Horse stepping swallow

2 min read

Cast during the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220), Galloping Horse Overtaking a Flying Swallow stands out as an immortal work of sculpture in the history of Chinese art.

The horse was an important subject in ancient Chinese sculpture. Galloping Horse Overtaking a Flying Swallow differs from the other sculptures of horses in that it represents motion, rather than the horse itself.

When a horse gallops full speed, it looks as if it were flying in the air. So the ancient Chinese thought of a fast horse as a”heavenly steed soaring in the skies.”Usually, the sculpture of a swift horse had to be set atop a floating cloud.

Galloping Horse Overtaking a Flying Swallow, however, has one of its hind hoofs set on a swallow in flight, while the other legs are airborne. The horse holds its head high, with its eyes staring, its nostrils flaring and its ears up. Part of themane is standing erect, while the tail thrown up in the air. Its body features strong, smooth muscles, and its belly is contracted as it runs. As the galloping horse overtakes the tiny swallow, the latter turns back to look at it in surprise.

One would normally imagine that a swallow flies faster than a galoping horse.

Now that the horse has overtaken the swallow, it inspires the viewer to imagine how fast the horse is running. Li Bai (701-762), one of the best-known poets of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), wrote the poem”Song of the Heavenly Horse”.

Two of the lines can be borrowed to describe this sculpture:”Looking back at the black swallow,/(The horse) laughs at its slowness.”