The Eight Horses of King Mu, Son of Heaven (ca. 1300) – The Public Domain Review

Particularly famous for his skill in depicting horses, Zhao believed that he had the ability to capture the inner essence of animals with his brush. The practice of judging horses in this way was elevated to a science in ancient China when the horse tamer Bole pioneered the field of equine physiognomy, or xiangma. Carefully analyzing an animal’s characteristics could yield important insights not only about its health, but also about its fundamental nature, he said. A passage from The classic of equine physiognomya fragmentary text found near the archaeological site of Mawangdui, instructs practitioners what to look for in a beautiful specimen, down to the smallest details: the eyes, for exampleshould resemble ‘a moon rising… and not yet bright’. The frequent comparisons to mountains, rivers, and celestial phenomena, art historian Robert E. Harrist Jr. argues, assign cosmological significance to the bodies of the creatures; the correct proportions were indicative of a correct balance in yin, yang and other fundamental forces.