Horses are the closest companions of the Tibetan people in their daily lives, horses are the life in the hearts of herders, and horses are closely linked to the material pursuits and spiritual aspirations of the Tibetan people. All aspects of Tibetan people's lives, such as herding, traveling, and marrying and marrying, must ride their beloved horses. Loving horses is the nature of the Tibetan people, and horse racing is the main content of the Tibetan people's entertainment life. Therefore, many festivals in the four seasons have horse racing activities or some kind of participation. It can be said that horse racing is indispensable for large-scale festivals, and horse racing has become the most enduring and common mass activity of the Tibetan people in ancient times and the present, and thus created one of the most important components of the Tibetan secular culture: horse racing culture.
In other words, like men, horses need glory. Therefore, the horse racing festival can also be said to be a festival of horses.
The main content of the horse racing festival is horse racing archery, and horse racing culture undoubtedly contains a kind of hero worship.
In August, autumn is high and refreshing, which is the season of abundant water and grass in the Gannan grassland, cattle and sheep fat, and it is also the month when the annual Gesar Horse Racing Conference in Maqu County is held.
According to legend, when Gesar was 12 years old, he found the "Divine Ji" in Maqu, the Hequ Horse, and won the championship in horse racing, thus creating the later Gesar Horse Racing Conference, which has now become the highest standard and grandest horse racing competition in The Tibetans.
Hequ horse, also known as Qiao Kema, originated from the junction of Gansu, Qinghai and Sichuan provinces in China, and was named because it was located in the first river curve in the upper reaches of the Yellow River. Hequ horse, Inner Mongolia Three Hippopotamus and Xinjiang Ili Horse are known as China's three famous horses.
Hippo horse has a strong memory. The horses have a clear memory of the places where they drink water and graze, where the grass is good, and where there is a water source, they are well remembered. Because horses are very discerning about smells and sounds, and at the same time good at memory, some horses are even sold to other provinces and regions, and can return to their hometowns from distant places after a few years.
Gansu has a history of raising horses since ancient times, and during the Spring and Autumn Period, Tianshui Put Horse Beach was named after the ancestor of Qin Shi Huang, Yin Feizi, who herded horses for the Zhou royal family here.
At that time, the ancestors of the Qin people, Da Luo and his son Feizi, grazed horses and raised livestock here, and multiplied and lived. FeiZi was good at raising horses, and was appreciated by King Xiao of Zhou, who allowed him to inherit the "嬴" surname of Shunshi's ancestor Boyi, known as Qin Wei. He also enfeoffed "QinDi" as a vassal of the Zhou Dynasty to raise horses for Zhou. After developing and growing, it finally broke the Yan and destroyed the Qi, swept through liuhe, and unified China.
Starting from the galloping of a horse, China's fragmented historical map has finally achieved the unification of its geographical map. The colorful colors originally marked on the Warring States map have been covered by a color of the Qin State.
Qin Shi Huang ran a horse enclosure on the map of the Great Qin Empire after the sword was drawn, and the color was spilled wherever the horse ran.
Looking at the initial "horse" of the hieroglyph, it is almost a complete body depiction of a "horse", with a head, mouth, eyes, body, mane and tail, the image of a horse that is almost upright and hissing, kicking and stepping, completely unlike today's stick figure "horse" word, losing bones, losing muscles and mane, will it also lose the spirit and connotation of the horse? Thinking about Xiang Yu, you must ride a black colt with a flying mane before you can wipe the blood from your neck with a horizontal sword and splash the Wujiang River; if you think of Guan Yunchang, you must ride a red rabbit with strong tendons before you can take the head of the enemy general in a few moments.
It is said that the horses rolled on the spot when they were sleepy, but never slept under their beds. The ruminating horse in the darkness always seemed to be muttering something.
A little review of Chinese history and the origin of the horse shows the role of the horse.
The idiom "the horse's head is Zhan", from the "FourteenTh Year of The Left Transmission of Xianggong": "The chicken roars and drives, the well is destroyed, and only the remaining horse head is Zhan." "This means that as soon as the chicken crows, the chariot is driven, the well is blocked, the stove is flattened, and it is up to me to see where my horse's head rushes to determine the direction of your action."
This "Xianggong" related to the "Horse Head is Zhan" is one of the ancestors of Qin Shi Huang buried in the Qin Mausoleum of Dabaozi Mountain in Lixian County.
"Hufu riding archery" is still widely spread as an idiom. During the Warring States period, King Wuling of Zhao "Hufu Riding and Shooting" was a major change in China's ancient military history. Because the Hu people are wearing short clothes and trousers, fighting on horses, the movements are very flexible and convenient, opening bows and arrows, and using them freely. Although the Zhao army was well armed, it was wearing robes, bulky armor, and it was very inconvenient to ride a horse. King Wuling of Zhao then ordered the study of Hu costumes, changing to short clothes, belts, belts, hooks, and leather boots. The combat power of the Zhao State was significantly enhanced, and it became one of the "Seven Heroes of the Warring States".
As for Qin Shi Huang, "The King of Qin swept Liuhe, the tiger was He Xiongya; the sword was wielded to break the floating clouds, and the princes came to the west..." Li Bai's "Ancient Wind" is the best illustration. Qin Shi Huang loved to cruise, and for more than a decade after he unified China, he spent most of his time bumping on the ruts of a carriage. His fifth expedition, which lasted for nine months, went south to Qiantang, Zhejiang, where he laid the foundation of Dayu at the Huiji Festival, carved a stone song, and then went north to Langya, which is today's Linyi, Shandong. After a sudden serious illness, he died, and only lived forty-nine years. Li Si, Zhao Gao, Hu Hai and others discussed the secret of the funeral, in order to cover up the smell of rotting corpses, they got a lot of stinky abalone and loaded them on the car, and the monarch of the world was dragged back to Xianyang by the carriage.
In order to obtain the Sweat Blood Horse, Emperor Wu of Han sent troops to the Western Regions to fight a four-year war, and obtained the Sweat Blood Horse from Dawan.
Of course, there is Also Genghis Khan, in addition to eating and sleeping, it can be said that he spent his life on horseback.
Stirrups, which are inseparable from horses, were first introduced to Europe by the Yuan Dynasty and have since changed the fate of Europe. A Mongolian iron horse on a stirrup, a soldier with three horses, does not change horses in battle, eats mutton jerky and drinks horse milk, and can not get off the horse for six days and six nights.
American historian Lynn White said: "There are very few inventions as simple as stirrups, but have such a catalytic effect on history." ”
British Dr. Joseph Needham said of the role of stirrups in European history: "Just as gunpowder helped destroy European feudalism in the final stages, Chinese stirrups helped establish European feudalism in the initial stages." ”
I decided that a good horse should have the quality of iron, like a steam locomotive, rumbling all the way forward.
Tonight, I will dream of a steaming horse on Ma Tan — of course, perhaps a river horse, spewing its nose toward the sun a thousand years from now, and those souls of the pig iron age are standing up against the wind, like stubble after stubble of new wheat, and I see only one horse, running...
There is also the Shandan Army Horse Farm under the Rouge Mountain in the Hexi Corridor of Gansu, which dates back to 121 BC and was founded by the Western Han Dynasty general Huo Quyi.
According to historical records, Qilian Dacaotan had more than 700,000 horses in the Tang Dynasty.
Before the Horse Racing Festival, herders from all over the townships came with tents, colorful national costumes, and jewelry worth showing off.
According to the content of the competition, the horse racing festival is divided into archery, target shooting, competition, short-track sprinting, immediate picking up hada, offering barley wine, etc., and sometimes includes a marseille with similar dressage dance steps. A variety of new and interesting horse racing events will make the audience forget. In general, horse racing will not have a strict and uniform refereeing system, and the form is relatively free and has a strong performance meaning. But the name of the winning horse will quickly spread throughout the grassland, and its reputation will even far exceed that of its owner.
Horse racing is divided into long-distance running, sprinting, horse shooting, horse skills and other sports, and there are three kinds of long-distance running, trotting and walking. Most of the horse drivers are teenagers in their 10s, and their light weight does not affect the speed of the horse. Horses are bareback, and at most they are spreading a thin blanket.
At the sound of gunfire, dozens or hundreds of northern Tibetan horses rushed to the finish line with lightning speed, and thousands of herders in festive costumes cheered for the riders on both sides. In addition to the great prize money that a horse racing champion can get, more glory, the auspicious hatta offered by people will drown him and his horse racing. People of the same tribe or ranch would also lift him up and lead the winning horses to cheer and march in the sea of people at the festival. He and his horsemen soon became famous all over the world, treating him like vips wherever he went.
Equestrian performers are mostly skilled adult riders, who lean over the saddle and let the horses gallop while retrieving hada and coins on the ground. Sometimes there are even difficult lighting projects, in which a person in front of him throws the tinder on the ground, and the rider grabs a one-foot-long pipe, suddenly leans over to pick up the flander and light the pipe, and then pretends to be proud to look around and smoke leisurely. There is also horse shooting, one side of the field is a sneak target, the rider holds a gun to urge the horse, from one side into the target area. Then use your right hand to turn the gun overhead, and then change the left hand from behind to continue to rotate, then roar, aim at the target and quickly shoot a shot. Then an arrow is fired at the second target; another stab is fired at the third target. The roar, the sound of gunshots, and the sound of horses' hooves became one, making the audience on the scene feel bloody.
The Jockey Club is also a material exchange meeting, helping the elderly and young herders to set up dense tents, selling their own production and harvested meat, ghee, lake salt, cordyceps, shellfish, and buying the daily necessities needed for a year. By the afternoon, songs, drums, and cries of joy still reverberated over the prairie. At the end of the race, they rode their beautifully decorated horses and drove yaks full of supplies to go home happily.
The jockey club is, of course, a showcase for the wealth of herders, who mostly use the proceeds from the sale of livestock products and cordyceps, shellfish, musk, etc. to buy costumes to dress their wives and children, and they also like to paint goldfish, conch, victory buildings, blessing bottles, lotus flowers, auspicious knots, faluns, umbrella covers and auspicious eight treasures on their tents - this is also a symbol of a good day. (Text/Yang Biao) (Reprinted from Gansu Daily)