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Exhibition Guide

Figure of a Standing Horse

  • Audio

    A Conversation with a Horse Enthusiast

    Read Transcript

  • Audio

    Looking at Military Details with Professor Miles Yu

    Read Transcript

  • Audio

    Why Are They Called "Sweat Blood" Horses?

    Read Transcript

Art Object Info

Unidentified Artist

Medium:
Earthenware with pigment over red slip
Size:
Depth: 7 1/16"
Width: 23 5/8"
Height: 23 1/16"
Date:
c. Late 2nd Century BCE

Ceramic horses such as this one were included in royal tombs of the Western Han period (206 BCE–9 CE). Horses were vital to the success of military campaigns that stabilized and enriched the country, especially its elite.

During the Western Han period, the Xiongnu, horse-riding nomads, encroached on China’s northern border. Western Han foot soldiers, surrounded by chariots, fell to these mounted warriors. In 138 BCE, Han Emperor Wudi (140–87 BCE) sent a general named Zhang Qian (195–c. 114 BCE) westward to secure allies in the fight against the Xiongnu forces. He failed.

However, in Dayuan, an eastern outpost of Alexander the Great’s empire in Central Asia, Zhang Qian learned of hardy horses with great endurance and brought them to China. Astride these Central Asian horses, China’s military reestablished itself, repelled the Xiongnu, took control of Dayuan, and expanded trade. Chinese silk went westward, while goods and new ideas went eastward to China.

Julius Levy Memorial Fund BMA 1987.1

Figure of a Standing Horse

Unidentified Artist
Date:
c. Late 2nd Century BCE
Medium:
Earthenware with pigment over red slip
Size:
Depth: 7 1/16"
Width: 23 5/8"
Height: 23 1/16"

Ceramic horses such as this one were included in royal tombs of the Western Han period (206 BCE–9 CE). Horses were vital to the success of military campaigns that stabilized and enriched the country, especially its elite.

During the Western Han period, the Xiongnu, horse-riding nomads, encroached on China’s northern border. Western Han foot soldiers, surrounded by chariots, fell to these mounted warriors. In 138 BCE, Han Emperor Wudi (140–87 BCE) sent a general named Zhang Qian (195–c. 114 BCE) westward to secure allies in the fight against the Xiongnu forces. He failed.

However, in Dayuan, an eastern outpost of Alexander the Great’s empire in Central Asia, Zhang Qian learned of hardy horses with great endurance and brought them to China. Astride these Central Asian horses, China’s military reestablished itself, repelled the Xiongnu, took control of Dayuan, and expanded trade. Chinese silk went westward, while goods and new ideas went eastward to China.

Julius Levy Memorial Fund BMA 1987.1