Tianma ( ', "heavenly horse") was a winged (perhaps metaphorically) flying

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

Chinese folklore Chinese folklore encompasses the folklore of China, and includes songs, poetry, dances, puppetry, and tales. It often tells stories of human nature, historical or legendary events, love, and the supernatural. The stories often explain natural phe ...

Mythology

The Tianma is a flying horse that was sometimes depicted with chimerical features such as dragon scales and was at times attributed the ability to sweat blood, possibly inspired by the parasite '' Parafilaria multipapillosa'', which infected the highly sought-after

Ferghana horse Ferghana horses () were one of China's earliest major imports, originating in from the Fergana Valley in Central Asia. These horses, as depicted in Tang dynasty tomb figures in earthenware, may "resemble the animals on the golden medal of Euc ...

(), sometimes conflated with Tianma. Tianma, the flying horse, is clearly connected to

Pegasus Pegasus (; ) is a winged horse in Greek mythology, usually depicted as a white stallion. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. Pegasus was the brother of Chrysaor, both born from Medusa's blood w ...

from the

Western Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and a warring in ...

artwork and in the Tang dynasty sources, as coming from Hellenized Central Asia. In the

Western Zhou The Western Zhou ( zh, c=西周, p=Xīzhōu; 771 BC) was a period of Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Zhou dynasty. It began when King Wu of Zhou overthrew the Shang dynasty at the Battle of Muye and ended in 77 ...

Empire, Tianma referred to a

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The first constellati ...

. Tianma is also associated with

Emperor Wu of Han Emperor Wu of Han (156 – 29 March 87BC), born Liu Che and courtesy name Tong, was the seventh Emperor of China, emperor of the Han dynasty from 141 to 87 BC. His reign lasted 54 years – a record not broken until the reign of the Kangxi ...

, an aficionado of the Central Asian horse, and the famous poet

Li Bo Li Bai (, 701–762), also pronounced Li Bo, courtesy name Taibai (), was a Chinese poet acclaimed as one of the greatest and most important poets of the Tang dynasty and in Chinese history as a whole. He and his friend Du Fu (712–770) were t ...

. The bronze statue

Gansu Flying Horse The ''Flying Horse of Gansu'', also known as the ''Bronze Running Horse'' (銅奔馬) or the ''Galloping Horse Treading on a Flying Swallow'' (馬踏飛燕), is a Chinese bronze sculpture from circa the 2nd century CE. Discovered in 1969 near the ...

is a well-known example.

References

* * Chinese legendary creatures Horses in Chinese mythology Mythological horses Winged horses {{China-myth-stub

Mythology

See also

References