Horse husbandry in Tang dynasty : system, techniques and trading = 唐朝馬政體系、養馬技術及市馬交易研究

Abstract

To ensure a steady supply of state-owned horses, the Tang Dynasty established a large-scale administrative system for breeding, raising and training horses in large quantities. The development of the Tang-era horse administration system can be divided into two periods demarcated by the An Lushan Rebellion. Before the Rebellion, the Court of the Imperial Stud was the institution in charge. The Court cooperated with the country’s large-scale ranch system, which constituted the main supply source of horses, and the horses were reared in the Eight Horse Administration Houses. During the Linde years, at the peak of its horse administration system, the Tang Dynasty raised 706,000 horses on state-owned ranches. The Dynasty’s careful analysis of its forebears’ horse-raising experience, establishment of an integrated administration system and set of related laws, and development of a variety of scientific horse-raising skills account for the remarkable development of its horse administration programme. After the An Lushan Rebellion, however, the system fell into decline, with horse trading gradually joining the state-owned ranches as a major provider of horses and unoccupied such ranches in the capital becoming major sites of horse-raising. The ups and downs of Tang-era horse administration mirror the rise and fall of the Tang empire: the administration of horses supported the development of the Tang, whilst the Dynasty’s strength at the same time laid the foundation for the development of such administration.