History

CHINESE HORSES

Luís Gonzaga Gomes*

Naїf painting of horses from a Wei Dynasty (c. 230-316A. D.)tomb. The expression on the stableman's face, his tunic and leggings as well as the galloping horses seem to suggest the steppe region in the North. The basic lines capture the essence of the horses' movements.

Some thousands of years before Christ, the Persians had cavalry regiments. It is very likely that the horses of those restless people were the descendants of those wild horses which in prehistoric ages drifted along Central Asia's wild prairies.

As a result of their expansionist fights, the conquering hordes of Persian kings spread themselves into Europe where their horses acclimatized successfully. Little by little, penetrating other European regions, these Persian horses reproduced in growing numbers and thanks to various influences, they formed several Russian, Friesian, Bay, Dun and Sorrel races, among others.

Other descendants of the horses of the Pamir plains are the resistent and nimble Arabian coursers, as well as the vigorous Mongolian horses which in the 13th century took the ferocious nomad troops of Genghis Khan as far as the Northern beaches of the Black Sea, where they defeated the Russian Army and arrested the Grand Duke of Kiev. In 1241, these warriors, under the command of Sabutai, defeated the German-Polish Army in Liegnitz, thereby expanding their rule over Poland and Hungary.

In the huge sea of sand just outside the Great Wall in the Oerhtossu plains, there is a camp known as 'Euchen Hura'. There, the heavy silver coffin enclosing the remains of the great conqueror who terrorized Medieval Europe is still resting.

Every year in the third month of the Mongol Calendar, thousands of Chinese pilgrims withstand terrible conditions along three hundred miles just to go there to pay their respects to the brave warrior. This is a very imposing ceremony which features very strange and extravagant rites.

At this ceremony, a 2cm hole is made in the coffin in order to allow the dust into which the body has turned, to reincarnate. This is a very old tradition, but Genghis Khan remains peacefully in his eternal rest, leaving his people's prayers unanswered. However, as his horse has been reincarnated several times, both Chinese and Mongol followers still hope for the miracle and therefore they repeat their fanatic ceremonies in an attempt to recall his stubborn spirit.

According to recent research, it has been found that initially wild horses were golden-coloured. In North America's major stud-farms and after four hundred years of adulteration, they were able to produce horses of that primitive colour. These are the most beautiful horses in the whole world.

Chinese horses and foals cannot compare to European and American horses in terms of dignity and elegance. In China it is very difficult to find a horse with white hind legs or with a white forehead, as most horses are brownish-yellow.

The first Chinese references to horses date to the mythical Emperor Wang-Tai (2698-2598BC) who was said to have a stable full of Mongol colts. According to some Chinese chronicles, a skillful veterinarian named Ma-Si-Wang successfully performed an acupuncture operation on a dragon suffering from a strange throat problem. In exchange for this, the dragon took him to heaven.

One of the most popular themes in the Chinese pottery industry is a group of eight horses, each featuring different postures: lying on their backs, bending over as if looking for something, raising the head and slightly twisted, as if attracted by some noise. This rather strange group of horses that almost every tourist is tempted to buy is commonly known among antique owners as Pat-ma-t'ou (eight-horse group) and is intended to represent the eight horses preferred by Tong-Wang-Kong (the Emperor of the Orient) best known as Mou-Kong among the Chinese people. Those were the eight horses that pulled the imperial car in which he travelled to meet Sai-Wang-Mou (the Empress of the Occident), whose rich domains were on the top of Kunlun Mountain.

According to Chinese mythology, Tong-Wang-Kong and Sai-Wang-Mou were the first human beings to inhabit the Earth. They were generated from the conjugation of the fifth essence of Western breezes with Eastern breezes. They were therefore the progenitors of 'male power' (yang) and 'female power' (yin).

The visit that the Eastern Emperor paid to the Western Empress also symbolizes a remote relationship that China had with other Western nations.

As to the Eastern Emperor's eight horses, they all have fancy names such as: Flapping Wings, Straight to the Clouds, Above the World, Rising Shadow, Jumping Over the Mist, Shining Flame, Jumping onto the Sun and Hidden Wings.

According to legend, these eight horses were raised at Tau-Lam, a dense forest created by Kua-Fu's magic wand. Kua-Fu dared fight the Sun because he was so strong that he could not keep the energy within his body. He then had to let his energy out and chase the incandescent star. After a most tiring chase, he managed to catch up with the sun in the deep Western Valley. There Kua-Fu was dying of thirst and drank all the water of the Yellow River and Uai River. However, all that water was not enough to quench his thirst and so Kua-Fu died in a very painful way.

The horse belonging to Lau-Pui, one of the heroes in the San-Kuo-Chi ('History of the Three Kingdoms'), was among the famous horses featured in Chinese literature that inspired prose works and poems.

Once upon a time, Lau-Pui's rival invited him to a banquet. He did not suspect anything and accepted the invitation. Without any special precaution he rode towards his enemy's camp but as soon as he arrived, the traitor's acolytes surrounded him and put him in a room.

They were all awaiting the signal to attack the careless man when I-Kei, one of Tch'oi-Mou's men, took pity on the betrayed hero who was going to die in a disgraceful manner. He then pretended to offer Lau-Pui a glass of wine and whispered to him, warning him to get away. However, Lau-Pui did not seem impressed with I-Kei's strange behaviour. Showing that he was tired of sitting down, he stood up and quite naturally walked out to the open air.

That was the opportunity for I-Kei to tell him that he had been trapped. Without wasting any time, the hero jumped onto his horse and rushed over the Western Gate. However, out of nowhere a large river appeared suddenly in front of him. He stopped, changed direction and tried a different route but suddenly there appeared a dense cloud of dust, which he knew would cover those who chased him. It seemed there was no way out but he decided to jump over the river. In a most daring jump, both Lau-Pui and his horse landed safely on the other side of the river.

One of those emperors who became famous due to their fondness for horses is Hsьan-tsung of the T'ang dynasty (712-756BC). His stable had an infinite number of horses which were divided into two groups: 'dragons' and 'proud'. More than four hundred horses were broken in order to perform a series of exercises to the sound of music. Hsьan-tsung forced the stable-boys to treat them with extreme care and he wanted the horses to be covered with silk saddlecloths arranged in a such a way as to display various flowers. Martingales linking the reins to the bit were decorated with sonorous golden bells and huge pearls, together with white jade pieces on which the horses' names were engraved.

According to Chinese liturgy, the twenty third day of the sixth moon is dedicated to Ma-Wang, the protector of horses and patron of carters. Very often, this divinity has a place in the chest of 'Ngau-Wang, the cattle guardian.

It seems that the God of Horses had a triple incarnation a long time ago. When he was called Ma-Tchou, the Old Man of Horses, he used to receive sacrifices in Spring; when he was considered the Prime Procreator of Horses, he was worshipped in Summer; and when he was considered the Celestial Destroyer of Horses, a pernicious spirit which caused these animals to fall sick, his festivity was celebrated in Winter. This trinity is identified in Ma-Wang with a three-headed image. The tchi-ma, a packet with a hundred sheets of paper representing almost every Chinese deity which is burnt during sacrifices, sometimes features Ma-Wang seated on a throne and escorted by three servants. These tchi-ma (paper horses) are reminiscent of the former statues of those patron saints deified by the early Chinese people who used to exhibit them either riding horses or next to horses. In early times, the Chinese used to offer live animals to their deities, and they preferred horses. In the course of time, live animals were replaced by wooden images and cloth images with various fillings. Finally, during Hsьan-tsung's time, in the T'ang dynasty the paper images were adopted, a practice which is still being used.

The Chinese ritual required that all offerings to the horse deity should start in the imperial stables on the festivity day. There, the tray holding different food was offered to the divinity between eight o'clock in the morning and eight o'clock in the evening. Right after that period of time, all peasants who owned even a single horse would burn the horse divinity image in honour of Ma-Wang.

Horses have inspired many Chinese artists in all dynasties; poets have dedicated polyrhythmic verses to praise the virtues of such noble creatures. In water-colours, those who distinguished in giving the best representation of the horses' character, expression of face and gracefulness were Lei-Tch'in, his son Tchong-Ho and Hon-Kon the preferred follower of the renowned landscape painter Wang-Wei all of whom gained fame during the magnificent T'ang dynasty.

Yang Guifei, the famous concubine of Emperor Hsьang-tsung on horseback. China ink and colour painting on paper roll by Xian Hsuan.

At the time, the use of horses was governed by the 'Book of Rites' which determined that common citizens should have only one horse pulling their carriages while aristocrats could have three and imperial carriages six.

In the medical field, scholars say that the horse's eye reflects a man's full image and the best breeds are the white ones. The horse's heart may help to cure amnesia after being dried, ground to dust and blended with wine. Horses can walk in the dark because they have special eyes which are also very good for curing dental cavities. The liver is a lethal poison and horse-shoes are the remedy for the worst insomnia when hung at the head of the bed.

However, if horses are fed with rice their legs become heavy, and if somebody hangs the skin of a mouse or wolf on their manger, or if black plums or dead silkworms are brushed on their mouth, horses will starve to death.

For the Chinese, the horse is an animal with exceptional qualities, purity, honour and intelligence. As to the latter there is the following account:

'Some 10 lei from Hoi-P'eng village there was a small town with a population composed mainly of outlaws. Just before entering the town, there was a strange monument featuring an attractive gravestone which was known to neighbouring peasants as the 'grave of the intelligent horse'. The origin of that grave dates back to the time the town was founded and it belonged to Pak-Man, an estate owner, who was a mandarin in one of the districts in Kong-Sai Province because he was a koi-ian (graduate in Arts). The region under his control was very alpine, surrounded by cloudy and inhospitable crests. The only way to go through the countless narrow gorges was by horse, which was the sole means of transportation of those who lived there. Therefore, most peasants owned one or two horses and those who were born in that district would invest in raising stallions, since their sole wealth was horses.

When Pak-Man took over his post he had to buy two horses, one was a bay dun and the other completely white. Pak-Man was very happy with his horses as they were very tame, but preferred the white one because when riding it he did not have to use the reins, since the animal was intelligent enough to anticipate the owner's intentions. As regards the bay dun, its owner did not like it as much as the white one even though it was beautiful. Once his term of office was over, Pak-Man returned home and as he had become rich he turned down all offers to take over other duties. He preferred to dedicate himself to the management and cultivation of his farm.

At the time, there was a gang of thieves led by the ferocious Tan-Ngan Tch'at (the one-eyed Tch'at) who was raiding all the farms in the region, spreading death and kidnapping children of rich families in exchange for high ransoms. The district authorities tried to capture the devious bandit but to no avail. They would raise rewards but that irritated the thieves more, who kept on terrorizing the population through continuous raids. Tan-Ngan Tch'at thought that Pak-Man kept his wealth in his house and decided to attack it. Even though taken by surprise, Pak-Man and his people defended themselves very well. He was hurt and his youngest son was killed by an arrow in his heart while he was daringly chasing away the thieves. During the raid, Pak-Man's favourite horse neighed in distress from the stable. Having seen it, Tan-Ngan-Tch'at released it and mounted it to flee. However when the animal felt the thief's weight on its back, it rushed away and despite all efforts from the rider it could not be stopped.

His hands could barely hold the reins as the more he pulled the faster the horse ran. Very likely, the animal was hard-mouthed or spurred by demons. Tan-Ngan-Tch'at thought of throwing himself off the horse, but dared not do so. The animal crossed fields and jumped over fences and entered the main building of the district court. There it stopped, spun, leapt and shook its body violently, forcing the rider to fall to the ground. After recovering from this sudden invasion, the bailiffs soon recognized the scoundrel. Immediately, they opened the court to try him and in the course of the trial the court was informed that Pak-Man's property had been attacked that very same night. Tan-Ngan-Tch'at needed no torture to confess. All the members of his gang were arrested and the proceeds of their raids reverted to the court. Finally, they were beheaded and to assure peasants that peace had returned to that region, their heads were hung on the trees along the imperial road. Some days later, Pak-Man's horse died because it could not resist the strain endured when it surrendered the raider. His owner regretted its death and in gratitude built the sumptuous grave at the entrance of Hoi-Peng village.

Note from the Editor:

This text was taken from Luнs Gonzaga Gomes' Chinesices, a collection of some of the author's articles published in the Notнcias de Macau paper.

* Researcher and historian of Macau; writer and sinologist.

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