Exhibition Guide

Ceramic horses such as this one were included in royal tombs of the Western Han period (206 BCE–9 CE). Those found near the capital in Shaanxi province were generally made of gray clay, while those from more distant coastal regions were made of red clay. Horses were very important to the success of later Western Han military campaigns, which resulted in greater stability and prosperity for the country, and greater wealth and status for the country’s elite.

During the Western Han period, horse-riding nomads called the Xiongnu encroached on China’s northern border. China’s traditional configuration of foot soldiers, surrounded by chariots and supported by cavalry, was no match for these mounted warriors. So in 138 BCE, Emperor Wudi (140–87 BCE) sent a general named Zhang Qian westward to an area that is now Afghanistan to locate potential allies and convince them to help China in the fight against the Xiongnu. He was not successful.

However, Zhang’s westward travels were not in vain. On his long expedition, he visited Dayuan, better known as Ferghana, one of the easternmost outposts of Alexander the Great’s empire in Central Asia. There he found a hardy breed of horses with great endurance. The general returned to China in 125 BCE with news about the horses and stories of the people and places he had encountered on his journey. Using the horses Zhang Qian found, China’s military reestablished itself and pushed beyond the northern border against the Xiongnu. After Emperor Wudi’s death, China took control of Dayuan and gained direct contact with groups in western Asia. Silk was sent westward, while new ideas accompanied the strong Central Asian horses and other goods traveling eastward to China.