What kind of horse is the "Red Hare" in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms"?

"Lü Bu among men, Red Hare among horses." Anyone who has read Romance of the Three Kingdoms knows that Red Hare, as the most famous good horse during the Three Kingdoms period, was first awarded to the brave general Lü Bu by Dong Zhuo. After Lü Bu was killed, Cao Cao awarded it to the surrendered general Guan Yu. After Guan Yu returned to Shu, he was defeated and fled to Maicheng, and Red Hare died of starvation.

In fact, the official history records Red Hare very briefly, only saying that it was Lu Bu's mount, without mentioning its appearance or the origin of its name. However, due to the pursuit of Guan Yu, there is an endless stream of people studying Red Hare, and the results are still inconsistent. What kind of horse is it? Is it like a red rabbit? Does it have descendants? ... In the New Year of the Rabbit, the author combines historical records, novels, and miscellaneous stories to conduct a detailed analysis.

01

The origin of the novel

First, let’s look at the description of Red Hare in Romance of the Three Kingdoms: “The horse’s body was as red as charcoal, without a single stray hair; from head to tail, it was ten feet long; from hoof to neck, it was eight feet tall; it neighed and roared, as if it was flying into the sea”, “It galloped for thousands of miles, sweeping away the dust; it crossed the water and climbed the mountain, clearing the purple mist. It broke the silk reins and shook the jade bridle, and a fire dragon flew down from the sky”…

From this, we know that Red Hare is covered with red hair, tall, mighty, and good at long-distance running. It can be said that Red Hare played an indispensable role in Lü Bu's battle with the three heroes at Hulao Pass, his resistance against Cao Cao at Xuzhou, Guan Yu's killing of Yan Liang and Wen Chou, his passing through five passes and beheading six generals, and his flooding of seven armies.

However, there are many good horses, and being tall, powerful, and good at running cannot explain the problem. Let's look at the official historical records. "Bu often rides a good horse named Chitu, which can gallop over cities and trenches" (Book of the Later Han, Biography of Lu Bu), "Bu has a good horse named Chitu" (Records of the Three Kingdoms, Biography of Lu Bu), "People at that time said that among men there is Lu Bu, and among horses there is Chitu" (Records of the Three Kingdoms, quoting Biography of Cao Man). All three books record it as "Chitu", so could it be that "tu" is a homophone of "rabbit"?

The answer is no.

*Lü Bu riding a red rabbit in the TV series "Three Kingdoms" (Source: Film and Television Network) *Tu, a special word for biology, has its name in the herbaceous plant Tusizi, another name for tiger, Yutu, etc. The famous rhyme book "Yunhui" records a kind of divine horse called "Feitu", which means that this horse is as powerful as a flying tiger.

Why is "Yu Tu" used to refer to tigers? It turns out that during the Spring and Autumn Period, there was a baby born on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in the State of Chu. Because his mother was not liked by the family and his birthday was unlucky (the fifth day of the fifth lunar month was considered an unlucky day by the locals), he was thrown into the Yunmengze when he was born and left to fend for himself. Unexpectedly, the tiger not only did not eat the baby, but also fed him milk. After the baby grew up drinking tiger milk, he named himself Dou Gu Yu Tu. "Dou" is a surname, and "Gu" means "milk" in the local area of ​​the State of Chu during the Spring and Autumn Period, and "Yu Tu" means tiger. Put together, it means: a child of the Dou family who grew up drinking tiger milk. Dou Gu Yu Tu was self-taught and later became the first generation of Ling Yin (equivalent to the prime minister in later generations) of the State of Chu. "Zuo Zhuan" recorded this story and added a note: "The people of Chu call it Ru Gu and tiger Yu Tu."

The authenticity of the story in Zuo Zhuan cannot be verified, but the tiger is called "Yutu" and has been called to this day. Every year on the 20th day of the 11th lunar month, the "Yutu Jumping" ceremony is held in Nianduhu Village, Tongren County, Qinghai Province. According to local people, this day is a black day, and the "Yutu Jumping" ceremony is used to lure out the tiger to deal with the evil spirits that come out to cause trouble.

The annual "Tiao Yu Tu" ceremony (source see watermark) in Nianduhu Village, Tongren County, Qinghai Province was a rumor, and later generations mistakenly wrote "Tu" as "Rabbit". This is one of the bases for the origin of the name Chi Tu, but not the only one.

02

Rabbit head and horse hybrid

Another theory is that Red Hare is a horse with a rabbit-like head, specifically, the part above the nose protrudes slightly outward, which is one of the criteria for ancient people to evaluate good horses. The famous book on horse identification, "Xiang Ma Jing", states that "a horse's head should be high and steep as if it was cut, and it should also be square and heavy, with less meat, like peeling a rabbit's head", and divides horse heads into several types, such as rabbit head, half rabbit head, and wedge head. It is believed that rabbit-headed horses are mostly large horses with tall bodies and run like the wind.

Based on the novel, official history and classic horse identification books, Red Hare was most likely a cross between a Ferghana horse and a Mongolian horse.

The Ferghana horse was a fine horse introduced from the Western Regions to the Central Plains by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. It is well-known. According to the "Records of the Grand Historian: Biography of Dayuan", after returning from the Western Regions, Zhang Qian, a diplomat of the Western Han Dynasty, reported that the Wusun and Dayuan countries had Ferghana horses, which were descendants of the celestial horse. Seeing that the two countries were unwilling to pay tribute, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent a large army to attack and kill them, thus obtaining 3,000 Ferghana horses. Unfortunately, due to the incompatibility of the climate and soil, only more than 1,000 horses were left when they arrived at the Han territory of Yumen Pass. Because it was not easy to obtain, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sought the opinions of his ministers and let the Ferghana horse cross with the Mongolian horse, thus the famous Shandan military horse was produced. The Shandan military horse reproduced and flourished, and by the end of the Han Dynasty, the Red Hare was produced.

The Arabian horse depicted by the painter (Source: Chinese Painting Network) The Shandan military horse has the following characteristics: First, its fur is mostly red, which makes it look very majestic, and it will produce red sweat after walking for a long time; second, it has extremely strong vitality and can survive in very bad weather; third, its head is like a rabbit's head, which is very large, and its limbs are strong and powerful, and it can reach a speed of more than 50 kilometers per hour.

03

The famous horse has a descendant and the red rabbit is stylish

Shandan military horses have been continuously improved and played a great role in wars of successive dynasties. Later, they became the main force of pack transportation. Today, Shandan horses have become multifunctional horses with outstanding pack power, speed, and mountain climbing and off-road capabilities. There have been many theories about the ultimate descendants or similar species of Red Hare. Among them, the most recognized one is that Akhal-Teke horses are the same species as Red Hare.

The Akhal-Teke horse is also called the Akhal-Teke horse, the Great Xia horse, the Persian horse, the Parthian horse, the Ferghana horse, etc. It grows in the Akhal Oasis in Central Asia. There are only more than 3,000 of them in existence. It is called a national treasure by Turkmenistan and is painted on the national emblem and currency. The Akhal-Teke horse has red or golden hair, has both endurance and explosive power, can run a thousand miles a day in long-distance running, and can run at a speed of 1 kilometer per minute in short-distance running. In this way, it is also well-founded that Guan Yu rode Red Hare to take the head of Yan Liang in the millions of troops in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

The name of Akhal-Teke horse comes from the Turkmen language of the Altaic language family. "Aha" refers to the Akhal Oasis, and "Teke" refers to the Teke tribe, which is the largest tribe of Turkmen. The Akhal Oasis is located at the bottom of the Kopet Dag Mountains, which is inaccessible to outsiders. For thousands of years, it has maintained the purity of its bloodline. The more than 1,000 fine horses that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty took back from the Western Regions were Akhal-Teke horses. Now, Akhal-Teke horses have become one of the excellent breeds of racehorses.

In summary, the Red Hare in the eyes of ancient Chinese people is either Chitu, which means a red horse like a tiger; or a tall horse with a rabbit head. They are a cross between the famous Ferghana horse and the local Mongolian horse, which has lasted for thousands of years. Today, by comparing various horse breeds, it is known that the authentic Akhal-Teke horse is the closest to the Red Hare.

References:

1. "Akhal-Teke Horse, the National Treasure of Turkmenistan", Central Asia Information, No. 3, 2008

2. "A Brief Study of the Red Hare", author Xiao Bing, CNKI (May 1981)

3. "Three Topics on Dancing Gods: A Comparative Study of the Tujia Dance "Yutu" and the Tujia Dance "Tushen", by Zhang Ziwei, in the Collection of Papers of the Qinghai Straits Kunlun Culture Investigation and Academic Symposium (2008)

4. "Zuo Zhuan", "Records of the Grand Historian", "Book of the Later Han", "Xiangma Jing", "Ciyuan", etc.

Source: Tadpole Musical Notation