中国古代北方游牧民族调控羊繁殖的技术初探

北方大漠草原属于温带大陆性气候，冬季严寒多风，若按照自然生长周期，羊（绵羊、山羊）的发情期正好在秋季，于春节前后产羔，而此时北方仍然天寒地冻，羊羔很容易被冻死。为了避开冬季产羔，中国古代北方游牧民族发明了人工控制生育期繁殖羊的办法，推迟母羊的受孕时间，使羊羔产于春季，从而保证羊羔的成活率。蒙古人有两种方法：一种是以毡片等裹公羊之腹，防其与母羊交接，适用于个体家庭小规模饲养；一种是实行牝牡分牧，平时公母羊分群放牧，在固定时间合群交配，适用于大规模饲养。蒙古人的这种技术源自突厥人。“苏武牧羊”的故事反映了匈奴人也掌握了这项技术，苏武就是专门放牧公羊的人。这说明北方游牧民族从匈奴开始直至蒙古大多已经掌握了这种繁殖羊的技术，只不过此技术是以“隐蔽形式”，似明似暗、无声无息地默默地流传着。这是中国北方游牧民族为了生存和发展，适应大自然，与大自然斗争而总结出来的经验。

Study on the Technique of Controlling Sheep-Breeding Time by China's Ancient Northern Nomadic Nationality

Northern prairie lies within the continental zone, which is cold and windy in winter. According to the natural growth cycle of sheep (including jumbuck and goat), its oestrus is in autumn and thus lambing is around spring festical time, when it is bitterly cold in the northern prairie, so the lamb is liable to die from coldness. In order to avert lambing in cold winter, the northern nomadic nationality invented a method by which the bearing and breeding of sheep could be controlled artificially. With use of this method, the pregnancy time of a female sheep was postponed. As a result, the birth time of the lamb was in spring time, so the survival rate of the lamb was guaranteed. The Mongols had two methods. One was that the belly of a buck was wrapped up in a carpet, to prevent it from mating with an ewe, which was fit for the small-size feeding in a family. The other was that bucks and ewes grazed separately. They were grazed by the big-size feeding. Mongol's technique was derived form the Turk. The story of the shepherding Su Wu reflects that the Huns had also mastered this technique. Su Wu was a person who shepherded bucks specially. This demonstrated that the northern nomadic nationality from the Huns to the Mongols had mastered the technique of breeding sheep, which was only spread covertly. This technique is the experience summarized from the northern nomadic nationality in its struggle with nature.