Holding the reins of power

Ancient bamboo manuscripts reveal how horse management shaped governance, military strength, and knowledge systems in early China, Yang Yang reports.

Researchers studying the Tsinghua Bamboo Slips have identified what they describe as the earliest known specialized material on horse management in China, unveiling the findings at a book launch for The Tsinghua University Warring States Bamboo Manuscripts (Vol XV) on Jan 19.

The release comes as the Year of the Horse approaches, lending contemporary resonance to discoveries rooted more than two millennia in the past.

The newly published volume presents texts on horse evaluation, disease treatment, training and riding, subjects that had not previously appeared in surviving historical records. Researchers say the materials are of particular importance to the study of science, technology and culture in pre-Qin China, before 221 BC.

In 2008, Tsinghua University received an alumni donation of nearly 2,500 pieces of bamboo slips, forming what is now the largest known collection of the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) relics.

The collection, covering a wide range of subjects, including Confucian classics, historical records and philosophical texts, is widely regarded as one of the most significant archaeological discoveries of recent decades.

Since 2011, the research team at Tsinghua University has been releasing annual reports detailing its findings.

With 14 volumes already published, the 15th focuses exclusively on horses, the only animal discussed across the entire collection. The latest volume of The Tsinghua University Warring States Bamboo Manuscripts, published by Zhongxi Book Company, brings together five bamboo manuscripts: Xu Ma (Observing Horses), Fan Ma Zhi Ji (All Horse Ailments), Xun Ma (Taming Horses), Yu Shu (Art of Driving Horses) and Yu Ma Zhi Dao (The Way of Driving Horses).

Xu Ma comprises 40 bamboo slips that focus on the art of evaluating horses. It describes the physical traits of 12 types of horses and offers guidance on how to identify them. The text provides valuable insight into ancient methods of horse appraisal and is relevant to the study of animal husbandry, zooarchaeology and early veterinary science, says Jia Lianxiang, a researcher from the Research and Conservation Center for Unearthed Texts at Tsinghua University.