Why did Mulan buy her own horse when she joined the army?

The question is very good, involving many aspects. To solve it, we must be familiar with the military and political system and the horse administration system at that time.

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In the history of animal husbandry in China, the history of raising horses is the richest. As early as the late primitive society, horses had been raised. Horse has long been called the first of the "six animals" because of its great role in war, transportation, etiquette, farming and traction. Due to the need of combat readiness, successive governments have raised a large number of horses and set up officials to manage them. People also keep horses for farming and driving. By the Han and Tang dynasties, the horse industry reached its peak. Nomads in the north and northwest are especially famous for their developed horses, rich pastures and good riding skills. After the middle Tang Dynasty, the land annexation was fierce, the population increased greatly, the grazing land decreased relatively, and the rulers banned the raising of horses, which led to the decline of raising horses by officials and people, especially after the Qing Dynasty. Traditional pasture has also been greatly reduced due to overgrazing, overgrazing and desertification, and horse breeding in grassland has never been as prosperous as before.

The origin and evolution of China horse breeds. Pueblo wild horses were once thought to be the ancestors of horses in northern China. After more than 30 years of archaeological excavations and investigations, it has been proved that the ancestor of China horse is wild horse E.caballus, and the previous generation is E.samenensis, both of whom were born in the vast area of northern China. China Southern Horse originated from Yunnan Horse, and its fossils are distributed in a vast area centered on Sichuan and Yunnan.

Horse bones have been unearthed from Neolithic sites such as Ziya in Licheng, Shandong, Baiyin, Baiyin, Henan, and belong to Longshan culture. Ma Xia molars unearthed from Qijia early cultural site in Dahezhuang, Yongjing, Gansu, have been dated about 2000 BC after carbon dating correction, which is no different from modern horses. According to the Book of Changes, Huangdi, Yao and Shun "led oxen and rode horses, which shows that horses have been domesticated and used as servants."

Ancient horses in China were generally taller than modern horses, and there were many so-called "swift horses" in the past dynasties. In the Spring and Autumn Period, there were 3,000 mares over six weeks old (today's 138cm). During the reign of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, adult horses over five feet nine inches (now 135.7 cm) were forbidden to go out of the customs, which was exactly the same as the height of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses unearthed from the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor. The standard for buying horses in Song Dynasty was 130.2 ~ 145.7 cm. Since the Ming Dynasty, due to the loss of war and the decline of horse industry, except for some excellent breeds in western minority areas, China horse breeds have shown a trend of degradation.

The distribution of horse-raising areas in ancient China is basically the same as that in modern times. However, due to the changes in socio-economic conditions and ecological environment, the number of horses in traditional agricultural areas has decreased significantly in the past century.

The northwest horse-producing areas, including the ancient western regions, are rich in grasslands, and people of all ethnic groups have always made a living from animal husbandry and produced good horses. For more than two thousand years, it has been the main resource of good horses in China. Shaanxi and Gansu also have a long history of raising horses. In about 900 BC, the concubine became the ancestor of the State of Qin, and was famous for raising horses for Zhou in the wild of □ and Wei. After the Han and Tang Dynasties, large-scale national nutrition horse farms were mainly distributed in this area. After the Anshi Rebellion in Tang Dynasty, Longyou was trapped in Tubo, and animal husbandry was still developed. Song and Ming dynasties replaced the tea-horse system, importing tens of thousands of horses from northwest China to the mainland every year, including the Tang horse heritage. In the Ming Dynasty, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces were reclaimed to breed military horses and build racecourses until the Hexi Corridor was far away. During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, racecourses were set up outside Xining to Jiayuguan, especially in Yili and Barkun, and stallions were also raised from Inner Mongolia and Yumen.

The vast grassland north of the Great Wall in the horse-producing area of Saibei is the ancient origin of Mongolian horse breeds. After the Warring States period, nomadic peoples such as Huns, Turks and Mongols rose here in succession, with huge horses. Through the trade, war and migration between ethnic groups, horses in this area were introduced to the Central Plains in large numbers from the Zhou and Qin Dynasties. For example, in the Tang Dynasty, a horse market was established in the north, and some horse workers even came from Lake Baikal. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, border towns such as Xuanhua and Datong allocated 34,000 horses to cities beyond the Great Wall every year, and allowed people to sell horses freely in the frontier fortress. From Liao, Jin and Yuan Dynasties to Qing Dynasty, Chahar grassland was the main horse-raising place. During the Yuan Dynasty, from southeastern Siberia to the lower reaches of the Yellow River via Chahar, the pastoral areas were divided into 12 large pastoral areas. The Qing Dynasty organized Mongols to develop horses throughout Chahar, and most of the national military horses were taken from here.

Horse breeding in southwest China, including Tibet, can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Bashu merchants in Han Dynasty have been trading horses and other livestock products here. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Mayuan was established in Sichuan, Yunnan and other places. In the Song Dynasty, horse resources in southwest China were paid more attention. In the tea-horse trade from the Northern Song Dynasty to the late Ming Dynasty, Ma Shu and Yun Gui Ma, represented by Dali Horse, were the main targets. Southwest horses are suitable for the living environment in mountainous areas, and there are many valuable horses, but they are not as good as northern horses in military use. According to the Fauna of Guihaiyu Zhi Heng, the height of "Fruit Dismount" produced in the south is no more than three feet, especially in Deqing, Guangdong.

The northeast of Kanto horse-producing area is also an important horse-producing area in the history of China. Donghu in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, followed by Xianbei and Wuhuan, were riding and hunting tribes. The Fuyu people in Nenjiang River and Songhua River basins in the east of Xianbei mainly farm and also produce famous horses. After the establishment of Liao and Jin by Khitan and Nuzhen, a large-scale grazing organization appeared. Liao raised more than1100,000 sets, while the seven livestock farms only raised 470,000 sets. Ming Yongle set up a horse market in Liaodong and other places to buy horses from Songhua River to Heilongjiang, and set up a horse temple in Liaodong to manage horses. In the early Qing Dynasty, racecourses were also established in Northeast China, but the horse industry declined obviously. Later, due to a large number of immigrants and the urgent need for animal power, the horse industry developed again. The three northeastern provinces have become the regions with the largest number of horses in China in the past 100 years.

China's horse-producing areas have been riding horses since ancient times, and horses are also quite prosperous. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, raising horses became a common practice, and then it once declined. The migration of grassland nationalities to the south has revived the animal husbandry in the Central Plains. However, due to the introduction of a large number of Mongolian horse breeds, the original horse breeds gradually disappeared. Yanmenguan, Shanxi, is the entrance of Saibei horse breeds. In the Tang Dynasty, there was a shepherd in Hedong (now Shanxi), and horses were abundant. The pastoral supervisors in the Northern Song Dynasty were mainly distributed in the Central Plains, with as many as 14 in its heyday. However, some animal husbandry supervisors have contradictions with the planting industry and poor management, which leads to a downward trend; However, judging from the number of horses plundered by Liao, Jin and Yuan Dynasties after a long-term invasion of this area, folk horse raising is still considerable. Wang Anshi's horse protection law in the Northern Song Dynasty and official herding in the Ming Dynasty were mainly implemented here. It was not until the Qing Dynasty that folk horse raising was banned, the population was increasing and the grassland was insufficient that the horse raising industry in the Central Plains collapsed.

China, a horse-producing area in the southeast, is known as "the south boat goes north". The horse-raising industry in the southeast is underdeveloped, but it is not absolutely inappropriate to raise horses. For example, at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, the horses of Wu in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River developed rapidly because they needed chariots. From Tang Dynasty to Song Dynasty, racecourses were established in southern Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hubei and other places. In the early Ming Dynasty, 14 animal husbandry supervisor was set up between Jianghuai and southern Jiangsu, which was unprecedented in the history of southern China.

Changes in the Use of Horses Horses were originally raised to eat meat. Horses were used as sacrifices in the Yin Dynasty. Mu Biography records that when going to the Western Ocean, Qinghai tribes once offered "eating horses". Later, due to the importance of horses in military affairs and post transportation, they were no longer used as sacrifices and funerals, and the slaughter of horses was also prohibited. According to Zhou Li Xia Guan, the main uses of Ma Zhou can be divided into six categories: breeding of stallions, military horses, sacrifice to Ma Qi, knife and horse post stations, hunting in Ma Tian, and Ma Xu can only be used as a handyman. According to the system of the Zhou Dynasty, only Zhou Wang could raise six kinds at the same time; The governor is not allowed to advance two categories, and the doctor is only allowed to mention the last two categories. This constraint was broken in the Spring and Autumn Period.

As for the origin and evolution of various uses of horses, according to the Book of Changes and Tong Dian Li in the Tang Dynasty, horses and carriages were invented by Huangdi, Yao and Shun. The carriage structure unearthed in Yin Ruins is quite complete. During the Yin and Zhou Dynasties, wagons were widely used for fighting, hunting and carrying. The origin of Ma Geng can be traced back to the pre-Qin period. The Theory of Salt and Iron in the Han Dynasty said that "farmers plowed with horses" in the Han Dynasty, and the same book "San Que" also said: "The ancients" horses "took the yoke when they walked, and stopped plowing", which is a fact. It is difficult to know when cycling started. However, its wide application in production and war undoubtedly began with nomadic people in the north. During the Warring States Period, countries in the Central Plains changed their chariots into cavalry in order to deal with northern riders. Wuling's "Hufu Riding and Shooting" is an obvious example. Post horses have always been second only to army horses. Because ancient land transportation mainly relied on post stations, no matter whether it was a post ride or a post car, it was inseparable from horses. There were post stations in the Spring and Autumn Period, which were more developed in the Han and Tang Dynasties. In the Tang dynasty, there were post stations every 30 miles, and each station was equipped with 8 ~ 75 horses. In the Yuan Dynasty, countries were linked by postal transportation. The Travels of Marco Polo says that there are 20-400 horses in each post station, and there are 300,000 post horses in China. In addition, horses are also used for sports. The image of equestrian performance has appeared in the rock paintings reflecting the life of northern nomadic people in Langshan area of Inner Mongolia. In the Central Plains, equestrian began to appear in court entertainment in the Han Dynasty, and it developed unprecedentedly in the Tang Dynasty, including horse riding and acting, horse riding and dancing, horse racing and so on. Polo originated in Tibet, prevailed in the imperial palace of the Tang Dynasty, and developed into a military sport in the Ming Dynasty. As for drinking horse milk, it has been popular among grassland people since ancient times and was introduced to the Central Plains in Qin and Han Dynasties. Special officials and craftsmen were set up in the Han Palace to make koumiss for the royal family to drink and then spread to the people. Because of its sweet taste, it was highly praised by ancient doctors.

The development of horse-raising technology The traditional horse-raising technology in China is rich in content, and it has been applied to the people for a long time before the introduction of western methods, with outstanding results. Apart from many lost people, there are mainly: ① equestrian events. During the Spring and Autumn Period, famous Xiangma artists such as Bole and Jiufanggao came forth in large numbers, and they wrote Xiangma Jing. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty stood in Chang 'an according to the "Golden Horse" cast by Dawanma. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Ma Yuan wrote the Law of Copper Horse and cast a model of copper horse in front of Luoyang Palace. Since then, works about Xiang Ma have been published for thousands of years, such as Xiang Bao Jin Qu written in the Tang Dynasty and adapted in the Ming Dynasty. 2 castration. ③ Feeding, breeding and training methods. Wu Qi, a strategist in the Warring States period, had a summary discussion on raising horses in the pre-Qin period. The Book of Qi Yao Min in the Northern Wei Dynasty pointed out that raising horses requires "three foods and three drinks", which was also learned by later generations. In raising horses, the method of rectal pregnancy examination was adopted in Tang and Song Dynasties, and there was a registration and declaration system. There was another development in the Ming Dynasty. The methods of controlling fertilizer and training good horses of ethnic minorities in the north and southwest are very distinctive. The harness invented by Mongols and the rope-ring horse catching method in northwest China are still in use today. ④ Breed improvement of horses. During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Dawanma and Wusun horses were introduced from the western regions, which were mainly used as stallions in addition to imperial use, and can be regarded as arrows for the improvement of horse breeds in China. From the end of the Han Dynasty to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, there were good horses introduced from the western regions, including Dawan horse, Persian horse and various tribute horses from Saibei grassland tribe. After crossing, Tang Ma became strong. Today, the local varieties of Hequma and the north and south of Qilian Mountain are the legacy of Tangma.

The Evolution of Ma Zheng In Shang Dynasty, Oracle Bone Inscriptions recorded Ma Xiaochen who managed horses in Shang Dynasty. Historically, the establishment of the government's unified management of the national military forces was first brewed in the Zhou Dynasty. Zhou Li's school administrators, priests, teachers, fun horses, witch horses and other functions are responsible for horse grazing, feeding, training, riding and health care. In addition to raising horses by the Zhou royal family and princes, they also levied horses from the lower classes to pay for the army. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there were words like "home of a thousand riders" and "country of a thousand riders", in which horses and chariots represented wealth. During the Qin and Han dynasties, the border counties opened gardens to raise horses and established Taibu Temple, which led to the formation of horse administration organs. The position of servant has also changed from the royal servant of the king of Zhou to the chief officer, with the rank of Jiuqing. Since the Northern Dynasties, Taibu Temple has been in charge of animal husbandry such as camels, cattle and sheep.

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, there was a pastoral supervisor in Longyou. In addition to the Taibu Temple, which is in charge of the national animal husbandry, a post-horse driver's department was set up to collect books of officials, private horses, cattle and miscellaneous animals for the examination.

In the Song Dynasty, besides Taibu Temple and Driving Division, there were herding animals. The government also established the Chama Temple to exchange tea for horses of ethnic minorities in the west. Wang Anshi initiated the law of protecting horses by officials and people, but it was soon abolished, and later he turned to the system of people's herding. The horse administration institutions in Liao, Jin and Yuan Dynasties basically followed the system of Tang and Song Dynasties, mainly raising horses outside the Great Wall and plundering people's horses. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, horse administration was implemented all over the country, and horse farms were set up in Shaanxi, Gansu and Liaodong, and the government and the people jointly managed animal husbandry in agricultural areas. Taibu Temple, Ma Yuan Temple and Xingtaipu Temple perform their respective duties and are unified in the Ministry of War. Later, due to the decrease of grassland, officials were out of order and no results were achieved. During the heyday of the Qing Dynasty, the folk horse-raising in the mainland was suppressed and the horse-raising industry declined. Only in Chahar and other places have a number of horse farms been set up, and the government has set up Taibu Temple and Shangyuan to take charge of the horse farms outside the mouth. The military reform in the late Qing Dynasty merged the horse administration institutions that lasted for more than 2,000 years into the Military Animal Husbandry Department, but the upper court remained until the demise of the Qing Dynasty.

= = = = = = = As for the background of Mulan's poems, it is closely related to the long-term war between the Northern Wei Dynasty and Rouran. Rouran, also known as Creep, established political power in the Erhun River and tuul river Valley of the Mongolian Plateau in the 4th century, and often harassed the Northern Wei Dynasty. According to historical records, during the 80 years from 407 to 493, there were 15 major battles between the two sides.

Judging from the route of Mulan's expedition in Mulan Poetry, after crossing the Yellow River from her home, she passed through Montenegro (that is, Killing Tiger Mountain, 100 miles southeast of Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region). ) Yanshan Mountain (that is, Yanran Mountain, that is, the Mongolian people now and the hanging mountain in China. Mulan Poetry is called Yanshan because of this sentence. ) and other places are also in line with the situation at that time. The attack was soft and forced to retreat to the north of the desert. Then, Xia Guo died in 43 1 year, Beiyan died in 436 and Beiliang died in 439. Under the governance of the Northern Wei Dynasty for more than ten years, the Yellow River flow or chaos that began in 304 for more than 100 years ended, and the northern part of China was reunified. This war is progressive and conforms to the will of the people. Mulan in the poem participated in the war to unify the north for more than ten years, defeated the enemy and returned home in triumph. Because of this, Mulan poetry has been circulated for thousands of years, and Mulan has been praised and praised by the people for thousands of years.

Mulan Poetry is currently recognized as a work of the Northern Wei Dynasty in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. The northern part of China began in 304 AD when it was mixed with Liu Yuan to establish the Northern Han Dynasty, and was unified by the Northern Wei Dynasty in 439. * * * Experienced 135 years. During this period, there was a separatist regime called "Five Hus and Sixteen Countries". This is the longest-lasting war and social chaos in northern China, and the social economy and culture have been greatly destroyed. The complexity and sharpness of social contradictions make these wars extremely cruel. As the concentrated expression of this cruelty, a large number of people died. "Poor man, go out with death. The body was buried in a narrow valley and the bones were not collected. " (Song of Corporate Metaphor) is a true portrayal of a large number of people of all ethnic groups who died in the war at that time, and it also shows the anti-war sentiment of the broad masses of people here. Mulan Poetry is also the product of this war-torn era.

There are different opinions about the time when Mulan's poems came into being. Some of the predecessors said that it was written by Cao Wei (Song Weitai's recluse poems in Han Dynasty), some said that it originated in Sui Dynasty (Cheng Song Dachang's poems on Fan Lu), and some said that it originated in Tang Dynasty (Liu Jike's poems on Houcun). After liberation, there has been a discussion about the time when Mulan Poetry came into being. There are basically two opinions: one is that "it is most likely that both events and poems originated in the late Wei Dynasty" (Selected Poems of Yu Guanying Yuefu, 122). On the other hand, this poem originated in the Western Wei Dynasty (Guangming Daily's Literary Heritage on April 26th, 1954, Luo Genze's Time and Place of Mulan Poetry).

To sum up all kinds of statements, there are three kinds of statements: Han Wei, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui and Tang Dynasties. Recently, many people have affirmed that Mulan poetry originated in the Northern Wei Dynasty (that is, the post-Wei Dynasty). The reasons are roughly as follows:

1. The Northern Wei Dynasty was a nomadic tribe with a strong social atmosphere and martial arts. Not only men but also women can learn to ride horses and shoot. Only in this way can Mulan, a woman, join the army instead of her father, and achieve the goal of "every hundred battles lead to the death of a general, and ten years lead to the return of a strong man". In the Song of Little Sister Libo written by Yuefu in the Northern Dynasty, Libo was praised as saying: "Little sister Libo is graceful, and her dress is like a scroll, so she must shoot both left and right. Women are still like this, and men can meet them. " From this point of view, women at that time were in high spirits and still rode and shot, no less than men.

2. The Northern Wei Dynasty implemented the system of "military households", and military households were the main targets of conscription. As a "soldier of the country", although he is old and weak, he can't avoid customs (History of Southern and Northern Dynasties in Lv Simian, p. 1302). Although the Western Wei Dynasty also implemented the conscription system (government conscription system), it required candidates to meet certain conditions, unlike the Northern Wei Dynasty, but "those who chose materials thought so" (General Examination of Ma Duanlin's Literature 15 1). Judging from the contents of Mulan Poetry, it can be confirmed that Mulan's family is a soldier in the countryside and belongs to "military households". My father and brother are young and have to apply. Therefore, the theory that Mulan poetry originated in the Northern Wei Dynasty is more in line with historical reality.

3. Montenegro (now the Tiger Mountain in the southeast of Huhaote, Inner Mongolia) and Yanshan (now the Hang 'ai Mountain in Mongolia) mentioned in Mulan's poems are both Rouran (also known as Creeping or Ru Ru) settlements, and there is no record of the war between the Western Wei Dynasty and Rouran in history. Rouran was an opponent of the Northern Wei Dynasty. According to historical records, during the 80-odd years from 407 to 493, there were 15 major battles between the two sides, and there was a war every five years on average. This is the third reason for the emergence of Mulan poetry in the Northern Wei Dynasty.