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. 

This is no ordinary horse but the legendary dancing horse that performed in the Qinzheng Hall according to the Old Book of Tang.

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. 

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.

Here’s a video using AI to show a horse dancing to mark the start of 2026! With the horse’s movements, let us gallop into a brilliant new future!