"Wang Liangzhi's Evolution" contains: Hanyang Dacaotan refers to the ancient Damaying Caotan, which starts from Yongchang Gaogu Castle in the east, reaches Minle Yonggubao in the west, and Nanping Qilian, while Damaying Caotan is located between Qilian and Rouge (now Dahuangshan). Key passes such as Biandukou, Pingqiangkou and Baishiya control the traffic in Gansu and Qinghai provinces. Many courtiers in the past dynasties set up royal racecourses, built castles, set up docks and beacon towers, stationed troops to guard the border and raised military horses here. In the fourth year of Emperor Gaozu Ding Yuan (1 13 BC), Emperor Gaozu Liu Che dreamed that a fine horse was born in the water, and the minister offered it as a horse song. Immediately, Zhao Xia established the Garden Horse Temple in the Central Dynasty, which was responsible for the management of horses, and established the priest garden in Damaying grassland. Damayingcao is located in the middle of Dunhuang, Jiuquan, Zhangye and Wuwei counties in Hexi, with a large area of natural grassland and abundant water resources, from which Julian Waghann's troops in past dynasties were constantly supplemented by military horses. In the fifth year of Taiyan (A.D. 439), Emperor Tuoba Tao of the Northern Wei Dynasty ended the dispute of "Five Liangs" in Hexi, wiped out the regimes of Beiyan, Beiliang and Xiliang, and unified the north. At this time, the expanded Damaying grassland has raised as many as 2 million horses, 6.5438+100,000 camels and countless cattle and sheep in more than ten years. In the early years of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong Li Shimin ordered his servant Zhang Jingshun to be responsible for raising horses for 24 years, creating a set of good management methods. There were more than 70 thousand horses in the heyday of the Tang Dynasty. In the eighth year of Yuan Dynasty (127 1), the Royal Racecourse was re-established on the Damaying Grassland, which was abandoned for more than 200 years during the reign of Song and Xixia, and more than a thousand households were appointed to take charge of it. Ming Hongzhi 17 (1504) reorganized and rebuilt the office, houses, warehouses and stables of Damaying Grassland Racecourse. At that time, the grassland area was13.37 million mu, with more than 40 thousand horses.
Shandan military horse farm has a long history, and there are many historical records and allusions. "Zi Tongzhi Jian Han Ji Xi" stipulates that "in the second year of Yuan Shou, Huo Qubing was a general of generals in ancient times and crossed thousands of miles in Yanqi Mountain" and after expelling the Xiongnu, the Han Dynasty stationed troops in Dacaotan (now Damaying Grassland) in Hanyang to raise horses. Later, from Wei and Jin Dynasties to Sui and Tang Dynasties, Damaying grassland has always been a very important place for grazing horses. Gansu Tongzhi Draft records that there are more than 70,000 horses in Dacaotan of Qilian Mountain, including Damaying grassland. In the sixth year of Jiaqing (180 1), more than 8000 horses were bred in Damaying grassland. By the end of the Qing dynasty, the situation had changed, and there were hundreds of horses in Damaying grassland. In the eighth year of the Republic of China (19 19), Guanmai Racecourse experienced several ups and downs. It was only in 29 years of the Republic of China that it returned to the central government.
Shandanliang Racecourse, located in Damaying Grass Beach under Qilian Mountain in the south of the county seat, is rich in aquatic plants and has more than one million mu of grassland, which is the largest good horse base in China. Liangmachang has a long history. According to Wang Huijie, as early as 3,000 years ago, our ancestors raised horses here. In the Western Han Dynasty, Huo Qubing defeated the Xiongnu in the Western Expedition, built a tucheng here and began to station troops and raise horses. According to historical records, there were 36 pastoral farms in the northwest border county in the early Han Dynasty, raising 300,000 horses. During the Northern Wei Dynasty, Hexi was rich in aquatic plants, so it was considered as a grazing base, with rich livestock production and 200 horses. In the Tang Dynasty, animal husbandry inspectors (horse-raising institutions) were widely established. According to historical records, "Qilian Dacaotan had more than 700,000 horses in the Tang Dynasty." During the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, it belonged to Ganzhou Prefecture (now Zhangye), and many places were expanded to catch the horse camp. In the first year of Emperor Kangxi of Qing Dynasty (A.D. 1662), Yong drove Qiang slaves into the pasture, reset the permanent camp and built eight camps for garrison. Then Wang Jin, the deputy general of Gansu Province, went to Gu Yong, Baoxie Town, and Kangxi set up Mayingdun for ten years to station troops and raise horses to protect the border.