Museum Updates
An encounter with a Xiyu horse in an ancient screen painting
Updated: Feb 19, 2026
China Bound
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This painting, framed with purple silk and set within a wooden screen, depicts a saddled horse led by a groom holding a whip. With bold colors and vivid lines, the artist rendered the muscular horse of the Xiyu (Western Regions) standing powerfully, seemingly lost in thought.
Unearthed in 1972 from Tomb No 188 in the Astana Cemetery in Turpan, Xinjiang, this Tang Dynasty (618-907) piece is now preserved at the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum.
