I believe most people have heard of it and seen the following statue. As a precious cultural relic, it exists in the museum. As a famous tourist symbol in China, it exists in major railway stations and tourist attractions.
As the carrier of many legends behind it, it even exists in primary and secondary school textbooks.
What's its name?
Recently, this seemingly basic problem has caused a heated discussion on the Internet.
Horse is one of its most popular appellations, but in fact, the standard appellation determined in the official documents of that year was actually "sparrow"?
In this regard, netizens are naturally divided into several factions:
Some people support "Yan Fei" and think that it is used to this name and there is no need to change it. Moreover, the title is more artistic.
Some people also support "Ma Long Chao Que" and think that the truth should be respected, and the naming of cultural relics should not be decided by which name is better or which name is more widely circulated.
Others think that "galloping on horseback" and "galloping on horseback" are incorrect, and riding a bronze horse is king.
The debate on these three viewpoints did not start recently.
Since the statue was unearthed,
1969 10, a tomb of the Eastern Han Dynasty that was stolen many times in Leitai, Wuwei, Gansu Province was unearthed. The shape of a horse, head held high, tail cocked, three legs in the air, head slightly to the left, right hind foot stepping on a bird.
Later, in 1978, a painted flat pot with the patterns of cattle, horses and birds was unearthed from the Qin tomb in Yunmeng Sleeping Tiger Land, with galloping horses and flying swallows on one side.
In fact, the shape of this statue is similar to a painted flat pot with cow, horse and bird patterns. Both of them reflect the galloping speed of the horse by comparison. But the casting image arranges the "Swallow" under the horseshoe, which makes the center of gravity of the picture clearer. I have to say that this is a very creative way.
After being unearthed, it was called "the flying swallow on horseback". Many people say that this name comes from Guo Moruo, but according to the information collected by Yi Xue, there are at least three kinds of statements:
1. Guo Moruo said: 197 1 year, Guo Moruo visited Lanzhou and named it "Ma Ta Yan Fei". This should be the most widely circulated statement at present.
2. The folklore was named "Copper Running Horse" after being appraised by Teacher Guo Moruo. At the same time, because of its three-legged flight, it is called "flying on a bird", and some people call it "flying on a swallow".
3. The official name says:1In June, 970, when the statue was handed over to the Gansu Provincial Museum to collect the unearthed precious cultural relics, it was registered in the name of "Ma Ta Yan Fei".
These three statements are right or wrong. Because there is not enough information to find out, Xiao Yisou won't comment here, but there is no doubt that Ma Tayanfei is indeed its name because it was unearthed.
However, academic circles have gradually generated controversy. The focus of controversy is: Is the bird under the horseshoe really a swallow?
Yan Fei's theory has been rejected by many people. Basically, the dovetail should be forked in appearance, but the bird's tail under the horseshoe of this statue is wedge-shaped, obviously not a swallow.
Then the problem comes again. Since it is not a swallow, how can it be called a swallow?
1972, it was called "galloping horse" and "bronze galloping horse" in Gan Bowen's Brief Report on the Cleaning of the Eastern Han Tomb in Leitai, Gansu Province, but it was still described as "flying swallow". "Three legs flew, and the right hind hoof stepped on a swallow. The swallow spread its wings and turned back, staring at it in surprise."
1974 The Han Tomb of Leitai in Wuwei, announced by Gansu Provincial Museum, is also called "Bronze Horse", and its inscription is also referred to as "Bronze Horse". But in the description, the bird under the horseshoe is more like an eagle-"a bird steps on its right hind foot and its eyes are like an eagle."
When the names "Yan Fei" and "Tongma" became popular, some scholars raised objections to these two names.
Scholar Niu Longfei believes that neither of these names can reveal the profound spiritual connotation of this cultural relic.
According to the related documents published by Zhang Heng during the reign of Tokyo in the Western Han Dynasty, in his paper "A Half-Han Dragon Que Dishes a Bowl —— On the Bronze Castings Unearthed in Leitai, Wuwei" submitted to the inaugural meeting of Dunhuang Turpan Society in China and the National Dunhuang Academic Seminar on 1983, it was considered as "beyond the wind and larks" in the paper.
In a word, the name "Yan Fei" is not accurate enough, because the horse is not a horse, Yan is not a Yan, and the name "Running a Copper Horse" is not accurate enough, because there are horses but no birds in the name of Fengliuxian Road, and Tianma is actually not "running", but "wandering" close to Zhuangzi. So even the wind, dragons and birds can't compete.
198365438+On February 5th, People's Daily published an article entitled "Ma Chaolong Que is Designated as a Graphical Symbol for Tourism in China", in which Niu Longfei was referred to as "Ma Chaolong Que" for short. Since then, Maque's name has been widely circulated and included in the authoritative China Fine Arts Dictionary. Interpretation said: "After textual research, the so-called flying swallow is not a swallow, but an ancient legend.
This article has also become the main basis for "officially naming the horse Que" recently.
But even with the People's Daily as the leader, the academic debate on this has never stopped.
Later, some scholars thought it should be an eagle under the horseshoe. This judgment is mainly based on the form of species.
For example, Cui Ganxi, a famous animal husbandry scientist in China, once listed six reasons for "riding an eagle":
1. Swallows are very small. It is impossible to expose so many swallows after stepping on the horseshoe.
2. The dovetail is short and forked, the eagle tail is long and the tail is neat.
3. The eagle flies fastest among birds, and "Horse treading on the eagle" can better explain the high speed of horse running.
In Hexi area of Gansu Province, eagles haunt all the year round, but there are few swallows.
Horses and eagles are often regarded as hunting tools in ancient and modern times. Falcons and horse hunting classics often stay together, fly in the same direction and chase the same prey. Swallows rarely do this.
6. Vendors in ancient and modern times like to tie a bell at the top of the eagle's tail, and the eagle flies the bell for fun. In the "copper galloping horse" model, there is indeed a bell hole in the upper part of the bird's tail.
In fact, the name of this statue is confusing and cannot be unified. It has existed for decades.
In this regard, some people think that chaotic appellation is not conducive to the accurate spread of culture, nor can it accurately express the meaning of China's tourism logo, and it is not conducive to the expression and deep excavation of its historical and aesthetic values.
Some people think it doesn't matter. Everyone knows that they all refer to the same cultural relic. So, what do you think it should be called?