Unveiling the Walking Horse Culture in the Hexi Corridor

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Unveiling the Walking Horse Culture in the Hexi Corridor Unveiling the Walking Horse Culture in the Hexi Corridor Abstract The Tianzhu Tibetan Autonomous County, Gansu Province, China was the gateway to the Hexi Corridor, the hub of the Silk Road. The Fork Stage horse well-known for its flying pace (a.k.a “Tianzhu walking horse”) is an excellent local breed, whose high-spirited gait was captured by the Galloping Bronze Horse statue and known to the world, as the symbol of China’s tourism. Over a long historical period factors including ethnic customs, trade and business, politics and military affairs have formed a rich walking horse culture of breeding, training, trading, and racing. However, because traditionally the related knowledge and stories relied heavily on oral transmission, the literature on this subject is acutely lacking. In 2012 the teachers and students from Tianzhu No. 1 High School started synthesizing the connotations and changes of the walking horse culture from the oral narratives of ordinary folks, to learn more about the human ecology in the northwestern highland. Through the study, we found that due to the politics, economic, and social changes since mid 20th century in China, the walking horse culture has changed greatly in the past six decades, and is currently faced with both crisis and opportunities. A revival of this culture would need collaborative efforts top-down and bottom-up. Keywords: Horse Culture, Walking horse, Fork Stage Horse, Hexi Corridor, Flying pace, Tianzhu 1 Motivation In China's rapid modernization and urbanization process, many local history and culture not fully documented and studied are facing a crisis of accelerated annihilation. Evergreen Education Foundation as an NGO committed to rural library development in China, has realized the importance of urging rural teachers, students and community members to study local history and culture. In 2009, with a pilot project in Tianzhu No. 1 High School, Tianzhu Tibetan Autonomous County, Gansu Province, Evergreen started to explore oral history and local cultural studies, sponsoring and guiding teachers and students to record 1 indigenous culture using oral history methodology. Tianzhu Tibetan Autonomous County in Gansu Province is the gateway to the Hexi Corridor, the hub of the Silk Road. The Fork Stage Horse good at flying pace (a.k.a "Tianzhu walking horse") is an excellent local breed, whose high-spirited gait was captured by the Galloping Bronze Horse statue and known to the world, as the symbol of China’s tourism. Over a long historical period factors including ethnic customs, trade and business, politics and military affairs have formed a rich walking horse culture of breeding, training, trading, and racing. However, because traditionally the related knowledge and stories relied heavily on oral transmission, and the literature on this subject is acutely lacking, the walking horse culture lacks preservation and study. What does the traditional walking horse culture look like? In China's modernization and urbanization process, how is it now? With these questions in mind, since February 2012, the teachers and students in Tianzhu No. 1 High School started an oral history project on the walking horse culture. We interviewed horse breeders, traders, riders, equestrian referees and horse race organizers, recorded the process of horse race and horse breeding, and formed a collection of oral historical records on the walking horse culture. We found that since the mid-20th century, due to the political, economic and social changes in China, the walking horse culture has undergone great changes. Below we will describe our research findings in four sections: Section 2 is the background research, introducing the traditional breed Fork Stage Horse, as well as the formation of the walking horse culture; Section 3 reveals the connotations of the walking horse culture and its changes since the mid-20th century, by analyzing information from the interviews and the background research; Section 4 explores the strategies and measurements on the preservation and development of the walking horse culture; Section 5 summarizes our findings and reflects on our methods and process. 2 2 Background Research 2.1 The Fork Stage Horse In the Gansu Provincial Museum, the Galloping Bronze Horse statue1 from the Eastern Han Dynasty impresses the visitors with its handsome posture, vigorous yet nimble pace, and stunning mechanical design. Combining the merits of Western Region horse and local Hexi horse, it is a model of good horse in the Han Dynasty. And one of its prototypes, Hexi horse, is the Fork Stage Horse2 produced in Tianzhu County and its nearby areas. The Fork Stage horse, with ancient name Six Valley horse3, has a breeding history of over 2,000 years. In 2006 it was included in the "National Protected List of Animal Genetic Resources". Presumably its bloodline is related to the Mongolian horse to the North and the Qinghai Datong (Haomen) horse to the West, and horse breed in the Western Regions. As a result of long-standing impact from unique natural environment and breeding and training, the Fork Stage horse has formed a local horse breed with prominent appearance and performance characteristics and genetic stability. Its body is well-proportioned and square (commonly 1 The Galloping Bronze Horse statue is one of 99 pieces of the bronze chariots and horses discovered in the tomb of the Eastern Han Dynasty General guarding the city of Zhangye. The neighing bronze horse has sturdy torso and nimble limbs, with three hooves hurtling forward in the air, and one hoof stepping on a dragon sparrow. If we assess the galloping bronze horse based on the standard of good horse set by the ancient horse judging manual, the bronze horse is the model of a perfect horse. So some people think it is not only an outstanding work of art, but also a model for horse judging. See “The Galloping Bronze Horse”, accessed Sept. 2, 2013, http://baike.baidu.com/link?url=UjqIYcvnUIHRoqfdZkTDAkSURr_UghGamWj42TrRRUh46s42QJM66EQy9vj0ypik. 2The Fork Stage along the Jinqiang River in Tianzhu County was one of the important stages along the ancient Silk Road. It is said that the first horse race in Tianzhu was held here, and this custom has continued for over 800 years since the times of tea-horse trade in the Song Dynasty. Hence the name of the breed came from this location. 3 In the Song Dynasty, the Fork Stage horses as the main war horses of the court, were from Liangzhou Tubo (ancient Tibetan) Six Valley Tribe either as tribute or as traded commodity (Six valleys refer to the six river valleys in the Tianzhu area). The name Six Valley horse is likely originated from this. 3 known as "bench-type"), with a relatively small body size (adult stallion’s average body height is 132.9 cm), but strong muscle, superior bone mass and torso magnitude. Its other characteristics such as large and bright eyes, small pointed ears, large nostrils, well developed chest, short and wide waist, strong belly muscle, broad rump (commonly known as “tiger body”), strong limb joints and tendons, hard hoof etc., all match the standard of good horses.4 The Fork Stage horse is well-known for its flying pace5 and commonly known as "Tianzhu walking horse"6 . At 4 or 5 months of age its foal can go flying pace, which shows the gait is a stable genetic trait. The flying pace is both fast and stable, and the rider will feel like riding in a car or boat without any tossing. A well-trained walking horse can flying pace at a speed close to a running horse7. Suitable for flying pace, the Fork Stage horse is docile and sensitive, while physically strong. The Fork Stage horse also has strong pull force8, is a dual-purpose (riding and harness) horse. In addition, its constitution is suitable for extensive husbandry, well adapted to a relatively harsh environment, easy to 4 Yuxi Cui, Zhenwu Li, “The Excellent Horse Breed of Gansu - The Fork Stage Horse”, Gansu Agricultural University Journal, Issue 2, 1959, 26-38. 5 A flying pace is a two-beat lateral gait with a moment of suspension between footfalls, with both feet of each side land almost simultaneously (left hind and left front, suspension, right hind and right front). It is meant to be performed by well-trained and balanced horses with skilled riders. See “Icelandic Horse”, accessed Sept. 2, 2013, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_horse. 6 We will use Tianzhu walking horse and Fork Stage horse interchangeably in this paper. 7 It was recorded that a Fork Stage horse can cover 1200 m with running for 1 minute 53.7 seconds, and with flying pace for 2 minutes 19.9 seconds. The difference was only 26.2 seconds, showing the speed of flying pace is close to the speed of running. See Yuxi Cui, Zhenwu Li, “The Excellent Horse Breed of Gansu - The Fork Stage Horse”, Gansu Agricultural University Journal, Issue 2, 1959, 26-38. 8 It was recorded that the average pull force of a Fork Stage horse is 101.29% of its own weight. The largest individual pull force can reach up to 130.3% of its body weight. A single horse pulling a rubber tire vehicle weighing 1 ton, can walk 35 to 40 kilometers on a flat road daily, and continue this performance for a number of days. See Yuxi Cui, Zhenwu Li, “The Excellent Horse Breed of Gansu - The Fork Stage Horse”, Gansu Agricultural University Journal, Issue 2, 1959, 26-38. 4 accrue fat, with hard bone resistant to wear and tear, lasting stamina and disease resistance. Since ancient times, the excellent quality of the Fork Stage horse has being noted. Suitable for the archery and confrontation of heavy armor cavalry, in the Song and Ming dynasties Fork Stage horses were often recruited and requested for cavalry.
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