People always like to use the word "unbridled and unconstrained" to describe the freedom of imagination. As the source of China's tourism icon, the bronze galloping horse, a cultural relic from 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 belong to the "top class" in ancient times.
Although the bronze galloping horse is entirely cast in bronze, it conveys a sense of agility and strength. The horse raised its head and neighed, flew into the air with three legs, stepped on a flying bird with its right hind hoof, and raised its mane and tail, freezing the dynamic moment of "speeding as fast as birds and beasts, leaping thousands of miles".
Archaeologists said that the bronze galloping horse was unearthed from the Leitai Han Tomb in Wuwei City, Gansu Province in the 1960s. The shape of this cultural relic is very special, completely different from other funerary carriages and horses that show standing still postures. It may be an item specially designed and cast by the owner of the tomb during his lifetime.
Bronze galloping horses have had various "names" of their own since they were unearthed. Horses stepping on flying swallows, flying Yanliu, Ma Chaolongque, Horse God Tiansi... Many names may explain the shape of the bronze galloping horse, or express different understandings of the flying birds they are stepping on, or understand it from the background of the era in which the bronze galloping horse lives. . In terms of the controversy surrounding its name, the Bronze Galloping Horse, as a masterpiece of ancient Chinese bronze art, has also inspired the endless imagination of contemporary people.
In addition to the extremely imaginative aesthetic shape, the reason why the bronze galloping horse can support its own weight of more than 14 kilograms without falling over with only one leg is because of its exquisite casting process.
When the ancients cast the bronze galloping horse, they followed the traditional pottery mold casting method of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, casting the horse head, body, legs, birds under the hooves and other parts separately and then casting them into one body. Insert into the reserved hole.
Ban Rui, deputy director of the Gansu Provincial Museum, said that through X-ray flaw detection and scanning, it was found that the ancients also cleverly used bronze and iron, two metals with different melting points, to design and produce special components as reinforcements in the right rear support leg of the bronze galloping horse. , and the stress-bearing points such as the cast joint between the horse body and the leg root, the ankle joint, the hoof and the wrist are specially treated with mortise and tenon joints to make a strong "iron bone and copper leg".
"This is like adding steel bars to cement pillars, which greatly increases the strength and support." Ban Rui said.
In 1983, the bronze galloping horse "passed five levels and killed six generals" and stood out among the ancient "competitors". It was identified as a Chinese tourism symbol by the former National Tourism Administration. In 2002, it was included in the first batch of banned products by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage. Catalog of cultural relics exhibited abroad.
Regarding why the Bronze Running Horse was chosen as China’s tourism symbol, Ban Rui believes: “On the one hand, the Bronze Running Horse is a concentrated expression of the wisdom, aesthetics and superb skills of the ancients, and has important iconic features. On the other hand, the Bronze Running Horse The fusion gene of the horse itself is also consistent with today's tourism and cultural exchanges. "
Cultural relics are said to last forever. The beauty of the Han Dynasty and its horses more than 2,000 years ago "hits" the hearts of people both ancient and modern.
In the summer of 2022, cultural and creative doll products based on the copper galloping horse became popular all over the Internet, becoming the "top-tier" cultural and creative products. As of the end of 2023, sales of this series of cultural and creative products have reached 7 million yuan.
Cui Youxin, head 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 on the front of the bronze galloping horse. As their imagination flowed endlessly, they gradually came up with the idea of giving the bronze galloping horse a character, so There are the standing "Green Horse Jumping" and the running "Green Horse Stupid". They have positive personalities and grin all day long.
The Han people respected horses, and today people also use horses to compose songs. The summer wind blows in the face, and the horse's hooves are galloping. Let's use the horse as an axis to meet the past and the future.
source丨Xinhua News Agency (copyright belongs to the original author, if there is any infringement, please contact us to delete)
