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

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 ...

. It 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 ''Parafilaria multipapillosa'' (syn. ''Filaria haemorrhagica'') is a parasitic nematode of the genus ''Parafilaria'',Ferghana.html" ;"title="or the ancient Chinese references to the “Blood-sweating” horses of Ferghana">or the ancient Chine ...

'', which infected the highly sought-after

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

(大宛馬), sometimes conflated with Tianma. In the

Western Zhou The Western Zhou ( zh, c=, p=Xīzhōu; c. 1045 BC – 771 BC) was a royal dynasty of China and 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 when the Quanrong n ...

Empire, Tianma referred to a constellation. Tianma is also associated with Emperor Wu of Han, an aficionado of the Central Asian horse, and the famous poet

Li Bo Li Bai (, 701–762), also pronounced as Li Bo, courtesy name Taibai (), was a Chinese poet, acclaimed from his own time to the present as a brilliant and romantic figure who took traditional poetic forms to new heights. He and his friend Du F ...

. 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 Horse in Chinese mythology Horses in mythology Winged horses {{China-myth-stub

See also

References