This glazed pottery figurine of a dancing horse is from the Tang Dynasty. It seems to be dancing rhythmically to music, representing the glamour and grace of the Tang Dynasty in its prime.

In 2003, 17 burial sites of the Sui and Tang Dynasties were excavated in the city of Chaoyang, Liaoning Province. The glazed pottery figurine of a dancing horse was excavated from the Tomb of Sun Ze, the largest one in scale.

The figurine is glazed in yellow. On its body, there are remnants of design-tracing paint in gold, as well as red paint and black paint. Its right forefoot is lifted, the rest standing on the rectangular base.This is no ordinary horse but the legendary dancing horse that performed in the Qinzheng Hall according to the Old Book of Tang.

The number of dancing horses during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was considerable. There were a minimum of 100 dancing horses on standby and a maximum of 400. These dancing horses, trained to perform at the emperor’s birthday celebrations, were treated well in the Tang Dynasty. They had snow-white hair and were covered in brocade. Glittering bells hung around their necks. Pearls and jade decorated their mane. All these accentuated their splendour and grace.Dancing horses were named according to their hair colours as “the beloved” or “the pride” of a certain family as a gesture of favour.

Servants kept the stables clean and spotless on a daily basis. The diet of the dancing horses was select, including alfalfa, leguminous feed, and spring water fetched especially from the mountains.Before performances, the dancing horses were taken good care of, washed, and scented.

According to the Old Book of Tang, banquets in the Qinzheng Hall usually required 30 dancing horses to perform the musical composition Qingbeiyue. During the performance, dancing horses followed the rhythm in various postures, either holding heads high, wagging tails, standing on hind legs, or walking sideways. As the music reached its climax, the horses would bend their hind legs slightly, hold a winecup in their mouths, and propose a toast to Emperor Xuanzong’s longevity.

These dancing horses, named “the heavenly horses of Haixi” in ancient times, had a remarkable origin. As indicated by the name, they were horses from the country Haixi. It was called daqin in the Tang Dynasty, which referred to the area of the Eastern Roman Empire and the Near East in ancient China.

Some of these dancing horses were qinghaicong, a superior crossbreed of Persian horses and native horses bred by the Tuyuhun ethnic group in Qinghai. The founder of the Tuyuhun ethnic group was precisely the Murong Xianbei ethnic group that migrated thousands of miles westwards from the area of Chaoyang in Liaoning over 1700 years ago.

The Tuyuhun State, with a history of 350 years, once blazed the trail of the south route of the Silk Road, namely the Qinghai Road. This important trade route enabled merchants, messengers, translators, and ambassadors to travel back and forth between the East and the West.