The Year of the Horse in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese lunar year began Feb. 7. Chinese people have always regarded the years of the Dragon and the Horse as being the most propitious of all. At the beginning of this Horse Year we would like to introduce Shieh Kuo-cheng and his horse collection. Shieh is a member of the Legislative Yuan and chairman of the Republic of China's Baseball Association. Displayed in the parlor of his house are souvenirs of baseball games and 750 model horses, collected from the U.S., Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand, Burma, Britain, France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Mexico. The materials used in making the 750 model horses include glass, jasper, crystal, agate, marble, wood, plastic, metal and resin. The models show horses in various positions and activities ranging through standing, sitting, lying down, pulling carts, galloping, skating and skiing. It was only by chance that Shieh started to collect model horses. In 1953 when he graduated from a Japanese university, he began to work as a journalist in Tokyo. One day he was attracted by a purple glass horse at an auction of effects belonging to English author, John Ruskin, and immediately bought it, even though it cost him six weeks of his salary. From this small beginning he started his horse collection, looking for model horses every where. He even risked his life to keep his horse collection intact, during World War Ⅱ, for instance, he care fully moving it from place to place to escape air raids. Shieh values his horse collection, which he says gives him encouragement when he is frustrated. Viewing his collection he has often been inspired by the noble spirit of the horse, particularly its faithfulness, wisdom, firmness and courage.
