[Explanation] Before the Han Dynasty, Gansu was already the intersection of East and West exchanges, and many precious historical relics of the Han and Tang Dynasties were unearthed in its territory.
Among them, in the late 1960s, the bronze galloping horse found in the tomb of the Eastern Han Dynasty in Leitai, Wuwei City, Gansu Province is famous for its extraordinary casting skills. It has become a rare orphan in ancient Chinese bronze art, and is also considered to be the messenger and symbol of the ancient Silk Road cultural and commercial exchanges.
Recently, Wang Qi, deputy director and researcher of the Gansu Provincial Museum, accepted an exclusive interview with China News Agency "Dongxi Wen", detailing the story of the bronze galloping horse becoming a Chinese tourism symbol and an ambassador for the exchange of Eastern and Western civilizations.
[Concurrent] Wang Qi, deputy director and researcher of Gansu Provincial Museum
After the reform and opening up, the tourism industry has just started. In order to expand publicity and influence, the (former) National Tourism Administration is going to choose a symbolic thing from various patterns or cultural relics and scenic spots as a Chinese tourism symbol.
The bronze galloping horse is a gesture of galloping forward, implying that China's tourism industry is galloping forward.
Another meaning, horse, since ancient times, it has been a means of transportation for people and has been widely used by countries all over the world. It encourages people to travel to the sky and to the sky. Based on these elements, it was selected as a Chinese tourism symbol.
[Explanation] Talking about why the copper galloping horse appeared in the remote Hexi Corridor, Wang Qi combed and said that it was closely related to the history at that time.
[Concurrent] Wang Qi, deputy director and researcher of Gansu Provincial Museum
In ancient China, the horses of the Han nationality were mainly used for pulling carts or cultivating land.
In the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, special attention was paid to the training of military horses. There was a grassland called Damaying Meadow between Wuwei and Zhangye in the Hexi Corridor (Gansu), and China's first official military horse farm was established.
(Will) Sweaty horses and good horses were crossed with local Mongolian horses to breed the very famous Hexi horse.
The Hexi horse trotted and walked to the opposite side.
We can also see that the pace is the pace of the opposite side step in the copper galloping horse now.
Therefore, through comparison, we believe that, first of all, the sweaty horse of the Dawan Kingdom is a master of walking on the opposite side. The Mongolian horse is particularly strong. The bronze galloping horse should be bred after the cross-breeding of the sweaty horse and the Mongolian horse. The descendants of Hexi Ma, the prototype of the (Bronze Galloping Horse) also appeared in this place.
[Explanation] Since it was unearthed in 1969, the bronze galloping horse has been exhibited overseas many times, which has aroused great interest in the world.
In 2002, the bronze galloping horse, a national treasure-level cultural relic, was included in the first batch of precious cultural relics prohibited from going abroad by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.
In this regard, Wang Qi explained that it is for better on-site protection.
[Concurrent] Wang Qi, deputy director and researcher of Gansu Provincial Museum
(Bronze Galloping Horse) is listed as one of the cultural relics that are prohibited from being exhibited abroad, because it is an orphan, a unique product, to avoid some accidents, or to better protect and preserve it.
[Explanation] Wang Qi admitted that the protection measures are not only that, from May 1st to October 15th every year, the bronze galloping horse is exhibited in the Gansu Provincial Museum, and the rest of the time is maintained. During the maintenance period, the bronze galloping horse replica will be exhibited out.
Wang Qi said that the rise of the ancient Silk Road itself is a process of mutual learning between the East and the West.
The copper galloping horse, which represents the highest technology of bronze smelting, has both the "excellent elements" of the East and the West.
[Concurrent] Wang Qi, deputy director and researcher of Gansu Provincial Museum
The Silk Road has always been a mutual learning (channel) between the East and the West. Through some archaeological excavations, we gradually have a more understanding. At that time, the Chinese bronze casting industry may have been introduced from the West. The earliest bronzes in our country were in Gansu. (discovered), it contains the element arsenic. At the same time, Western bronzes also contained the element arsenic, but later, the bronzes in the Central Plains did not contain arsenic.
[Explanation] In recent years, the bronze galloping horse, which no longer leaves the country for exhibitions, still attracts tourists from many countries. Important check-in place.
At the same time, the various online exhibitions opened by the museum also allow more audiences at home and abroad to understand the "shadow" of mutual learning between Eastern and Western civilizations through the bronze galloping horse.
Reported by Ai Qinglong and Feng Zhijun from Lanzhou, Gansu
Responsible editor: [Liu Xian]