page_title: Horse in Chinese mythology
section_title: Tianma
hierarchical_section_title: Horse in Chinese mythology / Various horses and composite creatures / Tianma
caption_attribution_description: English: Flying Horse Of Gansu. Eastern Han dynasty, 25 - 220 AD. Gansu Provincial Museum This outstanding bronze horse has become an iconic emblem of China. Racing through the skies, it treads on a swallow (base of statue) that looks up in amazement. Unlike Pegasus, the Western flying horse, the wingless Han steed is meant to be understood metaphorically rather than literally; it represents an ideal horse that can gallop so fast that it seems to outrun the wind. The sculpture is perfectly balanced on only one hoof, to complete the illusion of flight.
context_page_description: Horses are an important motif in Chinese mythology. There are many myths about horses or horse-like beings, including the pony. Chinese mythology refers to those myths found in the historical geographic area of China. This includes myths in Chinese and other languages, as transmitted by Han Chinese as well as other ethnic groups. There are various motifs of horses in Chinese mythology. In some cases the focus is on a horse or horses as the protagonist of the action, in other cases they appear in a supporting role, sometimes as the locomotive power propelling a chariot and its occupant. According to a cyclical Chinese calendar system, the time period of 31 January 2014 - 18 February 2015 falls under the category of the Wood Horse.
context_section_description: Literally meaning, "horse of heaven" or "heavenly horses", mythically Tianma was a fabled winged horse or a fabled type of winged horse with composite attributes, such as dragonesque features; and, sometimes the Tianma was linked to certain astral or stellar phenomena, or constellations. The horses could also be real, now somewhat ordinary domestic or semi-domestic horses, but in the medieval period of history somewhat extraordinary (and legendary) for their stature and prowess. Sometimes the "heavenly horses" were linked with the "blood-sweating"—probably due to an endemic parasite, Parafilaria multipapillosa, a parasitic nematode of horses (Schafer, 295 note 19). These horses of Central Asia were legendary for their size and prowess. Historically, the flying, blood-sweating, dragon-boned, celestial horses are connected with the Han dynasty and the emperor Han Wudi, and notably celebrated in the poetry of the Tang dynasty by the poet Li Bo (Beckwith, 112 and Schafer, 59-60).
caption: Gansu Flying Horse, Han Dynasty bronze.
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