Dragon Horse

Historical note on background to the legend of the dragon-horse

The importation of horses from central Asia was a major feature of all the early Chinese dynasties as they pushed westwards to the heart of Asia in the expansion of the empire.

It was during the course of this expansion, around 100 BC, that the Emperor Wu received tribute from a region he had just conquered called Ferghana, in the heart of Central Asia near the farthest eastern reaches of Alexander the Great’s conquests. The tribute came in the form of horses that were quite unlike the sturdy steppe ponies the Chinese had imported from Mongolia. Bred from Arab stock, they were dun-coloured and sometimes marked with two or three dark stripes on their backs.

Because of the difficulty the Chinese had in breeding from them, the superior breed of horses they discovered through conquest were required in a constant supply. The difficulty in breeding probably added to the belief of the Chinese at that time that special horses issued forth from water - normally the home of the watery dragons of Chinese folklore. Sometimes these special horses would be born with wings and it was in this way that they became associated with dragons - more powerful mythical beasts and emblems of the emperors of China. This association carried with it the idea that the Son of Heaven, the emperor, would be transported to Heaven itself by a pair of these creatures.

This legend became entrenched and spread far and wide, which explains why so many variations of the 'dragon-horse' myth, sacred horses born in water which carried semi-divine rulers to immortality in heaven, can be traced right across India to China and Mongolia.