《资治通鉴·晋纪二》杜预分民“种牛”献疑

On DU Yu's Distributing Breeding Cattle in Zi Zhi Tong Jian(《资治通鉴》,History as a Mirror)

《资治通鉴·晋纪二》记载杜预曾上疏晋武帝,请求灾后将官养种牛分给民众,帮助恢复生产,得到许可并实行,结果“民赖其利”。此处记载存在自相矛盾之处,且不符合农业生产实际。只有经过穿鼻、调驯的牛才能胜任耕田、驾车等劳动,而公牛则需要通过阉割使其变得更加温顺,以便于役使。将未经调驯,不供耕驾,甚至老未穿鼻的种牛发给百姓,其役使的难度可想而知。《晋书》记载杜氏实际分发的种牛是经过挑选的35000头。这些牛通过边使用边调驯的方法,以达到帮助灾后恢复生产的目的。至于是否达到了《资治通鉴》所说的“民赖其利”的效果,《晋书》则未曾提及。

According to Zi Zhi Tong Jian,DU Yu,an official in Jin Dynasty,proposed distributing breeding cattle raised by government to disaster victims to help resuming production.This proposal was adopted by Sima Yan,Wudi(Martial Emperor)of Jin Dynasty.This record was not only conflicted to other historical documents,but also to agricultural practice.Cattle could be enslaved on the condition of nasal septal perforation and training,and male cattle would become more tempered and be easier controlled after asexualizing.However,cattle mentioned-above were for breeding,so they didn’t experience the above necessary links obviously,and it’s very difficult to enslave for peasant.Jin Shu(《晋书》,The Book of Jin Dynasty)record 35,000 selected cattle would be trained during the process of ploughing work.Besides,the conclusion from Zi Zhi Tong Jian was that peasant benefit much from the distribution,yet,Jin Shu didn’t mention anything.