About saddle stirrups, etc. (high score reward)

In the late Neolithic period, horses were domesticated in China. Horses have long been recognized by human beings because of their fast walking speed, great strength and gentle temperament. Mado was used to drive in the early days. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, at first, the armies of the vassal states were mainly infantry and personnel carriers, with hundreds of thousands of troops at every turn, while the cavalry was only five or six thousand at most. It was not until King Wuling of Zhao advocated "Khufu riding and shooting" that a powerful cavalry team was trained for Zhao State and the original military equipment was changed, which was a great change in military history. Since then, vassal States have attached great importance to the development of cavalry.

However, riding a horse was a very hard job at that time, because the stirrup had not been invented. When Alexander led the army to the East in BC and swept the land of Central Asia, his soldiers hung their legs on both sides of the horse's belly without any support. Relying on the strength of their thighs, they clamped the severely limping horse hard to maintain their own stability. This kind of suffering is predictable. Stirrup is a stepping device when riding a horse. Without it, when the horse gallops or jumps, the knights can only hold the horse with their legs and grasp the mane with their hands to avoid falling off the horse. The excavation of the Terracotta Warriors in Lintong, Shaanxi Province is a major archaeological discovery in China. Many terracotta warriors and horses similar in size to real horses were unearthed in pit 2 of Qin Shihuang Terracotta Warriors and Horses. The horse was completely harnessed, but no stirrup was found.

Although the stirrup is small, it plays a great role. It can combine knights and war horses well, combine the strength of people and horses, and give full play to their effectiveness. The stirrup was first invented by China people, but the exact time is still inconclusive.

The earliest stirrup was discovered in the area where Xianbei people lived in northeast China from the middle of the 3rd century to the beginning of the 4th century, and was unearthed in Beipiao County, which is adjacent to Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, in western Liaoning. 1965, archaeologists unearthed a pair of long straight-handled bronze stirrups in the tomb of Feng Sufu, a noble of Beiyan in Beipiao County. This pair of stirrups is 24.5cm long and 16.8cm wide, which is the earliest existing stirrup in the world.

Maoershan cemetery in the suburbs of Jilin was discovered in the 1980s, roughly equivalent to the period from the middle and late Western Han Dynasty to the Southern and Northern Dynasties. 1993 A pair of stirrups were unearthed from Maoershan cemetery 18 tomb. The wood core is wrapped with copper sheets and reinforced with rivets. This is an earlier stirrup unearthed in China. Beiyan was a dynasty established by Murong Xianbei. At that time, they competed with Koguryo for the territory in Northeast China, and both sides attached great importance to the development of cavalry. Because Murong Xianbei has a closer relationship with the nomadic areas in the northern grassland, he took the lead in inventing the stirrup, which greatly increased the combat effectiveness of his cavalry.

1965 ~ 1970 Excavation of the tomb of Langya King in the Eastern Jin Dynasty in Xiangshan, Nanjing. A double-cymbal pottery horse was unearthed in Tomb No.7, which was in the first year of Yongchang in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (322) or later. This kind of double stirrup of pottery horse is an early example of known stirrup.

1965 Excavation of Beiyan Tomb of Feng Sufu in Xiguanyingzi, Beipiao, Liaoning Province. Beiyan is a Xianbei nationality country, which was founded by Feng, a Han ruler who moved to western Liaoning in the early 4th century. Feng Sufu is the younger brother of Feng Ba, the King of Northern Yan. This is a Northern Rock Tomb with a clear era. A pair of stirrups were unearthed in the tomb, almost triangular with round corners. The wood core is covered with gold-plated copper sheets.

[Edit this paragraph] The earliest stirrup in Europe

The earliest stirrups in Europe were unearthed in the tombs of Avar people in Hungary in the 6th century. They were mainly made of metal stirrups with narrow pedals and straight handles. Avar people are descendants of Rouran people in Mongolian Plateau. The main activity area of Rouran people is the grassland north of Yinshan Mountain. After being defeated in many wars with Xianbei people and Northern Wei Dynasty, Rouran people moved to Hungary along the western Eurasian grassland in the 6th century. Therefore, some western archaeologists believe that Rouran people spread the stirrup from northern China to Europe, and even think that the stirrup of Avar people is a traditional straight-handled metal stirrup in China, or that China craftsmen directly participated in making the stirrup for Avar people. Therefore, stirrups are called "China boots".

Through the above textual research and discussion, it can be confirmed that the earliest stirrup was discovered in the northern grassland area of China where Xianbei people lived in the 3rd-4th century A.D., and it was a great contribution to the world by the ancient northern nomadic people in China.

After the stirrup was invented, it soon spread from China to North Korea, and there were stirrup paintings in the ancient tombs of North Korea in the fifth century. As for the stirrup spread to the west, it first spread from China to Turkey, then to the Roman Empire, and finally to the European continent.

Joseph Needham, a famous British expert in the history of science and technology in China, spoke highly of the stirrup invented by China. He said: "There have been many heated discussions about stirrups ... Recent analysis and research show that China is the dominant player. It was not until the early 8th century that stirrups appeared in the West (or Byzantium), but their social influence there was very special. Lynn White said: "Few inventions are as simple as stirrups, but they have had such a huge catalytic impact in history." ","We can say that just as China's gunpowder helped destroy the feudal system in Europe in the last stage of feudalism, China's stirrup helped establish the feudal system in Europe from the beginning.

In fact, Europeans entered the age of chivalry by stepping on China's stirrup.

[Edit this paragraph] Development history

There is a well-documented stirrup in China, which appeared in the Northern Wei Dynasty. This kind of stirrup is a hanging stirrup with a long straight handle and a copper cover. Later, this kind of stirrup spread eastward through Koguryo, spread to the Korean Peninsula and Japan, and then the narrow-legged metal stirrup was widely spread in the Eurasian steppe. In southern China, stirrups also appeared in the 4th century. In a word, the stirrup with long straight handle with wooden core is the source of all kinds of stirrups in the East and West. Later, the stirrups were also mastered and transformed by Koguryo people, and the stirrups with wooden core and iron replaced the stirrups with wooden core and copper in Beiyan.

The invention of the stirrup can almost be compared with that of the wheel. With it, cavalry can do all kinds of actions on horseback more easily, and the history of human war has truly ushered in an invincible era of cavalry. Stirrup has a history of more than two thousand years, and it was first made of leather. Stirrups are made of silver, copper, iron, silver and iron. This is an important part of harness. It was invented to help the knight get on the horse.

China had only one stirrup at that time, and the saddle belt was very short. After the knight got on the horse, the stirrup had no practical use. On the basis of the original stirrup, the ancients made the real stirrup through improvement, which is now the double stirrup. The appearance and use of stirrup marks the completeness of harness, so it is of milestone significance. Militarily, the cavalry can get on and off quickly, so that people are not easy to fall to the ground when riding, and it is more comfortable to control horses. The stirrup liberated the cavalry's hands and increased their fighting capacity. In daily life, stirrups can make people without formal training, even women, ride horses stably. The riding posture is also more chic.

[Edit this paragraph] Archaeological typology analysis

In order to make the research as objective as possible, we have collected stirrups that have been scientifically excavated or accurately unearthed as much as possible, and referred to related sculptures and murals. A * * * selected 188 specimens, most of which are physical stirrups. Due to the lack of physical specimens in some areas, we also chose some stirrups in sculptures and murals as auxiliary materials. The age of the specimens we selected is mainly from the 4th century to the 9th century. 10 century later, stirrup styles tend to be unified, and only the representative specimens of this period are selected to explain the complete process of stirrup development and evolution.

Although there are many styles of stirrup, it is not difficult to find that the difference of stirrup mainly lies in the hanging part. According to the characteristics of the suspension part, various stirrups can be divided into four types, namely, horizontal stirrups with straight handles, kettle stirrups, metal stirrups with T-handles and splayed stirrups. These four types are interrelated and have distinct regional characteristics.

A-type stirrups have straight handle and cross shape, which is generally characterized by straight handle and cross shape on the handle. The evolution trend of this kind of stirrup is that the transverse handle is shorter and shorter and the pedal is wider and wider; Although stirrup rings are different in shape, they do not have distinctive characteristics of the times like stirrup handles and pedals, so they are not used as the main basis for classification. According to the change of stirrup handle and pedal, type A stirrup can be divided into the following eight types:

Ai style: stirrup with long straight handle with wood core. The stirrup handle is long, and the ratio of its length to stirrup height is about half. The upper part of the handle is pierced and the root of the handle gradually narrows. The stirrups are uniform in thickness, and the pedals protrude slightly upward. This stirrup is made of wood core, three pieces of copper or leather.

From the mid-3rd century to the mid-4th century, Ai-style stirrups appeared in Chaoyang, Liaoning Province, all from Xianbei tombs.

Type AII: straight stirrup covered with wood core. Stirrup handle is shorter than I-shaped, short and thick, and the ratio of its length to stirrup height is less than or equal to one third. The upper part of the handle has a rectangular cross, and the root of the handle is slightly narrower than the upper part. The pedal is slightly convex, and its width is basically the same as or slightly wider than the stirrup thickness.

AII stirrups are made of wood core, surrounded by copper (usually gold-plated) or iron. The stirrup of AII style became popular in the northeast of China in the 4th century, and in the 5th and 6th centuries, it was popular in the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

AIII type: long straight handle osmium. Stirrup handle is long, and the cross part at the handle end is widened, showing a transverse rectangle or square. Pedals are wider than stirrups, and some pedals have small protrusions.

The earliest specimen of the stirrup of AIII was found in the painted coffin tomb of the Northern Wei Dynasty in Guyuan, Ningxia (Guyuan Cultural Relics Workstation, 1984:), with the age of 484-486 (Ji Sun, 1996: 122). However, this kind of metal stirrup with long straight handle was not popular in China for a long time, and was soon replaced by a new type of stirrup; In the Korean peninsula and Japan, it was used until the 7th century.

AIV type: metal stirrup with narrow pedal and straight handle. The stirrup handle is greatly shortened, and the part connected with the transverse ring is in a short column shape, similar to the neck of the stirrup, which makes the handle look like a flat "ear" on the stirrup ring (called "thin-eared stirrup" by Soviet scholars), and the stirrup handle is square or square; The perforation is located in the middle or lower part of the stirrup handle. Pedals are generally straight or slightly bent downward, and the width is greater than the thickness of stirrups, but unlike later metal stirrups, there is a protruding ridge in the middle of the pedals.

AIV stirrups are made of metal, mainly iron, but also copper. At present, the earliest AIV-style horse cross specimen we can see is the iron stirrup unearthed from Li Xian's tomb in Guyuan, Ningxia, which has been 569 years. The stirrup of AIV is widely distributed, almost all over Eurasia.

AV type: horseshoe-shaped stirrup ring with straight handle metal stirrup. The silver handle is square or square, located in the middle or lower part of the stirrup handle. The stirrup ring is horseshoe-shaped, the pedal is wide, there is a transverse ridge in the middle, and the two sides are slightly rolled down.

AV stirrups are all made of metal, usually bronze. The current AV-style horse cross specimens are luxuriously decorated, including gold plating, silver plating, and wrong gold and silver craftsmanship, which may be graded. The number of stirrups is small, and only a small amount is found in Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi and the Minsk Basin in Russia.

AVI type: metal stirrup with wide pedal and straight handle. Stirrup handle is mainly square, but it also has the shape of turtle hand; The perforation is located in the middle or lower part of the stirrup handle. The pedal is wide and slightly curved, with a transverse ridge in the middle and two sides rolled down. Some pedals also have holes. AVI stirrups are mainly made of iron and copper. AVI stirrups are widely distributed, almost all over Eurasia

AVII type: stigma further shortened and stem neck degenerated; Penetration widens, and the position is close to the stirrup ring: generally located at the upper end of the stirrup ring or between the stirrup handle and the stirrup ring. A kind of stirrup (9- 1 1 century) found in European Viking tombs: a long stirrup ring, which is widely worn at the upper end, and some are worn when climbing. Viking stirrups are basically the same as AVI stirrups. AVII stirrups are widely distributed, almost all over Eurasia.

AVIII type: stirrup handle degenerates, only stirrup ring is left, and stirrup ring beam is penetrated.

AVIII stirrup is a typical representative of metal stirrup in 10 century, and later it gradually became the mainstream of stirrup in Eurasia.

Type b stirrups. Straight handle, the upper end of the handle is perforated, and the whole stirrup is shaped like a round pot, covering the front of the foot. Stirrup is a kind of stirrup with distinctive regional characteristics, which is only found in Japan and the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. There are two kinds of stirrup manufacturing processes: one is to make the stirrup frame first, and then wrap the stirrup frame with leather at the front end of the stirrup ring; The other is to spin pot-shaped stirrups from wood. The latter stirrup appeared late and began to appear in the 7th century. Stirrups can be divided into two subtypes according to different manufacturing processes.

Spring and autumn net style: stirrup frame with leather pot stirrup, the change trend is similar to that of straight handle horizontal stirrup. According to the change of stirrup handle and pedal, it can be divided into three types.

Byaku Shiki: It has a long straight handle, and the upper end of the handle is perforated, which looks like a leather bag with a stirrup ring of type (table 1, 3 1). The stirrup frame is made of wood core and metal. No matter from the shape or material, it is clear that stirrup and stirrup have a certain genetic relationship. It can be said that white osmium is the product of all osmium localization.

BaII type: long straight handle, passing through the upper end of stirrup handle, and the pedal is half-moon (table 1, 34). BaII pot stirrup was made of wood core and metal carved frame in the 6th century, and was gradually replaced by metal stirrup frame at the end of the 6th century.

BaIII type: Stirrup handle is greatly shortened, forming a handle neck, a wide pin is connected with an engraved ring, the pedal is half-moon, and the stirrup frame is made of metal.

Type Bb: wooden rotating stirrup, made of wood. Its shape is the same as BaII's, but the material is different (table 1, 36). Popular in the 7th century.

Metal stirrups with c-shaped t-handle With T-shaped short straight handle, the pedal is wider than the stirrup thickness. The T-shaped short straight handle of this metal stirrup may be a variant of the straight handle stirrup. Because of technical or other reasons, it is impossible to make the puncture part, so the process of adding a horizontal bar to the straight handle is adopted instead.

Only two specimens were found in the C-stirrup of Chunqiu Net, both of which were made of iron. One was found in Coudre Geer, Altai region, and the other was found in Horqin Banner, Xinjiang, China. Kuderger's tomb dates back to the 6th and 7th centuries. Kemuqi's stirrup was originally considered as a relic from the Warring States Period to the Han Dynasty (Institute of Archaeology, Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences, 1983: Figure 166). From the shape, the stirrup pedal is wider than the stirrup, except the stirrup handle is slightly different, which is very close to the stirrup of Zheng Rentai's tomb and Dugu Sizhen's tomb, dating from the 6th to 7th century. The recently published Grand View of Monuments in Xinjiang has correctly classified it as something from the Tang Dynasty (Xinjiang Fine Arts Photography Publishing House, 1999: 340).

D-shaped 8-shaped stirrup. The whole stirrup is shaped like Arabic numeral 8, and the small circle bent on it is the nose and pin ring at the bottom of the control system. D-shaped stirrups are all metal, usually iron. This type of stirrup can be divided into two subtypes.

Type Da: the stirrup nose does not cross the connecting part of the transverse ring, and mostly forms a circular or oblate small ring nose above the stirrup ring. This type of stirrup is also different in the morning and evening, and the change in the morning and evening is mainly reflected in the presence or absence of the neck and the width of the pedal, which is divided into two types.

Dai style: long neck 8-shaped stirrup A long neck is used between the stirrup nose and the staggered ring, which obviously imitates the stirrup with straight handle, and the pedal is slightly wider than the stirrup thickness.

DaII style: neck-less stirrup. There is no neck between the stirrup nose and the carved ring, and the pedal is determined by the stirrup thickness, which tends to be wider and wider, and may be decorated later.

Db type: The connection part between stirrup ring and transverse nose is curled, and the stirrup nose is round or triangular.

The figure-eight stirrup originated in southern Siberia, first appeared in the 6th-7th century, and later spread to Central Asia and Europe. It seems that this kind of stirrup has never spread to the East, and has not been found in China, the Korean Peninsula or Japan. The 8-shaped stirrup has distinctive regional characteristics and is made by western traditional forging technology. The metal stirrups with straight handle and transverse shape are usually cast in the East. The early form of the 8-shaped stirrup is obviously to imitate the horizontal stirrup with straight handle. Because the stirrup with long straight handle is not suitable for forging process, the stirrup with long neck and figure 8 is quickly replaced by the stirrup without neck.

According to the above discussion, the stirrup originated from the stirrup with long straight handle on the tomb of Xianbei in Northeast China. Metal stirrups appeared in the north of China in the 5th century, and were developed on the basis of long straight-handle stirrups with wood cores. Later, it was the metal stirrup that had a direct impact on the military reform in Eurasia. The horizontal stirrup with straight handle is related to the wok stirrup in Haidong and the eight-character stirrup in South Siberia. The latter two kinds of stirrups were developed under the influence of straight handle transverse stirrups and combined with the characteristics of local production technology.

Saddles are usually wrapped in cowhide in a plywood wooden frame, and then made of steel plates.

For this problem, the traditional view is: "There were no saddles and stirrups in the Western Han Dynasty, which affected the fighting capacity of cavalry to some extent" (1), "…" But there were no stirrups in the Western Han Dynasty, which had a great influence on cavalry. (2) It should be emphasized that the "saddle" mentioned here and in this article does not refer to all the objects used to separate the human body from the horse's back in a broad sense, but refers to its narrow sense, that is, the "Gao Qiao saddle" with upturned ends. So is the fact really as stated above? Here is a superficial discussion.

The first innovation (this is only a general view, but its actual invention sequence is not necessarily the case) is the appearance of Gao Qiao saddle, and the two ends of the saddle change from flat to high, which limits the rider's forward and backward sliding trend and provides longitudinal stability. The second is to use stirrups, which provide lateral stability by fixing their feet. At the same time, with the help of saddles, cavalry can use the speed of horses for frontal impact. Western scholars commented on the new equipment carried by Huns who entered Europe: "Saddle is the key to the complete combination of man and horse. The Huns' unique saddle surprised the Romans. Their saddles were not wrapped in leather like the Romans did. Xiongnu saddle is special because it has a wooden bracket with high ends. In this way, no matter how the horse runs, the knights can sit firmly on the back of the horse. ..... On the contrary, the clumsy riding skills of the Romans often caused many riders to lose their balance in the battle and fall off their horses, which was usually dangerous and sometimes even fatal. ..... In addition to saddles, Huns also brought a revolutionary innovation from Asia at that time: stirrups that Europeans had never seen before. In order to prevent leg fatigue after long-distance riding, people tie bandages, belts or leg straps made of flax on saddles. This will give your feet a place to step on. ..... Although the stirrup was not perfect at that time, it gave riders a sense of security, and at the same time allowed them to stand up immediately and turn around in all directions. Thanks to the wooden saddle and stirrup, Xiongnu riders can shoot arrows in all directions while riding. " (3) The introduction of stirrups was a major event in Europe, which made cavalry replace infantry as the main force in medieval wars. "Once the stirrup became a common object of Franks in the 8th century, the horse can be used not only to concentrate quickly, but also to fight. Speed can be transformed into assault. " (4) "The stirrup produced feudal knights in heavy armor in the Middle Ages." 5] This shows its importance.

Super typhoon Maan

"Saddle" is also the name of the typhoon, named by the Typhoon Committee of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The number of the typhoon is 9-4, the English name is Ma-on, and the Chinese name is Ma 'an. This name comes from Hongkong, China, which means the name of the mountain peak.