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A Million Horses: Raising Government Horses in Early Ming China

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Animals and Human Society in Asia

Part of the book series: The Palgrave Macmillan Animal Ethics Series ((PMAES))

Abstract

Horses were a military necessity and an economic problem for the Ming dynasty. After conquering China from the Mongol Yuan dynasty, the new rulers needed a formidable cavalry with which to face their enemies who, though retreating deep into the steppe, remained a threat. Devoting large tracts of good land to grazing came at the expense of agricultural production. In addition, since indigenous Chinese horses were generally inferior to their Central Asian and Arabian counterparts, superior mounts were regularly acquired from foreign sources. Past research in this field has concentrated on the purchase of horses through tributary relations and periodical horse markets, but devoted little attention to horse rearing within Ming territory. As contemporary records demonstrate, large-scale horse ranches were established along the northern border, and a significant portion of the population in the two metropolitan centers worked in the imperial stables. Annual reports for the years 1403–1424 show a continuous rise in the horse population, surpassing one and a half million. With this in mind, this chapter argues that these numbers could not be reached simply through the acquisition of foreign horses. Indeed, in order to explain this unprecedented rise, it is necessary to examine domestic rearing. This paper focuses on border ranches. The northern and western borders provided plenty of grazing land and water, caused little disturbance to the agricultural economy, while still remaining within the dynasty’s defensible territory. They were also a vital aspect of the strategic military policy of the dynasty. With the necessary addition of imported horses, the domestic horse administration formed an immense economic and administrative endeavor that supported early Ming military might.

Abbreviations used in this chapter are: TZuSL—Taizu shilu; TZoSL—Taizong shilu; RZSL—Renzong shilu; XuZSL—Xuanzong shilu; XianZSL—Xianzong shilu; XiaoZSL—Xiaozong shilu.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The emperors are referred to by their reign names. Ming Taizong shilu (hereafter MTZoSL) (1966, 15.6b).

  2. 2.

    Ibid., 84.3b.

  3. 3.

    Zhang (1739, 92.2271) and Yang (1638, 114.15b–17b).

  4. 4.

    Tani (1972), Rossabi (1970, 140), and Farmer (1976, 170).

  5. 5.

    Bello (2016).

  6. 6.

    Derry (2006), Green (2008), Lieven (2011), Shaw (2015), McEwen (2015), and Chen (2015).

  7. 7.

    Xie (1959), Creel (1965), He (2005), Franger et al. (2008), Gao (2013), and Chen (2015).

  8. 8.

    de Crespigny (1984).

  9. 9.

    Loewe (1975, 226–227).

  10. 10.

    Tani (1972, 1–5).

  11. 11.

    Wang (1998).

  12. 12.

    Pastoral nomadism was not ‘natural’ either. It developed in the bronze age in Mongolia and China (see Taylor 2017). And pastoral nomads perfected the technology breeding and training of warhorses during their wars against the Han dynasty (see Müller 2008).

  13. 13.

    MTZoSL (1430, 58.2a).

  14. 14.

    Müller (2008, 19). For the Qing, see Gao (2013, 102).

  15. 15.

    Zhang (1739, 327.8468). In this campaign, Yongle probably recruited foreign allies because the total number of registered horses at the time was under 100,000.

  16. 16.

    Rossabi (1970, 140).

  17. 17.

    Ming Yingzong shilu (hereafter MYZSL) (1467, 163.2b).

  18. 18.

    Ming Xiaozong shilu (hereafter MXiaozSL) (1509, 157.12b).

  19. 19.

    MTZoSL, 52.3b.

  20. 20.

    Beckwith (1991).

  21. 21.

    Chung (1999, 28) and Ma (1936, 160.1390).

  22. 22.

    Derry (2006, 118–119).

  23. 23.

    Zhang (1739, 92.2270).

  24. 24.

    Xu (1494, 5.10a–10b).

  25. 25.

    Ibid., 20.8b.

  26. 26.

    Grass (2016, 75–95).

  27. 27.

    Shahar (2017).

  28. 28.

    Li and Shen (1587, 227).

  29. 29.

    Garrot et al. (1991).

  30. 30.

    Zhai (1393, 5.42b–43a).

  31. 31.

    Ibid.

  32. 32.

    Ming Taizu shilu (hereafter MTZuSL) (1403, 79.3a). In the History of the Ming: four mares and one stallion in a team (see Zhang 1739, 92.2270).

  33. 33.

    Müller (2008, 184) and Liu and Gong (2008, 85). The new and old designations pertained to former and recent conquests.

  34. 34.

    Tani (1972, 169).

  35. 35.

    MTZuSL (1403, 110.7b–8a).

  36. 36.

    Ibid., 176.5b.

  37. 37.

    Ibid., 230.6a.

  38. 38.

    Ibid., 223.6b–7a.

  39. 39.

    Ibid., 249.2a.

  40. 40.

    Serruys (1955, 252–274).

  41. 41.

    Ibid., 256–272. According to Serruys, there was more than one place called Chaghan nūr, or White Lake, and he identifies it in the southern Orders, and not in Inner Mongolia as most contemporary maps show.

  42. 42.

    Waldron (1983, 660–661).

  43. 43.

    Rossabi (1998, 252–258).

  44. 44.

    Zhang (1739, 330.8549–8559). The names of the garrisons are Yisi, Menggu, Aduan, Anding, Quxian, and Handong (see also Liu 2014, 108–118).

  45. 45.

    Ibid., 273–276.

  46. 46.

    Serruys (1959, 134).

  47. 47.

    MTZuSL (1403, 252.2b).

  48. 48.

    For a discussion on that region, see Hu (2002).

  49. 49.

    For the biography of the Prince of Ning, see Zhang (1739, 117.3591). For the Prince of Liang, see ibid., 117.3586.

  50. 50.

    Ibid., 92.2275.

  51. 51.

    MTZuSL (1403, 253.5a–5b).

  52. 52.

    Cai (2001, 165–176).

  53. 53.

    MTZoSL (1430, 16.3a).

  54. 54.

    Ibid., 61.3a–3b.

  55. 55.

    Tani (1972, 143–155).

  56. 56.

    Xie (1959, 191).

  57. 57.

    MTZoSL (1430, 59.1b–2a).

  58. 58.

    Ibid., 74.1a.

  59. 59.

    Ming shi, 75.1845–1846 and MTZoSL, 59.2b.

  60. 60.

    Li (1461, 1.3a).

  61. 61.

    MTZoSL (1430, 59.4b).

  62. 62.

    Ibid., 208.2a.

  63. 63.

    Ibid., 210.2b–3a.

  64. 64.

    Ni (1521, 6.92b–97a).

  65. 65.

    MTZoSL (1403, 247).

  66. 66.

    Ibid., 111.5b.

  67. 67.

    Ibid., 69.7a.

  68. 68.

    Ibid., 84.3b.

  69. 69.

    Pooley-Ebert (2015).

  70. 70.

    Creel (1965, 671).

  71. 71.

    Serruys (1959), Robinson (2008), and Cai (2001, 148–151).

  72. 72.

    Cha (1672, 100).

  73. 73.

    Zhang (1739, 92.2271).

  74. 74.

    Serruys (1959, 131–159).

  75. 75.

    MTZuSL (1403, 66.6b).

  76. 76.

    Yang (1595, 1.12b).

  77. 77.

    MTZoSL (1430, 247.2a).

  78. 78.

    Cai (2001, 151).

  79. 79.

    Yang (1638, 111.15a–17a).

  80. 80.

    He (2005).

  81. 81.

    Yu (c. 1600, 6.6a).

  82. 82.

    Yang ([1595] 1781, 1.12b–13a).

  83. 83.

    MXiaoZSL (1509, 81.7a).

  84. 84.

    Zhai (1393, 2.9b–12b).

  85. 85.

    MTZoSL (1430, 160.2a).

  86. 86.

    Ibid., 169.1a.

  87. 87.

    Ibid. 180.1b–2a.

  88. 88.

    Li and Liu (2008).

  89. 89.

    Foon (1984) and MYZSL (1467, 1.7b).

  90. 90.

    One shi equaled about 185 lb. For 1406, see MTZoSL 49.4a–4b. For 1422, see ibid., 232.2b–3a.

  91. 91.

    Ibid., 219.4a–4b.

  92. 92.

    Qiu (1487, 125.16b–17b).

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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the Azrieli Foundation for its generous support of this project, and the colleagues and staff of department III at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science for their valuable comments and help.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Independent Scholar, Revadim, Israel

    Noa Grass

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  1. Noa Grass
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Asian Studies, The University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel

    Rotem Kowner

  2. Zinman Institute of Archaeology, The University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel

    Guy Bar-Oz

  3. Institute of Asian and African Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Michal Biran

  4. Department of East Asian Studies, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Meir Shahar

  5. Department of Asian Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Gideon Shelach-Lavi

Glossary

Aixi

愛惜

Dongmu

董牧

Shi

石

Taipusi

太僕寺

Tumin

土民

Weisuo

衛所

Xifan

西蕃

yuma jian

御馬監

yuzhang

圉長

zili

子粒

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Grass, N. (2019). A Million Horses: Raising Government Horses in Early Ming China. In: Kowner, R., Bar-Oz, G., Biran, M., Shahar, M., Shelach-Lavi, G. (eds) Animals and Human Society in Asia. The Palgrave Macmillan Animal Ethics Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24363-0_10

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