DOGS AND HORSES IN ANCIENT CHINA
61
of horses" in Summer, sacrifice to the ma she (1) or earth god of horses in Autumn and the ma bu (✈) in Winter.19 (According to K'ang Ch'eng, a commentator of the Chou Li, the ma she was a spirit who sat in judgement on horses.)
The Chou Li also tells us that other officials were entrusted with the care of horses. It was, for instance, the duty of the mu shih (**) or Herdsman to supervise the imperial horse pastures and see to it that they were annually improved by burning off the top grass.20 The Herdsman was also required to perform a curious task which consisted of clamping bamboo pins on the ears of any restless two-year-old fillies, a treatment guaranteed to soothe the most restive animal.21
To treat sick horses there was not only a veterinarian but also a horse sorcerer or wu ma (4) to assist him. It was the sorcerer's task to diagnose a sick animal's ailment by studying its gait, after which the veterinarian bathed the horse in a herbal decoction (which may have had mildly analgesic properties) before undertaking any other course of treatment.22 The sorcerer also had to be conversant with the sick horse's pedigree in order to sacrifice to its ancestors. If, despite these ministrations, the animal died, one of the two merchants attached to the sorcerer's office had to sell the carcass and return the money to the officer in charge of the corral.23
That horses were used both as sacrificial victims and as cult objects may be due to the fact that traces of two completely different cultures survived into Chou times. According to Schindler horses were used as chthonic sacrifices because the Earth Goddess had originally been horse-shaped.24 The author bases his argument on a passage from the I Ching (Hexagram 1 and 2) which states that "Earth is a mare." (This passage may have been responsible for a taboo, current in Han times, against riding mares.25) But in the Shuo Gua section of the I Ching we find a statement to the effect that "Heaven is a horse and Earth is an ox." Obviously this is a relic from a different culture which identified horses with the virile qualities of heaven,26
Dogs and Horses as Sources of Food
In ancient China it was customary to use as sacrificial victims only animals whose flesh was habitually eaten. Thus, the custom of eating both dogs and horses goes back to very ancient times.
DOGS AND HORSES IN ANCIENT CHINA
61
of horses" in Summer, sacrifice to the ma she (1) or earth god of horses in Autumn and the ma bu (✈) in Winter.19 (According to K'ang Ch'eng, a commentator of the Chou Li, the ma she was a spirit who sat in judgement on horses.)
The Chou Li also tells us that other officials were entrusted with the care of horses. It was, for instance, the duty of the mu shih (**) or Herdsman to supervise the imperial horse pastures and see to it that they were anually improved by burning off the top grass.20 The Herdsman was also required to perform a curious task which consisted of clamping bamboo pins on the ears of any rest- less two year old fillies, a treatment guaranteed to soothe the most restive animal.21
To treat sick horses there was not only a veterinarian but also a horse sorcerer or wu ma ( 4 ) to assist him. It was the sorcerer's task to diagnose a sick animal's ailment by studying its gait, after which the veterinarian bathed the horse in a herbal decoction (which may have had mildly analgesic properties) before undertaking any other course of treatment.22 The sorcerer also had to be conversant with the sick horse's pedigree in order to sacrifice to its ancestors. If, despite these ministrations, the animal died, one of the two mer- chants attached to the sorcerer's office had to sell the carcass and return the money to the officer in charge of the corral.23
That horses were used both as sacrificial victims and as cult objects may be due to the fact that traces of two completely different cultures survived into Chou times. According to Schindler horses were used as chthonic sacrifices because the Earth Goddess had originally been horse-shaped.24 The author bases his argument on a passage from the I Ching (Hexagram 1 and 2) which states that "Earth is a mare." (This passage may have been responsible for a taboo, current in Han times, against riding mares.25) But in the Shuo Gua section of the I Ching we find a statement to the effect that "Heaven is a horse and Earth is an ox." Obviously this is a relic from a different culture which identified horses with the virile qualities of heaven,26
Dogs and Horses as Sources of Food
In ancient China it was customary to use as sacrificial victims only animals whose flesh was habitually eaten. Thus, the custom of eating both dogs and horses goes back to very ancient times.
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