Looking to Year of the Horse for peace

With the Year of the Horse round the corner, some Spring Festival greetings related with the horse have been tripping off many people's tongue, and a popular one is ma dao cheng gong, or speedy success (upon horses' arrival), with ma referring to horse. Also, Chinese paintings of galloping horses have become most sought-after new year items, favored especially by businesspeople craving for success in the coming new year.

While people today take the auspicious implications of the horse for granted, few would associate the majestic animal with the turbulent days of the past. Nothing should prevent us from welcoming a new year with hope, but we should understand and cherish the present peace and prosperity by reflecting on the past, when horses were a lot more than just an artistic subject and harbinger of success, or simply the means of conducting overland trade and communication.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Middle Kingdom flourished because of its equestrian might. The use of chariots in battles reached its peak around the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), when a kingdom's military prowess was measured by the number of chariots it had. The more flexible cavalry units were later adopted to deal with threats from the nomadic neighbors. And horses remained essential to the country's security throughout its imperial past.