Wandering Horses: Legal issues surrounding the exportation of Chinese antiquities

By Yihao Ding

The Two Steeds of Zhao Mausoleum, two stone horse reliefs now in the Asian collection of the Penn Museum, were made during the early Tang dynasty, between 636 and 649.^[1] Along with four other horse reliefs, they once accompanied Emperor Taizong of Tang in his mausoleum Zhaoling 昭陵, located at Mount Jiuzong in Shaanxi, China. Taizong himself selected the horses and ordered their images to be carved on stones as part of his burial structure so they could be properly memorialized and accompany him in his afterlife. The six horses, Saluzi (飒露紫 Autumn Dew”), Telebiao (特勒骠 “Turkic Horse”), Quanmaogua (拳毛騧 “Curly”), Qingzhui (青骓 “Horse from Qin”), Baitiwu (白蹄乌 “White-hoofed Crow”), and Shifachi (什伐赤 “Horse from Persia”)^[2]were ridden by Taizong in various important battles during the emperor’s lifetime.^[3] Each is represented on a separate gray stone slab of approximately 0.17 m high, 0.20 m wide, and 0.40 m thick.^[4] Saluzi is shown standing with a man removing an arrow from its chest.^[5] Baitiwu, Qingzhui, and Shifachi are depicted in the pose of “flying gallop.”^[6] Quanmaogua and Telebiao are depicted as standing.^[7] Fissures are visible on each stone slab. While Telebiao, Qingzhui, Baitiwu, and Shifachi are now in Xi’an Beilin Museum, Saluzi and Quanmaogua are in Pennsylvania.