The film and television drama The Longest Day in Chang 'an brought the audience's eyes to the prosperous and magnificent Tang Dynasty. Let's use this topic to talk about elephants in the Tang Dynasty. Elephants in the Tang Dynasty were not only used for court etiquette, but also for fighting and dancing. Elephants have long been integrated into all aspects of Tang Wenhua. Let's learn about elephants in the Tang Dynasty.
The Yellow River Basin in the Central Plains, the ancient China elephant, which is now the Asian elephant, was once widely distributed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Basin and the Yellow River Basin, as far north as the northern part of Henan Province. In modern archaeological excavations, ivory combs and ivory tubes were unearthed in Tai 'an and Pixian. In addition to ivory bowls, ivory cups, ivory combs and other daily necessities, Asian elephant skull fossils have also been unearthed in Yinxu, Anyang, Henan.
Combined with the above information and "Zhou Li", Henan was called "Yuzhou" in ancient times. "Yu" is a knowing word, which means that a person holds an elephant, indicating that ancient elephants are widely distributed in Henan; However, the ancient "Yuzhou" is not completely consistent with the geographical position of modern Henan Province. Guyuzhou generally refers to the Yellow River Basin, indicating that the ancient elephants in China once existed widely in the ancient Yellow River Basin. Only in the late Zhou Dynasty, due to climate change and human activities, elephants were rarely seen in the Yellow River Basin.
In the Lingnan area and the Yangtze River valley, due to the climate change during the Warring States period, the field of elephant activities gradually moved southward. By the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the distribution area of Asian elephants in China had retreated to the south of the Yangtze River basin.
It can be seen that during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, elephants were widely distributed in the Yangtze River valley and Lingnan area. But by the end of the Han Dynasty, Asian elephants had retreated to the south of the Yangtze River. At that time, Sun Quan on the south bank of the Yangtze River gave two elephants to Cao Cao on the north bank of the Yangtze River, which were already rare animals for Cao Cao. It can be seen that in the area north of the Yangtze River ruled by Cao Cao, the wild elephants were basically extinct at that time, while there were not many wild elephants in the south of the Yangtze River. Otherwise, Sun Quan would not be so stingy and only gave two elephants.
In Yunnan Province, with the increase of population in the Yellow River and Yangtze River basins, forest land has been continuously developed and the ecological environment has been destroyed. Coupled with years of war, the environment suitable for wild production is getting less and less, and its distribution area is gradually shrinking to the south. In the Song Dynasty, wild Asian elephants in Guangxi and Fujian became extinct one after another. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, only Yunnan Province had wild elephants.
In short, in the 6000-year history, the distribution of wild elephants in China can reach the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River in the north, Leizhou Peninsula in the south, Shandong Peninsula in the east, Yangtze River Delta in the west, China-Myanmar border in Yunnan in the west, and then gradually decrease to the south. Now as long as there are wild elephants in Yunnan.
In the Tang Dynasty, the geographical area was divided into 15 roads, among which there were four roads where wild elephants lived together, namely Huainan Road, Jiangnan Road, Shannan Road and Lingnan Road. The coverage of these four areas is quite large, which is roughly equivalent to the whole area south of the Huaihe River in Qinling Mountains. Huainan Road includes 12 states and 53 counties including Han Jiujiang, Lujiang and Jiangxia counties. Records of wild elephant activities in Huainan Road are as follows:
The state in the literature is today's Chaohu City and County in Anhui Province. Although this story is a novel speaker collected in Tai Ping Guang Ji, it is inevitable that there are exaggerated and fabricated elements, but the number of elephants above 200 can also explain the number of wild elephants at that time.
Jiangnan Road covers the southern part of ancient Yangzhou, including Huiji, Lujiang, Zhang Yu, Guiyang, Handanyang and other counties, as well as Changsha, Nanjun and Jiangxia counties, with a total of 5 1 state and 247 counties. About the activities of wild elephants in Jiangnan Road, the literature records are as follows:
Huarong County mentioned in the literature belonged to Baling County of Yuezhou in the Tang Dynasty, which is the Dongting Lake Basin in Hunan Province today. The geographical scope of Jingzhou is roughly in the south-central part of Hubei Province today. In the Tang Dynasty, Jingshan was under the jurisdiction of Nanzhang County, Xiangzhou, and belonged to the Hanshui River Basin. Of course, the local wild elephants in Jingzhou and the domesticated elephants donated by Wendan are not the same species, but are cultivated in the south of Jingshan, which shows that the south of Jingshan is suitable for wild elephants to survive.
Zhou Xun and Chaozhou refer to Huizhou and Chaozhou now, and Leizhou is equivalent to Leizhou Peninsula today. Today, there is an Elephant Head Mountain in Boluo Mountain in Huizhou, whose name is related to the elephants in the Tang Dynasty. The above data show that elephants were widely distributed in Lingnan Road in Tang Dynasty. Someone once caught elephants fighting over their noses, mainly barbecue. The elephant's nose tastes fat and crisp.
Although there were wild elephants in Lingnan Road, Jiangnan Road, Shannan Road and Huainan Road in the Tang Dynasty, only Lingnan Road appeared ivory in local tributes in the Tang Dynasty, which also shows that Lingnan Road was the area with the most concentrated wild elephants in the Tang Dynasty.
The most important uses of elephants in the Tang Dynasty were fighting elephants and dancing elephants. These elephants are tamed by human beings and serve them. These tame elephants are entertainment tools for the rulers of the Tang Dynasty. Although there were many wild elephants in the south of Tang Dynasty, tame elephants living in Chang 'an mainly paid tribute from abroad.
Why not train elephants in China and use foreign tribute elephants? The author believes that it may be due to the following points. First of all, the local wild elephants in the Tang Dynasty may not be large, and it is difficult to show the dignity of the Tang Empire after entering the DPRK. Secondly, Lin Yi and other tropical countries have a long history of elephant training, and local leaders often use elephants to symbolize their lofty status. These kingdoms formed a complete set of court images, which could be used by the courts of the Tang Dynasty. Finally, this is very important. With its powerful national strength and open attitude, the Tang Dynasty attracted foreign governors who came to China from all directions, and decorated the court with rare birds and animals from other places, which better demonstrated the majestic atmosphere of the Tang Dynasty as the center of the world.
Linyi country, the territory is roughly in the south-central part of Vietnam today. From the period of Li Yuan in Tang Gaozu, King Linyi began to pay tribute, and from the period of Tang Dezong, there were 33 tributes, including 12 to tame elephants. According to Yuan Gui, in the first year of Kaiyuan, five elephants were offered, and in the 19th year of Kaiyuan, Gong tamed four elephants. According to Tang Yaohui, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty tamed twenty elephants at a time for eight years. Lin Yi is one of the countries with the largest number of tribute elephants.
The real wax country, whose territory includes Cambodia and Laos, is in the north of Lin Yi. Zhenla Kingdom has contributed two years of elephant training in Yonghui.
Wendan is a country split from Zhenla and stayed in Tang Daizong for six years. King Wendan tamed eleven elephants in the Tang Dynasty, and Tang Dezong tamed thirty-two elephants in the fourteenth year of tribute and kept them in Jing Shan Zhinan.
Zhanyi, also known as Zhanpo, is located in the south of Jingjiahe River. Yuan Gui, a bookstore, recorded that "Zhanyi made the rhinoceros trained".
Nanzhao was a political power in the southwest of Tang Dynasty. According to documents, Nanzhao paid tribute to the Tang Dynasty for 26 times. Among them, the Book of the New Tang Dynasty records that in the tenth year of Zhenyuan, Nanzhao paid tribute to "elephants, rhinoceroses and horses."
Persia, now Iran, has sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty for more than 20 times since Emperor Taizong, including a rhinoceros and an elephant in Tianbao for five years.
In a word, the main source of elephant training in the Tang Dynasty was the tropical areas of zhina, especially countries such as Brunei and Lin Yi. As for how elephants came and which way they took, the author thinks that some of them came to Chang 'an by land after a long journey under the escort of envoys and elephant trainers. Others were transported to the ports of the Tang Dynasty through the Maritime Silk Road and then to all parts of the country.
The use of court elephant training, elephants raised in court gardens in the Tang Dynasty, are mainly used as court symbols and ornamental animals. Let's learn about the image first. The image is the elephant used in the etiquette ceremony. In China, the use of elephants in ceremonies has a long history. Because of its huge body and solemn behavior, elephants can show the supreme power of emperors. In the Han Dynasty, elephants began to use the left head in the Emperor's Salt Water Book.
In the Tang Dynasty, although there was no specific description of ceremonies in the official ceremony system, according to the data, there were indeed elephants in court ceremonies. Elephant's participation in the court ceremony is clearly recorded in the historical materials such as New Tang Shu and Tang Yaohui.
Although the role of elephants as musical instruments in the Tang Dynasty was not as prominent as that in the Han and Jin Dynasties, it was very noticeable in other court activities, especially in entertainment performances. Tang Zhongzong also led 100 officials to visit Li Longji's official residence, and made a colorful boat on the pool in Qin Long for elephants to step on. During the period of Xuanzong in Tang Dynasty, Xuanzong loved rhythmic dance. Whenever a palace banquet is held, besides singers and dancers, giant elephants will be arranged to perform.
This shows that such a huge animal, in the magnificent palace of the Tang Dynasty, is dancing its huge body meekly with drums and music, which is a spectacular sight. The dancing elephants in the palaces of the Tang Dynasty probably imitated foreign rituals. On the eve of the Anshi Rebellion, all the dancing elephants in the Tang Dynasty fell into the hands of An Lushan. After the Anshi Rebellion, dance images were scattered among the people, and it was hard to find traces.
Elephants in the Tang Dynasty were not only used for court etiquette or performance, but also for foreign wars. Once, a vassal state asked the Tang Dynasty for the support of elephants.
It can be seen that there are many war elephants in Tang Jun, otherwise it is impossible to support other countries. Most of these war elephants were captured by foreign princes or in the war. Zhang Ji wrote in "Sending People to the South" that "the sea country fights and rides elephants, and the city uses silver." This sea country is in the south of the Tang Dynasty, which shows that the use of war elephants in the tropical areas of the Tang Dynasty is still relatively common.
Most of the elephants tamed by the court in the Tang Dynasty came from foreign tributes, while the local elephants in the Tang Dynasty were often used for folk breeding after being captured and domesticated by hunters.
The above materials all say that the folk Tang people catch elephants and eat elephant trunks, especially barbecues, which taste better. In addition, Yunnan Hao people also raise elephants to pull carts and load heavy objects. Although Yunnan was not the territory of the Tang Dynasty at that time, we can also infer from the data that in the south of the Tang Dynasty, people would train elephants to help farming.
Elephants are used by working people in real life, whether they are used to move things, transport or plow fields, thus reducing people's burden, which is different from taming elephants in court only for entertainment and ceremony.
Of course, compared with cattle and horses, elephants are still rare among the people, and the scope of use is far from so extensive. It is not easy to domesticate huge wild elephants into domestic animals for agriculture. The use of folk objects mainly focuses on ivory; Ivory in the south is the main local product presented to the imperial court.
The rulers of the Tang Dynasty were keen on collecting ivory products, and ivory was also used as a material for court carving and decoration. In addition, ivory has medical value. Sun Simiao, a medical sage, recorded a prescription for external use made of ivory crumbs in Prescription for Emergency Use.
Although a few areas hunted elephants in the Tang Dynasty, they were generally worshipped, and elephants also had a far-reaching impact on the culture of the Tang Dynasty, especially in Buddhism, Taoism and traditional philosophy. The author tries to explain the influence of elephant culture in Tang Dynasty from three aspects: traditional philosophy, Buddhism and Taoism.
Traditional philosophy holds that Tai Chi gives birth to two instruments and two instruments give birth to four images. This image is the early way of thinking of traditional philosophy, and it also reflects the perspective of the ancients, grasping it from the perspective of integration and connection, and then finding out the internal relations and laws between things.
In ancient natural philosophy, image refers to the appearance, surface and appearance of things. Everything in the world has its own "image", such as meteorology, astronomical phenomena and so on. Elephants also extend to natural laws, common sense and avenues. The animal "elephant" gradually penetrated into people's spiritual culture and thinking habits.
In the process of governing the country, ancient emperors also hoped to have an elephant "elephant", which made all countries submit angrily and powerfully; Elephants have the aura of the king of beasts and are combined with Taoism. It is said that the Tang Dynasty had the image of Mahayana, and the ruling thought of foreigners coming to the DPRK was gradually integrated into the concept of governing the country in the Tang Dynasty.
Elephants are embodied in Buddhism, which believes that the Buddha is the embodiment of white elephants. In Buddhism, the white elephant symbolizes auspiciousness, prosperity and strength. In addition, Buddhism also believes that elephants support heaven and earth, and Buddhist seals have patterns with blankets on their backs, which is the reason.
In Buddhism, elephants are considered to have similar qualities to human beings, such as wit, intelligence, kindness, loyalty and integrity, piety, stability and simplicity. After Buddhism was introduced into China from India, it was gradually accepted by people and flourished rapidly. In the tolerant social fashion of the Tang Dynasty, Buddhism was more popular, and the concept of worshipping elephants in Buddhism deepened the worship and love of elephants in the Tang Dynasty.
In the Tang Dynasty, elephants merged with China traditional culture and became mascots. Tang people also believe that elephants can communicate with gods and are messengers between man and god. There are usually stone elephant statues on both sides of ancient tombs in China, which is also related to the Buddhist consciousness of worshipping elephants.
The thought of karma in Taoism has also been integrated into the image culture.
It can be seen that people regard elephants as the embodiment of justice and the messenger of fairness.
Laozi quoted the phrase "elephant is invisible" in Tao Te Ching to clarify the supreme realm of "elephant". The philosophy I want to express here is that not sticking to certain things and patterns is the most magnificent realm of things. Of course, the image here does not refer to animal elephants, nor to the superficial shapes and appearances of things, but to the abstract and profound "Tao" in Taoist philosophy.
Image is Tao, which is a natural law guiding the movement and change of all things. This law is included in the development of all phenomena and things. Only by mastering the elephant can we grasp the law of development of things.
References: New Tang Book, Old Tang Book, Taiping Guangji, Song History, etc.