明代驯象卫考论

An Examination and Discussion of the Elephant Training Garrison in the Ming Dynasty

象在古代是象征太平的瑞兽,朝仪中多所使用。为满足朝仪需要,明洪武年间在广西十万山地区特设驯象卫以捕捉、驯化野象。自建立后,其治所几经迁移,至洪武后期,最后迁至横州。作为明朝控驭桂西南民族地区重要的军事堡垒,驯象卫除捕象外,还多次参与了朝廷征剿广西少数民族的行动,为明朝在广西民族地区统治的稳定,发挥了一定的作用。至明中叶后,随着明廷驯象供应体制的建立、完善,以及在广西民族反抗频频的情况下,其职能渐由捕象、驯象向镇戍地方转变。驯象卫也由一个特殊卫所沦落为普通卫所,所统领的旗军不断减少,最后走向衰亡。这一过程也是与桂南一带因自然环境变迁导致野象种群不断减少的现实相关的。

As symbols of peace and auspicious animals,elephants were often used in imperial rituals or ceremonies in ancient China.To meet this need,in the Hongwu period,the Ming dynasty especially set up the Elephant Training Garrison (驯象卫) in the Shiwanshan region of Guangxi to capture and train elephants.The seat of the garrison was moved several times,with the last move being to Hengzhou in the late Hongwu period.As an important Ming fort for control of the ethnic minorities of southwest Guangxi,besides elephant training,the garrison also participated in many operations to suppress rebellions by Guangxi ethnic minorities,thus helping to stabilize the region.However,by the mid- and late Ming,with the improvement of the elephant training and supply system and the greater frequency of rebellions in the area,the task of the garrison gradually shifted from elephant capture and training to garrisoning the frontier.The Elephant Training Garrison lost its special status and was downgraded into a common unit,with troop numbers decreasing continuously until its final withdrawal.This process was also related to the decline in the number of groups of wild elephants in the area.