Pharaoh
Pharaoh
In today's society, when it comes to horseback riding, it always comes to mind of the vast grasslands, the blue waves, and the Mongolian people galloping across the vast land.
Riding and archery culture has a long history, from ancient times to the present, whether it is the control of war horses, or hunting entertainment on weekdays, riding is the most prominent nomads in the Liaojin era.
So, why did Liaojin become so obsessed with polo, and how did they invent the sport?
1. Overview of ancient Liaojin and polo
(1) About ancient Liaojin.
The Liao was a dynasty in Chinese history founded by the Khitans to rule northern China. Xue Juzheng's "History of the Old Five Dynasties" called "the Khitan, the species of the ancient Xiongnu".
The Khitans had been active in the upper reaches of the Liao River since the Northern Wei Dynasty and were an ethnic group on the grasslands, while the Jin were a regime established by the Jurchens, an ancient ethnic group in China, located in present-day northeastern China, in the Songhua River valley of Heilongjiang and in the Changbai Mountains.
Both Liaojin belong to the nomadic people in the north, and the nomads have always regarded horseback hunting as their ability, and the skill of equestrianism and hunting often determines their status in the group.
(2) About Liaojin Sports
During the period of the Liao and Jin dynasties, the society was relatively stable, the feudal economy also developed greatly, and the agricultural handicraft industry also made significant progress.
As production developed, towns and cities prospered, and natural sports activities developed, allowing people to have not only recreation, but also fitness and intellectuality.
During the Liao Dynasty, there was already a trend of ethnic integration, and the Khitans were deeply influenced by the Han people of the Song Dynasty, which was also reflected in sports. The ancient book records that "Keju and for it, in the real thing, trampling for the play."
Today there are steps to fight, to fight, not to fight horses, there are large regulations of physique, the intention is ingenious, take its refiner as the top, now the saint (Song Huizong) is sensitive to this art, and it is placed for the royal beating to worship".
It can be seen that Song Huizong of the Song Dynasty liked to bow and this movement was promoted, and the people of the Liao Dynasty naturally had contact with this movement.
Later, after the Jin destroyed the Liao, this movement was continued, and after the founding of the Liao Dynasty, although it also adopted the settlement of cultivation in the wasteland of the border people.
But as a nation on horseback, the ruling class still values hunting and fishing, and the annual hunting is a Khitan custom.
Fishing was not only enjoyed by the poor, but even by the emperor. The Khitan people like to dig ice fishing in the cold season in winter, when the fish dive to the bottom, they dig ice on the ice and take fish ("Liao History" volume 32). The Jurchens were also good hunters.
(3) About polo
Polo is one of the oldest surviving team sports, and it requires a high level of skill in horseback riding and batting, and the two need to be closely integrated to do well.
The origins of the sport are well debated, and it is impossible to verify them exactly.
But the most popular theory is that 2,000 years ago, nomads living and breeding on the Asian grasslands formed teams and raced horses to grab their prey.
Polo, as the name suggests, is to ride on a horse and play the ball with a stick, which was called a bow in ancient times. Juju existed at the end of the Han Dynasty, and during the reign of Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, Juju rose.
In ancient times, whether it was war or life, the only way to replace the strength of the feet was to ride a horse, so the sport of polo could not only train the riding skills of the soldiers in the army, but also allow the people to have more entertainment.
At that time, from the ministers of the court to the common people, this sport was very popular.
In the later dynasties of the Song, Liao, and Jin dynasties, the sport was continued, and its gameplay and rules were improved.
Second, the specific performance of Liaojin sports events
(1) Popularization of sports for the whole people.
First of all, there is the participation of the rulers, most of the Khitan and Jurchen people have a great interest in sports, the rulers are basically personally participating in some sports activities, the Liaojin rulers have always attached importance to riding and archery, and every major festival, more various riding and archery activities are held.
According to the "Continuation of the Literature General Examination and Music Examination": Liao Shi has a "rabbit shooting" activity, with a wood carving of a rabbit as the target, divided into two groups of galloping horses to shoot it, the first group is the winner, and the defeated group gets off the horse to enter the winning group.
Secondly, the ordinary people of Liaojin also have great enthusiasm for sports activities.
The most important sports of the Jurchens were willow shooting and batting, both of which are specifically described in the 35th Ritual of Worship in the Golden History of the Rites.
Batting: Horses are often practiced in each place, holding a cane. The rod was several feet long, and its end was like a glaive. Divide the crowd into two teams and fight for a goal.
Heavy cavalry archery is the inherent national spirit of the Jurchens, but the competitive forms of shooting willows and hitting the ball that express this spirit are not the first to be created by the Jurchens.
According to the 35th volume of the "Jin Shi Lizhi", the Jurchens learned the scenes of shooting willows and hitting balls from the Khitan people of the Liao Dynasty, and these two customs have a long history. Then there is the participation of women.
Usually in textbooks and TV dramas, it is mentioned that in ancient Chinese feudal society, there were all kinds of taboos against women.
However, during the Liaojin Dynasty, the same system was continued in the Tang Dynasty, and women could participate in a variety of sports activities such as dancing, archery, sangaku, swinging, tug-of-war, outing, field hunting, juju, polo, and foot ball.
Polo, in particular, is especially handy for women among nomadic peoples such as the Khitans, Jurchens, and Mongols. They grew up hunting on horseback like men.
It can be seen that in the Liaojin period, from the emperor and nobles to the common people, regardless of men, women and children, all participated in physical exercise, so physical exercise became a major trend in society.
(2) Liaojin has inherited the development of sports.
Sports in ancient China have a long history, and by the time of the Liaojin Dynasty, sports had a history of more than 3,000 years.
The earliest record of polo is Cao Zhi's "Famous Capital Chapter" during the Three Kingdoms, which has a poem that says: "Even riding to hit the bow soil, skillfully pushing Wanduan." ”
However, some scholars have pointed out that such an understanding is interpreted by people as they wish. But no matter what, it proves that sports are people who have accumulated rich experience and invented various sports in long-term practice.
It is under the inheritance of the sports events of the Sui and Tang dynasties that Liaojin Sports has a new inheritance for its development.
(3) Pay special attention to polo.
Liaojin and later the Yuan Dynasty were all countries that fought on horseback, and the emperors of the Liao, Jin, and Yuan dynasties were also born and raised in the boundless desert and galloping horses.
Therefore, riding and hunting can be said to be the housekeeping skills used by the Northern Empire to protect the family and the country. They advocate mounted archery, which means equestrian high and low, so polo is particularly popular.
At the same time, the rulers attached great importance to archery and martial arts based on military needs. In the beginning, the rulers of the Great Liao were afraid that the popularity of polo would discourage the army, and they relaxed their fighting spirit, so they ordered a ban on batting.
Xiao Xiaozhong, who was left behind in Liaoyang at that time, said: "Tokyo is the most important town, there is no place for indulgence, if it is not a ball horse, how can you practice martial arts?" Confinement should be relaxed. ”
Later, the Liao Emperor felt justified and allowed it, and also gave space for the development of polo in terms of policy. In the Liaojin era, great importance was also attached to the selection of martial artists.
Emperor Xingzong of the Jin Dynasty believed that the ancestors ruled the world with martial arts and could not forget their roots, so he asked the Jin Dynasty Jinshi examination to include batting bow horses. This system did not cease until the time of Jin Zhangzong.
3. The reasons for the prosperity of Liaojin Sports
(1) Abundant material resources.
During the reign of the Liao Dynasty Emperor and the Empress Dowager Xiao Sui, they attached great importance to the development of agriculture, the reclamation of idle land, the reduction of the people's burden, the rectification of taxes, the relief of the poor, the resettlement of exiles, and the protection of business travelers.
It is recorded in the "Collection of Liao History" that "there are fugitive households in Zhuzhou, and the Han people of Xu Fan undertake the tenants and provide taxes." Those who return to the industry within five years will be repaid with three points and two points; Half in 10 years; Three points for one point in the fifteenth anniversary".
This ensures that the farmland is not abandoned and the farmers have land to cultivate.
In the Tang Dynasty, the material civilization had reached a high level, and after the Liao Dynasty destroyed the Tang Dynasty, it attached importance to development on this basis, so the unprecedented development of agriculture, the expansion of cultivated land, and the increase in grain production provided the most necessary foundation for the development of sports.
In the Liaojin Dynasty, the breeding of horses was also relatively developed, which not only met the needs of war, but also provided material conditions for sports such as horse shooting and polo to a certain extent.
(2) A stable social environment.
As we all know, the development of sports is inseparable from a stable political environment.
At the time of the unification of the Tang Dynasty, the society was relatively stable for a long time, and later the rulers of the Liao Dynasty realized the importance of a stable political environment and took a series of positive measures.
They attached great importance to the selection of talents, and not only trusted the talented nobles and officials of the clan, their relatives, and the Khitan ministries, but also attached importance to the appointment of Han officials. During the reign of Jingzong, the imperial examination began to be institutionalized, and Han scholars were selected and appointed.
Adjust class relations, reduce servitude, and calm people's hearts.
Political openness, social stability, cultural inclusiveness, and the ruler's enthusiastic advocacy and practice of sports all provide a broad space for the dissemination, exchange and development of sports in this era.
Liaojin inherited the splendid culture of the old dynasties and improved it to promote economic prosperity, strong military strength, and relatively stable society, all of which created conditions for the development of Liaojin sports events.
And polo is not only used as a need for military training, but also promotes the development of sports. In addition to strengthening their bodies, people also exercise their skills and entertain their moods.
In modern society, sports can be used as a standard to judge the progress of a country's civilization, and the sports events that appeared in the Liaojin era also proved the strength of ancient China from the side.