Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Horses


While scrolling through pictures of various temples in Xiamen, China, I noticed the trend that horses were pictured often. Upon this observation, I looked to find symbolism for the horse, but the search was not without problems. In contrast to my other animal symbolism searches, I found many sources on the horse. The complication was that the sources had no common factor in what the horse represents. Each source had general statements about the horse, but few of the statements could be found in any other source.
To begin, the horse is, in most pictures, just a means for transportation. Horses were valued highly amongst the nomadic peoples of China because horses were rare in early China. When Mongolians and Tibetans brought horses into China, the horse became more prominent. In temples, various deities, heroes, and even the Buddha are seen riding horses. If eight horses are seen together, the horses represent the eight horses of King Mu. He is said to have ruled in the tenth century. Outside of temple settings, horses symbolize economic growth and prosperity. Horses seen at the entrance of buildings are usually gold and are used as guardians.
In addition to horses with these meanings, a famous horse exists that appears frequently in temples. The horse is referred to as the Red Hare horse. Existing in the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history, the horse was famous for battles with different soldiers that aided in protecting China. At first, this horse could not be broken and was not useful because of this. Lü Bu, a young soldier adopted by a warlord, was given the horse. He was able to tame the horse and used him in battle. “Among men, Lü Bu. Among horses, Red Hare,” was a phrase commonly used to describe the great ability the two possessed in battle. When Lü Bu died, the horse was given to a man named Cao Cao who gave it to Guan Yu, another soldier. Guan Yu was an exceptionally successful soldier which elevated him to a deity in the eyes of the Chinese people. Because of his success, he was given his own temples where people could worship him for protecting China. The Red Hare horse is very easily seen in pictures because artists portray the horse in bright reds with Guan Yu riding on his back. In some portrayals, the battle scenes are pictured with Guan Yu and the Red Hare horse as well as their comrades who are pictured riding Qilin like creatures to battle. This eludes to the Red Hare horse’s status of being beyond the natural world and mythological. The pictures of the battle scenes are painted onto the tile walls on both sides of  temples in the examples that can be seen at the end of this blog. 
The horse is a relevant animal in Chinese culture. Though the symbolism is not fluid when discussed in scholarly texts, some similarities do exist. In addition, the Red Hare horse is a famous representation of the horse.

Eberhard, Wolfram. A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols: Hidden Symbols in Chinese Life and Thought. New York: Routledge, 1986. 79. Print.

Welch, Patricia. Chinese Art: A Guide to Motifs and Visual Imagery. 1st Ed. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 2008. Print.

Williams, C.A.S. Outlines of Chinese Symbolism and Art Motives. 3rd Edition. 1983. Print.