The four-footed legends of the silk road

In ancient China animals did a lot of the economic heavy lifting and made a great contribution to art

In Western mythology the most famous horse is that of Troy, the giant wooden ruse that the Greeks used to wrong-foot their enemy.

If there is any equine image in the East that can match the stature of its Western counterpart, it is probably that of the "heavenly horses" - horses that once traveled the ancient Silk Road connecting the Chinese empire with the vast land lying to its west.