloping horse, so there was a standing "green horse jumping" and a running "green horse stupid", they had a positive personality and grinned all day long.
The Han people respect horses and worship horses, and today's people also use horses to compose songs. The summer breeze is blowing, the horse's hooves are sick, let us take the horse as the axis, meet the past, meet the future.