馬年說“馬”

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The era when people depended on steeds for transportation or warfare has long gone, but the zodiac animal has left numerous genetic footprints on spoken Chinese, writes RayMond Zhou.

Yao Shaoshuang has been the most photographed horse rider in China in the past month. Donning a cowboy hat and boots for three days, he rode a black horse from his workplace in Pixian to the city of Dujiangyan, where his mother-in-law lives, after failing to secure a bus ticket for Spring Festival travel. (The county and city lie to the northwest of Chengdu, the provincial capital.) His image appeared all over the Internet, and Yao said he received hundreds of calls, including interview requests, from the media. Apart from his inability to obtain a ticket, Yao said he made his trip on horseback as he was eager to reach his destination and to impress his in-laws on his first visit to his wife's family.

In Chinese, there is a common word, mashang, literally "on horseback" and means "right away" or "fast". It was clearly not coined after modern modes of transportation were invented. But the irony in 24-year-old Yao's case is that he covered the 70 km in three days, slower than most hikers.

The truth, when it emerged, proved to be an anti-climax. Yao works for an equestrian club and the horse he was riding was a Dutch Warmblood (a horse of medium build designed for sports) from the Netherlands worth half a million yuan ($82,000).

Normally, such an expensive import would not appear on a hard, asphalt road, but this may also explain the ultra-slow speed, complete with numerous photo opportunities.

Moreover, the journey was a publicity stunt, not for himself but for a business.

Yao, a local equestrian sports champion, kept quiet. However, other clubs said they had received requests from advertisers who wanted to get in on the horseback bandwagon, but owners could not bear to see their costly investments stray far from soft grass and well-maintained stables. Some even viewed Yao's actions as animal abuse.

Good humor

The fad for placing objects on horseback in the hope of fulfilling financial dreams started rather innocuously and in good humor, but quickly transformed into materialistic vulgarity.

Blessings and good wishes were quickly replaced by hard cash, such as placing a wad of banknotes on horseback. Since real horses proved hard to come by, enlarged toy horses were used. People even piled miniature houses on the horses in a desperate bid for the financial wherewithal to purchase apartments.

One man, with a touch of ingenuity, reportedly placed a pair of toy elephants on top of a toy horse, because the Chinese word for "date" has "xiang" in it, which can be stretched to encompass the elephant.

If you let a smaller horse piggyback on a larger one, it could mean that the object of your desire is a BMW, as the German car has a vague Chinese transliteration as "precious horse".

Word games involving the horse appear frivolous, but often have cultural and historical connotations. Chinese like to describe being victimized by foreign invasion as being trodden under iron hooves.

In Chinese history, the economically developed and culturally sophisticated Han majority on the central plains were repeatedly attacked and pillaged by northern tribes.

Part of the reason, many scholars believe, was the mode of travel used by the nomads. While they swooped down in an iron-hoofed stampede, the Han could only flee on foot. Hence, the vivid depiction of being trampled.

Celebrated stallions

The Han were not as expert at horse riding as the northern tribes, but horses were not uncommon. It was rare, though, for them to be venerated like the Six Steeds of the Zhaoling Mausoleum in Shaanxi province.

These warhorses belonged to Emperor Taizong (AD 598-649), also known as Li Shimin, of the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907). He commissioned artisan Yan Lide and painter Yan Liben, who were brothers, to carve six warhorses he rode before he built his empire. The reliefs, each standing 1.7 meters high and 2 meters wide, used to flank the sacrificial altar to the north of the mausoleum.

The steeds have poetic names that mostly denote their markings. Four of them were hit by arrows and the emperor left memorial tributes to each of them along with records of the military campaigns in which they carried him or in which they fell.

The carvings were broken apart early in the 20th century and two of them were smuggled out of China. They are now housed in a museum at the University of Pennsylvania, while those remaining in China are in a museum in Xi'an, the Shaanxi provincial capital.

By aesthetic standards of the day, they were quite realistic. Horses made frequent appearances in ancient scroll paintings, but most were static and inconspicuous, acting as loyal companions to reclusive scholars or officials seeking sanctuary in nature.

Unlike ancient artists obsessed with saddled horses, Xu Beihong (1895-1953) preferred feral and wild ones. Trained in France, the Chinese master studied equine anatomy, spending hours observing horses' movements and expressions. Especially fond of Mongolian breeds, he left a treasure trove of up to 1,000 sketches.

Xu's portrayals of horses galloping or trotting past, in a rich variety of poses, are some of the most captivating of their kind. Using mostly black ink, they combine the best methods from East and West. The lines and brush strokes are simple, yet invariably evoke the essence of the animals.

They are a contrast to the horses painted by Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766), an Italian missionary who created many eight-horse images for the Qing emperors. In full color and resembling traditional European oil paintings, they were, however, closer in spirit to the Chinese style of depicting horses. There was nothing of the energy and exhilaration found in Xu's drawings.

Different emphasis

While the tale of Pegasus is not widely known in China, "flying horse" is by no means a strange term. Several brands are named after it, most notably a cigarette with a long history.

It is true that China may pale in comparison with the West in creating talking horses or weeping horses in art and literature, with most of our horse-related prominence being in our vocabulary.

But before we get to that, I'll point to the different emphasis, or rather East-West focus, on different aspects of the horse. For example, most English words for "horse" define the animal by age and gender, such as colt for a male horse under the age of 4, filly for a female horse less than 4 years old, mare for a female aged 4 or older, yearling for one between 1 and 2 years old, and foal for one younger than a year old. Gelding and stallion denote castration or non-castration.

In contrast, most Chinese descriptions for the horse concern colors. Biao (驃) is yellow; liu (騮) is red with black mane and tail; yan (駰) is grayish; li (驪) is black; guo (騧) is yellow with black mouth; qi (騏) is purplish black; hua (驊) is red like the fruit date; xing (騂) is another kind of red; cong (驄) is blue; zhui (騅) is black with white feet; and mang (駹) is black with white face. Ju (駒) and ji (驥) refer to young and old horses, but not how young or how old, while jun (駿) and nu (駑) are names for fast and slow ones.

We have more names for different horses than there are zodiac animals, but most of them appear to have been inspired by the color spectrum.

We Chinese also have an equivalent for the term "prince charming" that has a whiff of the fairytale about it. It is "prince on a white horse" or "white-horse prince".

But a study of the colors of horses' coats made me realize the inherent irony in this Disney-like phrase: With rare exceptions, a horse turns gray or white as it ages, and is usually born with a darker shade. If you are not sure, check the skin underneath a white horse's coat.

So, associating a prince with mortality is not really the best way to present his youthful charm. However, since most of us are not equine veterinarians, we can be excused for envisioning this most desirable companion for females in the color of purity and forget about old age.

Linguistic record

The Chinese attitude toward the zodiac animal of 2014 is embedded in a profusion of expressions handed down and enriched through centuries of man-horse dynamics.

Apart from serving as a symbol of loyalty and bravery for military heroes, the horse is often praised for its endurance, as illustrated in the proverbial thousand-mile horse.

Perhaps the best analogy for man's relationship with the horse concerns Bole, a wise man with an eye for the next thousand-mile horse. Here, the human being is the talent scout, manipulator and trainer, while the horse is to be observed for potential, and groomed. A mentor-protege parallel is quite obvious.

As such, the horse may also become the recipient of tiger-mom-style Chinese tough love, as in the phrase "A horse has to be whipped to run."

But ancient Chinese tended to identify with the animal so closely that when they talked about their horses they could be talking about themselves. "To err is human" has a Chinese equivalent: "Man may make mistakes and a horse may miss a step".

Chinese in general have a weakness for patting a horse on the butt, a friendly gesture that has since evolved to mean sycophancy. When you miss a beat and end up patting it on the leg, you have failed in the unctuous act of flattering someone.

In these sayings, the horse is no longer man's servant or apprentice, but an object of appreciation and power. This kind of duality is also present in the traditional Chinese perspective on entertainers.

While the man-horse power dependence may change with different situations, the horse reigns supreme in the equine hierarchy.

The donkey and the mule usually appear as sidekicks or foils in Chinese folktales to make the horse appear as magnificent as the superhero in a Hollywood fantasy film. About the only time the horse is overshadowed is by the appearance of the camel, which is so much bigger that, according to Chinese lore, even the thinnest one is still larger than the horse. But then, the camel has never been credited as a conqueror of the world.

There is no doubt that Chinese, ancient or modern, love the horse. But those who take "ma" (horse) as their surname cannot prove they are any different from the rest of us.

As it happens, Chinese Muslims took the sound for Muhammad and sinicized it to ma, hence the largest family name in this ethnic group. Also, Chinese rarely use the word in any last name for its literal meaning, otherwise wang (or wong in Cantonese, meaning king) would be the most coveted of all.

But even a king or emperor could enhance his regal stature while posing on a horse.雖然馬匹用於交通和戰爭的年代一去不復返了，但是，與十二生肖中的“馬”相關的語句在中國語言中留下了印跡。

過去的一個月中，“馬上哥”姚少雙的照片頻繁出現在各大媒體上。春運買不到車票後，姚少雙戴上牛仔帽、蹬上靴子，騎着一匹黑馬從工作地郫縣到都江堰市去拜見岳母。這趟行程歷時3天。（郫縣和都江堰市在四川省會成都的西北部。）姚少雙在網絡上火了，他說自己收到了近千個電話，媒體的電話採訪也包含在內。姚少雙說，除了買不到車票這個原因外，自己騎馬還因爲想要早點到目的地，第一次拜訪岳母，要留個好印象。

漢語中有一個常見詞語叫“馬上”，字面意思是“在馬背上”，也有“立刻”和“很快”的意思。這個詞語當然不是依據現代的交通運輸方式衍生出來的。但是，這個詞語對於24歲的姚少雙而言，頗具諷刺意味了。姚少雙用了3天時間走了70千米的路程，這比徒步走還慢。

當真相浮出水面的時候，令人大跌眼鏡。姚少雙爲一個馬術俱樂部效力，他騎的馬是荷蘭溫血馬（一種體型中等的體育競技馬）價值50萬元。

一般來講，這麼貴的進口馬不會出現在硬硬的柏油馬路上。但是，這也解釋了爲啥這匹馬走路速度奇慢，給別人提供了那麼多的拍照機會。

此外，這次騎馬行爲純屬作秀，姚少雙不是要自己出風頭，而是爲了商業炒作。

對於這些，姚少雙這位當地的馬術冠軍不予迴應。然而，其他的馬術俱樂部也收到了廣告商的邀約。廣告商們想要用“馬上”這個詞做噱頭。但是，馬術俱樂部拒絕了，因爲他們不願意看到這麼昂貴的馬離開軟軟的草地和維護良好的馬廄，走在硬梆梆的柏油路上。有些人看了有關姚少雙的報道後，認爲他是在虐待動物。

幽默

人們把東西放在馬背上，表示對實現經濟夢想的希望。這種風尚在最初流行的時候是一種幽默表現形式，沒有什麼不好的。但是，這件事很快就變得粗俗起來了。

美好的祝願很快被物質慾望所取代。比如，有人把一團僞鈔放在馬背上，表示馬上有錢。因爲真實的馬匹很少見，人們用填充的玩具馬代替真實的馬。有人甚至把微型的房子堆在馬背上，迫切希望能夠經濟寬裕、馬上買房。

據說，有人很有創意地把一對玩具大象放在了玩具馬的背上。因爲在漢語中，“對象”一詞有“象”字在裏面。這樣以來，往馬背上放的東西的範圍延伸到了大象。

如果你把一個小的馬寶寶放在一匹大馬上，這意味者你想要擁有一輛寶馬汽車。因爲，德國出產的汽車BMW在中文中的音譯是“寶馬”。

關於馬的文字遊戲看起來很沒意思，但是它一般有文化、歷史內涵。中國人在描述遭到外國侵略時，喜歡用到“鐵蹄之下”這個短語。

在中國歷史上，經濟文化先進的漢族人口占大多數，居住在中原地區。他們經常遭到北方遊牧民族的劫掠。

學者們認爲，漢族受遊牧民族侵擾的部分原因在於遊牧民族的活動方式。當遊牧民族騎着鐵蹄馬南襲的時候，漢族人只能徒步逃跑。因此，“鐵蹄之下”很生動地描繪了遊牧民族對漢族的蹂躪。

名馬

漢族不如北方遊牧民族那樣善長騎馬，但是，他們的馬卻非同尋常。馬很少像陝西省的昭陵六駿那樣受到人們的推崇。

這六匹戰馬是唐朝（公元618-907）皇帝唐太宗（公元598-649）李世民的坐騎。他命令工藝家閻立德和畫家閻立本兄弟二人雕刻出他建唐朝前騎過的六匹戰馬。昭陵六駿位於昭陵北面的祭壇兩側，每塊石刻高約1.7米，寬約2米。

戰馬的名字很有詩意，大部分馬是根據馬身上的斑紋命名的。有四匹馬在戰爭中中箭。爲了紀念戰馬，李世民給每匹馬寫了墓誌銘，上面記載着哪場戰役用的哪匹馬、在哪場戰役馬死了。

在20世紀早期，昭陵六駿的雕刻被分割開來，有兩個走私到了國外，現收藏在美國賓夕法尼亞大學博物館。剩下的保存在陝西省省會西安的博物館。

從當今的審美水平來看，馬的形象很逼真。馬的形象經常出現在古代的卷軸畫上。但是，許多馬都是靜態的，與畫面不協調：它們或是忠實地陪伴着隱居的學者，或是忠實地守候着隱居田園的官員。

古代的藝術家熱衷於畫被馴服的馬，畫家徐悲鴻（1895-1953）卻對畫野馬情有獨鍾。這位國畫大師在法國進修期間學習了馬的解剖，他花費大量的時間觀察馬的動態和表情。他非常喜歡畫蒙古馬，爲後世留下了1000副素描繪畫珍品。

徐悲鴻畫的馬，有的飛奔，有的小跑，形態各異，非常有魅力。他畫的馬多是黑色，結合了中西方繪畫手法，線條和筆畫簡單，但是每幅畫所畫的動物卻都十分傳神。

徐悲鴻的畫與意大利傳教士郎世寧（Giuseppe Castiglione）（1688-1766）爲清朝皇帝繪畫的八駿圖風格迥異。這幅畫是全綵的，代表了歐洲油畫的風格，與中國畫畫馬的風格神似，但沒有徐悲鴻的畫中展示的能量與歡樂氛圍。

側重不同

也許很少有中國人知道希臘神話中關於飛馬珀加索斯（Pegasus）的故事。但是，人們“飛馬”這個詞彙並不陌生。一些牌子以“飛馬”命名，其中最有名的要數老牌子的飛馬香菸了。

西方的文學和藝術作品中有會說話的馬和流淚的馬。在中國，與馬相關的最多的要數語言詞彙了。這樣一來，就馬而言，中國的文藝作品要比西方的蒼白得多。

但是，在談及此之前，我將會指明中西方側重的不同所在。換句話說，也就是中西方強調馬的方面不同。例如，大部分英語詞彙是根據年齡和性別來定義“馬”的。比如，小馬指的是4歲以下的公馬；小母馬指的是4歲以下的母馬；母馬指的是4歲或者4歲以上的母馬；一歲馬指的是年齡在1歲到2歲之間的馬；駒指的是1歲以下的馬。騸馬指的是去勢的馬，種馬是沒有去勢的馬。

相反，漢語中許多馬的描寫與顏色有關。驃是黃色的馬；騮是帶有黑鬃和黑尾的紅色馬；駰是灰白色的馬；驪是黑色的馬；騧是有黑色馬嘴的黃色馬；騏是紫黑色的馬；驊是棗紅色的馬；騂是另外的一種紅馬；驄是藍色的馬；騅是帶有白蹄子的黑馬；駹是白麪的黑馬。駒是年輕的馬，驥是年老馬。年輕或年老的具體程度不詳。駿是跑得快的馬，駑是跑得慢的馬。

不同的馬，名字不同。馬的名字要比十二生肖的名字多多了。但是，大部分馬是根據顏色命名的。

在中國，與英文“prince charming”（白馬王子）相對應的漢語詞是“騎白馬的王子”或者說是“白馬王子”。關於白馬王子，還有個小小的童話故事。

但是，一項關於馬皮顏色的研究讓我感覺這個與迪斯尼童話故事有關的詞語頗具諷刺意味。隨着年齡的增長，出生時膚色較暗的馬會出人意料地變成灰色或者白色。如果你不相信，你可以看看白馬的馬皮。

因此，把一匹行將就木的白色老馬和一位王子相聯繫，並不能表現王子的年輕和魅力。然而，既然我們大部分人都不是醫治馬的獸醫，我們可以忽略掉白馬是老馬這個事實，想象一下那象徵純潔的白色吧，白馬王子是女性朋友的最佳伴侶。

文字記載

幾世紀的人馬互動，使得那些關於馬的詞彙代代傳承、豐富發展，它們體現了中國人對2014年馬年的態度。

馬除了作爲軍隊英雄忠誠和勇敢的化身外，還因爲其自身的耐久性受到人們的讚揚。諺語千里馬就體現了馬的耐久性。

或許，人和馬關係的最佳類比跟伯樂有關。伯樂是能夠識別千里馬的人。在這裏，人類是人才的發掘者、支配者和訓練者；馬是有待被髮掘、培養的人才。很明顯，這是一個類似於師徒的關係。

就此而論，馬也可能成爲虎媽式嚴格教育方式的接受者，正如詞組“快馬加鞭”表現出的一樣。

但是，古代的中國人有認同動物的傾向。他們認爲人與動物的聯繫如此緊密，以致於當他們談論自己馬的時候也可能是在談論他們自己。“To err is human（人非聖賢，孰能無過）”這句話在漢語中對應的句子是：“人有失足，馬有失蹄”。

一般，中國人拍馬屁的偏好，這種表示友好情誼的姿態已經演變成爲一種諂媚了。當你拍得不當的時候，就拍到了馬腿上，那油腔滑調的諂媚以失敗告終了。

在這些諺語中，馬不再是人的僕人或者門徒了，而是欣賞的對象和權利的象徵。馬的這種雙重含義也在中國人看待藝人的那些傳統觀念中體現出來。