天马与骆驼——汉代丝绸之路标识符号的新释

Steed or Camel——New Interpretation on The Silk-Road Symbol in The Han Dynasty

敦煌悬泉汉简的记载和河西出土文物透露了汉代重视天马轻视骆驼的原因。汉代张骞通西域后,骆驼被逐步引进汉地,其作为外来"奇畜"不为人知与熟悉,也缺少相应精湛造型的艺术品,与唐代出现的大量骆驼文物相比,汉代骆驼文物寥寥无几,因而汉代人们梦幻的天马成为真实的外来引进物种,代替真实的骆驼成为了充满想象的神奇动物。可见汉代丝绸之路真正的标识符号应是天马而不是骆驼。

Both the scripts on the bamboo slips found in Xuanquan,Dunhuang and the objects excavated over Hexi Corridor(the west of the Yellow river in Gansu province)explain why the steed was more adored than the camel in the Han dynasty.It was after Zhang Qian’s western expedition that camels were gradually drawn into the Han area,but they were looked at as a kind of odd domestic animal in the local people’s eyes who had never heard about them before that.A greater number of the Tang camel-modeled objects have been found archaeologically,but the Han camel-shaped objects are rarely seen,much fewer the fine artworks of a camel.In the Han times,people fancied a heavenly horse coming from the foreign area as a saint animal imaginable.So what did symbolize the silk-road of the Han dynasty should be the steed rather than the camel.