preface
Fitness is the preferred way of exercise for men today, in terms of modern aesthetic concepts, a beautiful tendon meat is undoubtedly the embodiment of male charm, and many men sweat in the gym.
But in ancient times, people were not obsessed with eight-pack abs, and they didn't even look at men with muscles and thin waists and hips. Looking at the portraits of generals with outstanding military achievements in ancient times, everyone hung a "heavy" beer belly. Modern people may wonder why these invincible generals have beer bellies. How effective is such a figure?
First, why did the ancient generals and soldiers have a "beer belly"?
If the generals are selected from the perspective of modern people, it is estimated that none of the famous generals will be elected. Judging from historical records and albums, Guan Yu and Tang Taizong of the Three Kingdoms laid the world under the twenty-four heroes of Lingyange, the four generals of Zhongxing in the Song Dynasty who had distinguished their military achievements, and Zheng Chenggong of the Ming Dynasty, without exception, all had beer bellies. This is completely inconsistent with the heroic image created in film and television drama works.
Some people will ask, why do the generals who march and fight still have beer bellies?
Not only did the general have a beer belly, but even the Qin Dynasty soldiers, known as the Tiger and Wolf Division, all had beer bellies. Don't believe it, the unearthing of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses has allowed future generations to witness this invincible Qin soldier thousands of years ago.
But a closer look reveals many unexpected details, these Qin Dynasty soldiers actually had beer bellies, and the number was still small. In terms of the requirements of modern soldiers, it is impossible for soldiers of marching wars to have beer belly, why did beer belly become the standard for soldiers in ancient times?
1. Wine strengthens the hero's courage
After reading the history books, we found that these Qin soldiers were well trained in ordinary days and their combat effectiveness on the battlefield was very strong. Before each time the two sides were ready for war, these soldiers would drink wine and eat meat, and the more tense the battle, the more they ate, drank more fiercely, and then took advantage of the wine to kill the enemy. When the wine comes up, life and death have long been ignored, and the murderous spirit is fierce.
Because of this, many beer-bellied soldiers are too fat to put their armor on. This also explains why some Of the Qin soldiers in the Terracotta Army do not wear armor, so it seems that the degree of reduction of the Terracotta Warriors for the soldiers at that time is indeed very high.
2, the battlefield will have meat to eat
In the Shang Martingale Transformation Law during the Qin Dynasty, the reform measures against the Qin army stipulated: "Promulgate laws, formulate a law of consecutive sitting, use heavy punishments for misdemeanors; reward military merit, prohibit private fighting, and promulgate a twenty-level system of rewards according to military merit." ”
It probably means to establish a military knighthood system and reward and punish merit. Qin soldiers and soldiers who cut off a head of the enemy army can get a first-class knighthood, a few acres of land, and servants.
The higher the knighthood, the food in the army is not the same, ordinary soldiers can generally only meet the food and clothing, and the soldiers who heroically kill the enemy, not only have enough rice, but also regularly supply a variety of meat, we see that those soldiers with big belly and poop are actually battlefield generals with strong combat effectiveness.
3. Fat can store energy
Soldiers who fight on the battlefield need fat to store energy, and in the ancient era of cold weapons, the duration of war was often uncertain, and long offensive and defensive battles would wear short clothes and lack of food.
At this time, the thick fat on the stomach is the best consumable. And those soldiers who look physically strong cannot withstand the harsh environment of cold and hunger, and their bodies will slowly weaken. Looking at the beer-bellied soldiers, they are more able to survive until the victory of the war.
If you think they're fat, you're dead wrong.
Fat is only in modern times, the ancient fat people are really eaten, on the battlefield these fat people are extremely powerful.
4. Status symbols
The aesthetics of ancient and modern figures are different, which also reflects the different levels of social development in various eras, and modern people are happy to lose weight and fitness. In ancient times, due to the low productivity at that time, people did not care about the so-called body beauty at all.
In ancient times when there was not enough to eat, no one would have the heart to work out and maintain a body. Therefore, in ancient times, the generals with beer belly were basically symbols of status, there was meat to eat, drink and house, and long-term nourishment to appear beer belly, which was the figure that people dreamed of, and it was also the best embodiment of identity status.
Second, what is the combat effectiveness of the "beer belly"?
1, tendon meat vs beer belly, strength is the key
On the battlefield of the cold weapon era, the role of the body muscles on the battlefield is very limited, the ancient weapons are generally very heavy, the muscles look very beautiful, and in the comparison of strength, it is far less than the fat man. Therefore, on the battlefield, those who can play swords and sticks well are often fat people you can't look up to.
According to historical records, the criteria for selecting soldiers and generals in ancient times were: "skilled bow horses, super strength", that is, superb martial arts and infinite strength. Even Confucius, who traveled around the world on foot, was a fat man with infinite strength.
In the "Spring and Autumn of the Lü Dynasty", it is recorded: "The strength of Confucius can attract the gate of the country."
This principle also applies in modern times. We can see the contestants in the World Hercules Competition, each tiger with a bear's waist, there is no so-called tendon meat at all, and the competition items are also throwing logs, towing trucks, lifting large stones, etc.
These programs were also part of the daily training of soldiers in ancient times. Therefore, in ancient times, tendon meat on your battlefield was useless, and the competition was strength.
If we look back at the portraits of those generals, they are invariably typical representatives of the tiger's back and bear's waist, and they are the embodiment of strength on the battlefield.
The "Biography of Song Shi Yue Fei" records: "Born with divine power, without a crown, holding a bow for three hundred pounds."
Unvaled refers to a bow and arrow that has not yet reached the age of twenty and can pull nearly three hundred and fifty pounds. In ancient times, this was the minimum standard for being a general.
2, Chu Bawang can carry the ding
In ancient times, the general or samurai recorded in history would introduce the strength of this person without exception, so the important measure of combat effectiveness of the ancients was strength.
Chu Bawang was able to serve as a bearer, which was converted into modern weight, and at that time, Ding was nearly 400 pounds, and he could lift the Ding over his head, which was enough to prove the strength of Chu Bawang.
In addition, there are a large number of ancient books that record that Xia Jie "can stretch the hook and rope iron and fight the bears and tigers with his hands"; Yin Huan "can drag nine oxen upside down, and change the beams for pillars"; the Ming general Liu Ling "uses a hundred and twenty pounds of iron knives, and immediately rotates like a fly", which are the best performance of these superior combat strength.
3, Wu Song, who fights tigers, is also a fat man
And a large number of film and television drama works have been shaped into a robust Wu Song, and its prototype is also a fat man.
From "Water Margin", we can also see it in the dialogue of the characters. The Wu Song in Sun Erniang's eyes is: "This kind of fat, good to make yellow beef to sell"; in addition, in the ancient temple, when the four guys grabbed Wu Song, they also said: "This bird man is fat, so he can send it to the eldest brother."
In addition, the book also writes: The two big men can't lift Wu Song: "Two Han Men carry Wu Song, where can they carry it?" Straight up in the ground, but it seems to weigh a thousand pounds."
Of course, Wu Song's eighteen bowls of wine, four pounds of beef food is fat, but although Wu Song is fat, in addition to his incomparable strength, his body is extremely strong, or how can he dodge the tiger's claw. Nowadays, Wu Song is a true soul fat man.
4. Selection criteria of Wu Zhuangyuan
The protagonist in the movie "Wu Zhuangyuan Su Qi'er" is so skinny that he can actually become a champion, of course, this is only a dramatic interpretation. In ancient times, Wu Zhuangyuan's examination question was to compare strength in a down-to-earth manner, and the lifting of the stone evidence was one of them.
The Qing Dynasty Imperial Examination Records records: "The stone has two hundred pounds, two hundred and fifty pounds, three hundred pounds ... The stone must go two feet to the ground, on the knee or on the chest. ”
In terms of human extreme physical fitness, such a weight must be a big man with a solid sense of body to lift it.
5, beer belly can save life
From the perspective of body shape, the size of the fat man is relatively large, and the deterrent ability on the battlefield is stronger, especially in the ancient era of cold weapons, the advantage in momentum can often determine the outcome of the battle.
In addition, in ancient times, armor was generally worn in wars, but the armor was mainly made of iron sheets and animal leather, and even filled with cotton cloth when some materials were in short supply.
However, the front of the weapon pierces from the abdomen, as the weakest part of the human body, it will lose its combat effectiveness for a while, or even die. The fat content in the fat man's beer belly can save people's lives to a certain extent.
epilogue
Compared with modern times, the choice of soldiers is not small, which is due to the social development, production level and social form of the time. When we judge the figure of ancient officers and soldiers with "eight-pack abs", we have fallen into preconceived thinking.
Compared with the modern high-tech battlefield, the ancient battlefield pays more attention to the actual combat ability of soldiers, and at the same time, in a long period of fighting, the fat man who stares at the beer belly can often persist to the end, and many soldiers are not killed by weapons, but by the harsh environment and lack of physical fitness.
If we understand these histories, when we look back at the Terracotta Warriors of Qin Shi Huang, we can't help but sigh, when depicting these sculptures, people handle the details of the soldiers at that time very well, and highly restore the overall appearance of the officers and soldiers during the marching and war of that era.
Nowadays, we worship fitness muscles based on health, while in ancient times it was mainly about killing enemies to win, so in ancient times, fat people with beer belly were a true portrayal of officers at that time. Even Guan Yu, who "has a seven-foot sword in his left hand and an eight-snake spear in his right hand", has hung a magnificent beer belly in history. This is a symbol of status, but also for the actual combat of the body shape.
When we read history, it is precisely because we need to restore the truth of history and integrate into the situation at that time in order to truly taste the profound foundation of history. While recording the characters, history also uses the characteristics of the characters to show us the most real historical appearance. This is something we can't see in a language textbook, and only by savoring it and reading history can people be wise.