Tang Dynasty Crossing Guide: Chang'an and People's Life Manual

Chapter 21
The ground of the stadium was flattened inch by inch with loess.In order to prevent the dust from affecting the view of the audience when the horses run, the staff of the polo field also repeatedly poured the ground with oil, so the current field is as smooth as a stone and as bright as a mirror.After a while, every inch of loess will be fiercely contested.

At both ends of the court, a short goal was erected, which may be a relatively novel thing to the audience.When many people play polo in the field or in an open space, they dig a hole in the ground and hit the ball into the hole to count.But in the luxurious Royal Polo Stadium, not only are small gates set up on the ground on both sides of the venue, but also the gates are carved with red and colorful colors, which are very eye-catching, which of course also helps the audience to watch.

Oh!The audience in the stands began to cheer now, the band also played Kucha music, and the players from both sides entered the arena!

We saw that today the Tubo team is wearing dark red brocade clothes, and the Datang Royal team is wearing dark green tight jerseys, red and green. It is a show, and today the two sides will give us a wonderful performance.All the players tightly wrap their hair with a fringe or cap, and tie their robes with lapels and narrow sleeves with a belt, and wear tights and boots underneath.

The horses under their crotches are particularly eye-catching.We all know that the horse breeding industry in the Tang Dynasty was prosperous, especially the horses selected by the Royal Polo Team were carefully selected and bred from generation to generation. Turkic horses were the main breed and some other bloodlines were also crossed. These racehorses are more prominent in terms of stamina, agility and kindness.Of course, the most important thing is that the horses should be physically strong, and they should also strengthen their physical fitness and confrontation training in the usual training, so as to adapt to the intensity of the competition, otherwise, they will fall down like a tumbler.

The horses brought by the Tubo team are shorter than the Turkic horses. According to visual inspection, the height of the horse's head is less than [-] cm. [-], but they are very flexible and have strong endurance.Whether it is a black horse, a white horse, a red horse or a colored horse, they are all good at running, have been trained for a long time, and cooperate very well with their masters.And we saw that the racehorses on both sides have cut the manes on their necks short. Oh, the royal team braided the manes into a three-flower shape, and the tails of the horses were also tightly braided. An entanglement collision occurs, affecting the progress of the game.

People and horses from both sides stood in line on the field, facing the rostrum, and saw one horse with four legs, two horses with eight legs, and three horses with sixteen legs... In short, more than a dozen pairs of people and horses lined up in two rows , the horse's legs are as magnificent as a forest.

The Jiaofang band is now playing elegant music, and under the attention of the audience, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty led his relatives and relatives to the rostrum.Today's son himself loves playing polo very much. Of course, this is hereditary. His elder brother, the late Prince Zhang Huai, was a famous polo player in my dynasty.

Now the players from both sides raised their sticks and saluted to the rostrum.We see that these sticks are composed of three parts: handle, shaft and head. The whole stick is a long cylinder, and the head of the stick is naturally bent into a crescent shape, so some people call it "moon stick".The clubs of Tibetan players are relatively simple, with only a layer of red paint on the surface of the wood.The sticks of the Royals players are wrapped in animal skins, and there are brilliant patterns on the animal skins, making them majestic.

Now someone enters the field with a polo and places the ball in the center of the field.This ball is much smaller than the ball used in Cuju, only the size of a fist, and it is a solid ball made of wood, which is very hard and inelastic.In order to make it easier for horse riders to find, the spherical surface is painted, and it is as eye-catching as a shooting star when jumping and flying.

A drum rang, and the game began!

Players from both sides fought bravely, and the Tubo team, Gar Dongzan, hit the first shot!Drink, this loud and clear sound!The crescent head of the club stirred up a large piece of loess on the ground, and the polo was hit far away... Now there is a loud sound of hooves, like thunder, and both sides are chasing the ball.

① Qiuci (qiūcí), one of the great powers in the Western Regions in ancient my country, was an important garrison point in the Western Regions in the Tang Dynasty. , Aksu, Xinhe and six counties and cities.Residents are good at music and dance, and Qiuci music and dance had a great influence on the art of the Central Plains in the Tang Dynasty.

② Futou, the cloth used by men in the Tang Dynasty to wrap their buns, usually a piece of black gauze.In the Tang Dynasty, men from the emperor to the common people wore Futou, which is the most representative head clothing.

The Tubo team Lun Qinling grabbed the ball!Lun Qinling grabbed the ball!He swung his stick and hit the ball towards the goal of the Datang Royal Team. The stick was so powerful that the ball slid in the air for a long time.As we fall, there are three players on the ground waiting with their heads up and sticks up, let's see who can grab the ball... Ouch!Matt Bais swept the fallen leaves with a whirlwind, raised the ball first, and gave it to his teammates five steps behind him.

Now the ball is less than fifty steps away from Datang's goal!This player of the Tubo team made a decisive long shot!In!Alas, this player is really a good archer. We still want to congratulate the Tubo polo team for winning the first place in the Tang-Tibet match.

There was also a sigh on the sidelines, and the service staff put a small red flag on the scoring frame of the Tubo team.Fortunately, today's competition is not a "short game system". If it is a short game system, the first goal is scored, and after one side gets the "first chip", they can declare victory and the game is over.Today is the "long game system". The two sides agree on which team will be able to win with [-] chips, and the game will end.

Now the camera is zooming in, and it is giving a close-up shot of the player who hit the first chip.We saw the words "Changshayao" printed on the back of his jersey. It turned out that this young Tubo boy was surnamed "Changshayao". Well, Jiang is still old and hot. He will soon become a rising star in the polo field. Nova.

Now his teammates ran over on horseback, and the two hugged and celebrated on the horse.Oh, this teammate also has the surname "Changsha Kiln". It seems that they are brothers.We know that there are many brother players active on the polo field. For example, the children of the Tang royal family are almost all polo masters. The Persian team also has a pair of famous brother players... Another Tibetan player came to hug him, and his surname is "Changshayao" , it seems that this surname is very common in Tubo, is it similar to the status of the Li surname in our dynasty?Now is the fourth Tubo player to celebrate, still surnamed "Changsha..." Well, this player is Lun Qinling, his surname should be "Lun"...

Sorry, audience friends, "Changsha Kiln" is the sponsor of the Tubo team in this competition.This group company is mainly engaged in exporting and selling porcelain to overseas. Although the porcelain of Changsha Kiln is not well-known in China, and its appearance and quality are not as good as those of Yue Kiln and Xing Kiln, it is superior in quality and low cost. , The aesthetics cater to the taste of the foreign market, so it is very popular in Tubo, Persia, and Dashi.In order to further expand the Tubo market, Changsha Kiln sponsored this competition.

Now the game continues, please watch the audience friends first, I have to drink saliva...

Come back after drinking water, don't worry about the episode just now, friends.Let's look at the score.Yo!I have only been out for less than an hour, how come the Tubo team leads by a big score of 10:15?This is not good, looking at the 15 small red flags fluttering on the Tubo scoring stand on the sidelines, even today's face is heavy.Your Majesty also serves as the coach of the Datang Royal Team. Oh, he stood up and signaled for a timeout. Is it to arrange tactics or to change players?

The game lasted for almost an hour, and both teams were very tired.Although the horses were changed frequently, we saw that every racehorse was foaming at the mouth and glistening with sweat.The tight jerseys of the players were also soaked. Fortunately, they are all experienced. Each of them brought several jerseys and changed them on the sidelines.

Seeing the brocade robe this player took off, he twisted it with his hands, and the sweat flowed down.I don’t know if the audience friends can hear the screams and whistles at the scene. I guess it’s the female fans of my Datang watching the game, mainly the insiders of Jiaofang, expressing their appreciation for the players’ naked muscles.

When the timeout expired, the Datang Royal team really changed players, and there were four players in one change.Let's take a look, Linzi King Li Longji, Guo King Li Yong, Prince Consort Yang Shenjiao and Wu Yanxiu are all close relatives of the royal family, and they are also famous first-line players in China.Let us pin our hopes on the four of them!
Aha, the emperor formed a "one-one-one" formation this time, only four of them were left on the field, and the rest of the players were all off the field to rest, while the Tubo team still kept ten people.Audience friends, don't be surprised, this is allowed by the competition rules, as long as both parties agree, the number of people on the field does not need to be equal.Moreover, in polo matches, the court area is limited, and the players and horses are huge. If the teammates are not skilled in cooperation, having more people may not be a good thing.

The coach sounded a drum, and the game restarted. The score was still 15 chips for the Tubo team, and 10 chips for the Datang Royal team. No, they were behind.

Li Longji, the king of Linzi, was the first to rush forward!As expected, he is indeed the number one player in my Datang Dynasty. Seeing him driving, the little polo seems to be stuck to his stick, and I don't want to leave anymore!
The Tubo team, Matt Bais, stepped forward to intercept!The king of Linzi deftly picked it up with his stick, and the polo jumped over the heads of the Tubo players. At the same time, the "Zhao Yebai" under the crotch of the king of Linzi, like a psychic, automatically bypassed the Tubo team and continued to chase the ball.That little colored ball is still firmly controlled under the Linzi king's stick!

Go!kill!Swing!shoot!In!This goal counts, the goal is invalid!The Datang Royal team caught up!It's 11:15 now!

The king of Linzi is the nephew of the current emperor, the third son of the emperor's younger brother Xiang Wang, he is really a natural genius!Watch him grab the polo again after the re-kick-off!The king of Linzi dribbled the ball towards the Tubo team's goal while chasing soldiers in front and intercepting him in the back!nice shot!With a wonderful pass, he hit the ball to Concubine Yang who was ten steps away!Consort Yang scored a goal! 12:15!

The audience is already boiling!All the gongs and drums were sounded, and everyone below the emperor stood up and cheered and jumped, and the sound of "good" resounded through the sky and the earth!I saw many Jiaofang actors couldn't help being excited, and they started striptease on the spot!Oh, no, it's taking off the outer cloak and jumping and waving!Boys of the Datang Royal Team, come on!

After more than an hour of competition, the oiled and compacted polo field was full of potholes and loess everywhere.There was no road in the polo field, but the king of Linzi stepped on a road with their own horseshoes!Now every time Linzi Wang gets the ball, the crazy cheers and singing on the court overwhelm everything.The band has long stopped playing according to the tune. No matter what they are holding, the musicians are beating hard to make a sound, no matter how lively they are.

After the Royals scored 8 goals in one breath, the Tubo team also caught up with 2 points, and now the Datang team is leading by 18 point at 17:1!The atmosphere is really tense!Just now Prince Wu and Gal Dongzan bumped into each other with their horses. All four of them lay paralyzed on the field and couldn't get up. They had just been carried down by the ambulance personnel. Only eight ambulance personnel could lift a horse.The polo game is so tense, fierce, exciting and exciting.

Now there are only three Datang players on the field!But Linzi Wang didn't seem to be affected at all, he got the ball again!A single-handed breakthrough!With an indomitable momentum, meet gods and kill gods, meet Buddhas and kill Buddhas!A long shot from three thousand miles away!In!In again! 19:17!This is the 6th header he scored in this game, and there is only one more goal, and the game will end with Datang's victory!
The coach signaled the game to continue.After kick-off, this time it was Guo Wang Li Yong who grabbed the ball!He made a long pass over the top, and the King of Linzi received the ball again!What he was facing was the entire defensive line of the Tubo team, and they were all Tubo players!beautiful!The King of Linzi and Concubine Yang made a beautiful two-to-nine breakthrough!The king of Linzi swings his stick and shoots!

The little polo passed through the goal of the Tubo team with lightning speed! 20:17! 20:17!The game is over!
The tiebreaker!The tiebreaker!The tiebreaker!The king of Linzi has made meritorious service!Don't give the Tibetans any chance!The great Tang royal team, Li Longji, he inherited the glorious lineage of Emperor Taizong Wen!Duke Ying, Duke Wei, Xue Rengui, and Pei Xingjian possessed their souls at this moment!The king of Linzi alone represents the long and glorious tradition of the Tang royal family!At this moment, he is not fighting alone!He is not alone!What he faced was the eyes and expectations of Datang's 4000 million fans!The game is over!Datang Royal Team won!Defeated the Tubo team!The great Datang Royal team!Great Tang Linzi King!Long live Princess Jincheng and her relatives!Long live Datang!This victory belongs to Datang, to Emperor Taizong Wen, to today's son and king Xiang, to King Guo Yang's Consort Wu, to the players who have already left the field, to the beauties outside the field, and to all those who love Datang Polo!
References & in-depth understanding recommendations for this article:
Plateau. Polo Sports in Tang Dynasty. Lanzhou University, 2006
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