Tianma
Winged horse in Chinese folklore
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tianma (天馬 Tiānmǎ, "heavenly horse") was a winged (perhaps metaphorically) flying horse in Chinese folklore.
Mythology
The Tianma is a flying horse that 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 Flying Horse of Gansu is a well-known example.
Depiction in media works
A few Tianma appear in the Chinese manhua and animated series You Shou Yan, however they are changed to dogs.
