Why is the name "Flying Swallow on horseback" widely used?
After it was unearthed, it was named "Ma Tayan". Many people say that this name comes from Guo Moruo, and 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. According to folklore, it was named "Copper Running Horse" after being identified by Mr. Guo Moruo. At the same time, some people called it "Horse stepping on a swallow" because of its three-legged flight and the sadness of stepping on a bird in the back foot.
3. According to the official name, when the statue was handed over to the Gansu Provincial Museum for collection as a precious unearthed cultural relic in June 1970, it was registered as "Ma Ta Yan Fei".
Extended data:
1, Controversy on Running for "Horse":
What kind of horse is copper galloping horse? What should it be called? There was little controversy at first, but after it became a tourist symbol of China, there were more voices of opposition.
What kind of horse is the cultural relic prototype of China tourist signs? There are four main opinions. Say "Tianma".
The early horse shapes discovered in China archaeology are generally Mongolian horses: big head, thick neck, long body and short limbs, but the riding speed is relatively slow.
The bronze galloping horses unearthed from Leitai Han Tomb are different. It is tall and flying in the air, much like the "Tianma" introduced by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty from the northwest. The second one is "What a horse". Shenma, also known as "Yi Tian", rides very fast. Song of Jiang Weijun by Du Fu, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, said: "The stars are wrapped around the treasure school, and the sky flies at night."
"In the sky" originally refers to the fourth star among the 28 stars in the sky, named "Fang", also known as "Mazu God". Third, say "Ziyan". Zhuan Xu refers to a purple steed with a black beard and a black tail, which rides as fast as a swallow.
Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty had nine good horses named "September 1st", and one of them was "Yan Ziai". The bronze galloping horse stepping on a flying swallow is easily reminiscent of Ziyan. Another way of saying it is "teller".
This is one of the "six horses" owned by Emperor Taizong, because its running posture is related to bronze galloping horses: one side of the front and rear legs volley at the same time, which is called "reverse step"; It is common that the front and rear feet are lifted at the same time, which is called "oblique stride".
A horse that can run backward is a very good horse, which is very rare. Haomen and Nangqian on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China produce this kind of horse.
2. Controversy about stepping on a "bird":
The most controversial thing about bronze galloping horse is what kind of bird is it stepping on? The first statement is undoubtedly the swallow mentioned by Guo Moruo. But many scholars believe that this "bird" is not a swallow, and its tail is not forked.
Some scholars put forward the second view, which is called "the dragon finch" and "the horseshoe treads on the dragon finch".
There is a saying in Zhang Heng's "Tokyo Fu" in the Eastern Han Dynasty that "dragons and birds are circling around, and horses and chariots are half Chinese". Longque is the "Fei Lian" of Shen Feng in the myths and legends of Qin and Han Dynasties. This shows the speed of this horse. Therefore, it is considered that bronze galloping horses should be called "riding dragons and finches" or "bronze galloping horses in the Eastern Han Dynasty".
However, some people oppose the "Dragon Bird Theory" and think that this bird is a kind of bird called "Yanfalcon". The reason is, since dragonflies are Shen Feng, how can they be trampled by galloping horses? Moreover, the legendary dragon finch is a member of the Phoenix family, with a deer head, which is obviously different from the "bird" at the foot of a horse.
The third view is called Swallow Falcon. Swallow falcon is commonly known as "green striped bird", and also known as "native stork", "son falcon" and "grasshopper eagle". It is the size of a dove, shaped like a swift, and flies very fast. They often prey on domestic swallows, larks and other insects and birds in the air, so "flying swallows on horseback" should be called "flying eagles on horseback".
The fourth way of saying it is "crow". The theory of swallow and falcon can't find the logical relationship and truth from folklore, and some scholars put forward the theory of crow.
The inspiration of this theory comes from a picture of "Tianma" in Longyou Grottoes in Zhejiang Province: the front hoof of "Tianma" is just on the back of "Wu", as if chasing a crow. The bronze horseshoe unearthed from Leitai just stepped on the crow's back, indicating that it has surpassed or caught the crow, so it is also known as "Tianma catching Wu".
Baidu Encyclopedia _ Tongbenma in Eastern Han Dynasty