Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Chinese New Year 2014—Year of the Horse


It seems that Chinese New Year comes around more quickly each year. This Friday, January 31st will mark the start of Horse Year. Thinking about horses in Chinese culture, images of the Terracotta Army Horses at Xi’an and of the famous Tang dynasty pottery horses immediately spring to mind.

With associations going back to antiquity, horses are firmly entrenched in Chinese art. Looking though my objects for images of horses, I notice two main types: horses mounted by people or gods, and those in more natural settings.



Click on any image to enlarge.
For all its apparent simplicity, this small wooden statue is a well-planned composition. The black horse, red face, and metallic garments all contrast nicely with each other. There is a constant sense of balance—the horse’s head with the rider’s ‘apron’, the fall of the tail with the fall of the ‘skirt’, and the rider’s bent arm with the horse’s bent leg. Even the gilt scrollwork on the front of the base ties it in with the statue and also echoes the rider’s headdress.

As opposed to the martial air of the first mounted example, this friendlier rider is holding up a toy and playing a game of catch. The above detail comes from a very colorful set of carved furniture panels.

At first I thought this finial represented a horse, based on the head and overall shape, but on closer inspection, the legs (with paws!) and under-carriage look more like those of a lion. Perhaps this is some sort of horse-lion chimera, or perhaps an idiosyncrasy of the carver—I’ll have to be on the lookout for similar examples.

The creature in this finial is definitely all horse. The way it is mounted on an iron pole reminds me of a carousel animal, especially the way it is posed prancing.

Horses are associated with warfare, and this detail from an intricately-carved battle scene shows the horse at full gallop while its rider brandishes spears and weapons.


This battle scene, from a painted furniture panel, features the female warrior Deng Chanyu on horseback.



Here is a scene from the end of a wooden offering box, showing a horse that is saddled but without any rider. This makes a good transition to the second type of horse in Chinese art, those depicted as plain animals in more natural settings.

This carved pierced panel with its gilded, grazing horse has great appeal. The curlicue fretwork is very well done, and the red-gold-black color scheme is used to great effect, although very different from the mounted horse statue above.

The scene carved in shallow relief on this inkstone has a charming folk-art quality. The horse is once again in a grazing posture, and the monkey in the tree seems about to jump on his back, and looks very pleased with his plan.

Finally, here is the top of a small medicine container, embossed with a horse. The still-sealed tin contains Triangle Brand ‘genuine horse bezoar’, a kind of stone formed in the horse’s digestive tract, and which is used in traditional medicine. 

These few examples barely scratch the surface of horse imagery. If you have a favorite among those depicted, let me know in the comments. Horses in Chinese culture, similar to those in the West, can symbolize battle-readiness, importance, power and speed, as well as nature and freedom. Embodying all these qualities, this Horse Year is bound to be an auspicious one. 

Happy Year of the Horse!


(All photographs and original articles property of the author.)

25 comments:

  1. Dear Jim - I have enjoyed looking at your Chinese artefacts showing horses. All of them are very appealing but I particularly like the grazing gilded horse with its elegant stance. The little medicine container is nicely embossed, but whatever is the stone formed in the horse's digestive tract used for?
    Could your horse with paws is a tiger?
    Now I must come clean and admit to being a horse, but on looking at the Chinese signs discover that there are 5 elements to each sign - this year being the year of the Green Wooden Horse. Chinese astrology is quite confusing.

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    1. Hello Rosemary, According to one site, the horse bezoar is recommended for delirium, mania, and “talking without making sense.” It's a good thing for me that the tin is still full.

      About the mystery animal, its head looks very horselike to me, and except for the famous limerick, it seems unlikely for someone riding on a tiger, but who knows? As you say, Chinese astrology is very complicated, and so are its historical stories and iconography.

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  2. The horse is a magnificent creature and a delight to include in two or three dimensional art. This is true whether the horse is a working animal on a farm, a hunting companion, a method of transport or an elegant family favourite.

    But how sad when, in both European and Chinese art, the horse stands for war and killing. Nonetheless my favourite image is the female warrior in battle. Both the warrior and the horse look sleek and athletic.

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    1. Hello Hels, Your comment made me realize that there are no hunting scenes here, although they are often seen, especially in Chinese painting.

      I agree with you about not wanting to promote the idea of martial glory. I do think that when the images are old or refer to old deeds, it makes the casualties less personal and so easier to concentrate on the ideas of bravery, etc. that are being conveyed.

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  3. Hello, Jim,

    All of your horses appeal to me for different reasons, but if I had to choose just one, it would be the grazing horse that is so beautifully complemented by the red filigree. I also enjoy objects for the stories they tell, and my guess is that the inkwell might have an interesting history. It looks quite ancient — do you have any idea of its age?

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    1. Hello Mark, Those filigree panels are outstanding--they seem to illustrate some traditional story, or perhaps constitute a rebus.

      I have not examined the inkstone that closely to determine its age. Hand-carved stone artifacts can be notoriously difficult to date--another project for the future.

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  4. Happy Chinese New Year, Jim! Yes, you are right: seems like we just celebrated the year of the snake. Another year - wow!! For my family, Chinese New Year is the most important holiday. And because there are 14 of us (including mom and dad), we pretty much have all the zodiacs covered. One of my brothers was born in the year of the horse. Honestly, I can't remember everyone's sign. Wonderful images of the horse you have chosen. I quite like Deng Chanyu on horseback. Sending you a virtual red envelope!! Take care, Loi

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    1. Hi Loi, The Deng Chanyu panel is wonderfully detailed, and its paint in good condition. It also has more shading effects than are common in these old painted panels.

      Thank you for your virtual red envelope--believe me, it has already been virtually spent!
      Happy Chinese New Year to you, too. Jim

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  5. Ah the mystery figure in your blog that was posted earlier can now be revealed, and thank you for the detailed description of it, (the first photo). Like Mark, my favourite is the gold on filigree. I have a netsuke of a monkey on a horse's back, and as far as I recall, it's a good luck charm for business - the wise monkey riding the strong horse. Gong xi fa cai! Are you going away, or staying put?

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    1. Hello Columnist, Gong xi gong xi! I am planning to stay here and get some work done. Usually the weather is quite dismal around now, but this year it has been beautiful--I just hope it keeps up.

      Blogger has been giving quite a few errors lately, so I was making some tests when I accidentally hit the publish button, resulting in a face as red as that first statue.

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    2. Well, that makes three of us for the gold on filigree, although you have quite a collection. That should be consolation enough to make up for the lima bean casserole!

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    3. Actually you are the fourth for the filigree--when they surface again I have to take some better pictures so I can show the entire panels. And actually, I won't be thinking about lima beans tomorrow--it is Chinese New Year's Eve, and I am going to friends for the traditional feast.

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  6. Dearest Jim,
    That is a very lovely Chinese New Year post! Wishing you all the luck and good health for the year of the horse!
    Love the wooden offering box with the elegant gold and red on black the most! All pieces are quite interesting though but to me this stands out.
    Oh, hitting publish I did yesterday when my eldest cat Barty was on my lap and hanging on my right arm. I could no longer see the 'done' button and off it went. But I did repost the last title with a link back to the original post. Today I deleted that one as I had blocked commenting. So we manage... Worse is that ongoing we have Internet outages here and when you have composed some text or downloaded images, it's all gone if not saved. Now I copy my comments before I hit the Publish button; lesson learned.
    Hugs to you and have a great New Year's Eve!
    Mariette

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    1. Hello Mariette, You have a great eye to pick out that box panel--unfortunately it was not photographed very well, so its quality is obscured.

      I noticed the incomplete posts on your blog, and assumed that you were having the same kinds of troubles--even to the non-readable publish button! The only recent new post I saw was the one on icicles. I hope your weather warms up; today in Taipei it is warm and sunny.

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  7. Dear Jim,
    What an interesting post. I particularly like the gilded grazing horse. I was only speaking yesterday with a couple who had lived in China for a period of time and had, like you, collected some very interesting pieces for their own collection.
    Meanwhile, our local Chinese parent community have been busy celebrating the New year and had a huge party.
    A happy New Year to you, my friend!
    Kirk

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    1. Hi Kirk, Happy Chinese New Year to you, too. Your friends are lucky to have collected directly in China, especially if they were there a while ago. I understand that lately, it is very difficult to find interesting and authentic objects.

      Although there are a few parades, etc., mostly New Year is a quiet time, with family dinners and get-togethers. The main activity is mah-jhong, which lets me out because I am not much of a gambler.

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  8. °º♫♬° ·.
    Passei para uma visita e para conhecer o seu blog.
    Muito interessante essas explicações sobre as diferentes representações do cavalo na cultura chinesa. Bom ano do cavalo!

    ░B░O░M░

    ░F░I░M░

    ░D░E░

    ░S░E░M░A░N░A!!!

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    1. Hello Magia, Thank you for your good wishes and your visit. Happy Chinese New Year to you! I tried to look at your blog, and although I got a glimpse of some beautiful flower photos, the screen each time was immediately overwritten by an apparently unrelated page of links.
      Jim

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  9. Jim, I'm sorry I didn't see this sooner. I'm so glad you posted--I've missed you!

    Such a wonderful array of horses. You have such interesting collections, and I love seeing them. I always learn something too. I think my favorites are the horse-lion and the one that looks like a carousel horse. They are a bit whimsical, which appeals to me. I also love the female warriors and the offering box. I love the way you used that one for your transition. Jen

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    1. Hello Jen, When I collected these objects I had never considered many of the classifications and sequences that are now apparent. This is the fun of both collecting and blogging. For example, I'm sure that I barely noticed the horse on end of the offering box (actually more of a lidded platform), on which the main views were the two principle faces and the top of the lid.

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    2. That horse is lovely--stylized, but I can feel the movement. The same with the nature scene the horse is entering.

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    3. You have caught the essence of real animals depicted in Chinese art. Even in the most static scenes, the animals are lively and engaged.

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    4. Interesting. I will have to look for that. These days when I visit a museum I spend a lot of time in the Asian galleries.

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  10. I am so excited to have found you. My husband and I travel frequently to Taiwan always on business. And our days are so frenzied and "managed" by our suppliers that I rarely have a chance to delve into the culture. I will so enjoy reading your posts. And I adore P.G. Wodehouse. --Barbara

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    1. Hello Barbara, Thank you for your kind words, which will inspire me to post more regularly. I hope that you will get to experience more of Taiwan, but I also know how business trips can occupy all your time. Jim

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