Tianma
As Tianma ( Chinese 天馬 , Pinyin Tiānmǎ - "sky Horse, heavenly horse") were in ancient China long-legged, fast horse called. The term tianma appears for the first time in Shanhaijing . They appear as mythical creatures to whom supernatural and mystical powers are ascribed. In the course of time the horses from the northwestern steppes were also referred to as tianma , which, in contrast to the stocky Chinese ponies, were slender and long-legged.
Tianma in culture
Since the earliest written mention of tianma , it has been known as a positive and auspicious symbol. The first source to mention the term tianma is the classic of the mountains and seas - Shanhaijing. Also in the Shiji by Sima Qian from the early Han period, it is mentioned. There it appears several times in the 24th chapter / role, but also in other places. Some of these texts refer to the tianma as an auspicious symbol, but also some to the real animals from the Central Asian steppes.
- Shanhaijing, Chapter 3 / Scroll (classic about the northern mountains):
- 又 東北 二百 里 ， 曰 馬 成 之 山 ， 其 上 多 文石 ， 其 陰 多 金玉。 有 獸 焉 ， 其 狀如 白 白 犬 而 黑頭 ， 見 人 則 飛 ， 其 名曰 天馬 ， 其 鳴 自 䚯。
- Another two hundred li to the northeast [there is a mountain] called the Makeg Mountain. There are many patterned stones on it, and there is a lot of gold and jade on its yin side. There are wild horses whose shape resembles a white hunting dog with a black head and when it sees a person it flies [away] and its name is heaven horse and its call is self-evident.
- Shiji , chapter 24 / role (book about music):
- 歌 詩 曰 ： 天馬 來 兮 從 西 極 ， 經 萬里 兮 歸 有德。 承靈威 兮 降 降 ， 涉 涉 流沙 兮 四夷 服。
- The poem reads: A heavenly horse comes, alas, from the far west; it overcomes ten thousand li, alas, and wherever it goes, there is virtue. It has a ghostly power within it, alas, and descends upon the outer lands; it slides over the sand, ah, and the four barbarians [tribes] give way.
- Qian Hanji , Chapter 14 / Scroll (Notes on Xiao Wudi, Section 5)
- 神 馬 當 從 西北 來。 後 得 烏孫 好 馬。 名曰 天馬。
- The divine horses come from the northwest. Later he received a good Wusun horse . His name was sky horse.
In accordance with their positive connotation, the so-called sky horses were extremely popular Omina and their real counterparts, the horses from the steppes northwest of China, a coveted tribute or a coveted commodity or war booty. They were often depicted in painting or sculpture until late in the imperial era . One of the most famous representations is probably the bronze flying horse prancing on a swallow from a Han-era grave in Gansu . The numerous representations of such horses as grave goods in the form of three-color ceramics ( sancai ) from the Tang dynasty are also known .
literature
- Olsen, Stanley G.:The Horse in Ancient China and Its Cultural Influence in Some Other Areas, in: Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Ed. 140/2, Academy of Natural Sciences: Philadelphia (1988), pp. 151-189
- Tomita Kojiro: Three Chinese Pottery Figurines of the T'ang Dynasty, in: Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Ed. 42/250, Museum of Fine Arts: Boston (1944), pp. 64-67
- Yin Guoxing 尹囯興 : Jiemi Leitai hanmu 揭秘 雷 臺 漢墓 (Deciphering the Han temporal tomb of Leitai), Qilu Shushe: Qinan (2009)