马镫起源与传播新探

A New Investigation of the Origin and Early Diffusion of the Stirrup

由于被认为与军事和社会变革具有重要关系,马镫的发明与传播素来为学界所重视。区别于不晚于4世纪初出现的鲜卑类型的东北亚长柄马镫,蒙古国境内发现的匈奴马镫模型很可能是最早的关于其起源的证据,这提示我们在讨论马镫起源时应充分考虑游牧生活对骑乘辅助技术的需求驱动。为弥补考古资料对于讨论的不完备性,文章试图运用技术史、知识史、图像分析和社会历史与境等研究思路,指出在以往所认为的从单镫到双镫的演进脉络之外,马镫传播的总体方向存在从蒙古高原到东北亚,再到汉文化区的可能性。单镫有可能是马镫的简化,而不是其雏形。

The origin and diffusion of the stirrup is an attractive issue due to its close relation with the evolution of cavalry and society in general.To be distinguished from the frequently discovered long-handle Xianbei style stirrups that date to no later than the C4th AD,the broken Xiongnu stirrup models found in modern Mongolia are the earliest evidence of this invention found to date.This indicates that we should pay more attention to the demands of nomadic daily life on the development of this technology.In order to supplement the incompleteness of archaeological evidence,interpretations from the perspectives of the history of technology and knowledge,image analysis and historical context are applied to argue the probability of a general diffusion route of the stirrup from the eastern Mongolian Plateau to Northeast Asia,and then into the Han cultural area in North China.It is also suggested that the single stirrup,which was employed to assist getting on horseback,was possibly a simplified style of the common stirrup,rather than an embryonic form.