Tianma

The Tianma is a flying horse 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,^[1] which infected the highly sought-after Ferghana horse (大宛馬), sometimes conflated with Tianma. Tianma, the flying horse, is clearly connected to Pegasus from the Western Han dynasty artwork^[2] and in the Tang dynasty sources, as coming from Hellenized Central Asia.^[3]

In the Western Zhou Empire, Tianma referred to a constellation.^[4] Tianma is also associated with Emperor Wu of Han, an aficionado of the Central Asian horse,^[5] and the famous poet Li Bo.^[6] The bronze statue Gansu Flying Horse is a well-known example.

• Horse in Chinese mythology
• Shanghai Tianma Circuit
• Han–Xiongnu War

• Schafer, Edward H. (1985). The Golden Peaches of Samarkand. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-05462-2.
• Weng, Wan-go; Yang Boda (1982). The Palace Museum: Peking. New York: Abrams.