With the triumphant approach of the new Year of the Horse on the horizon, Kaohsiung's Fokuangshan Foundation has arranged a special "Year of the Horse" new year's exhibition. The display will be held at the Fokuang Yuan Exhibition Hall for a month and a half starting January 27, 2002. The 200 cultural relics on display-antique and modern equine images from all over the world-illustrate mankind's appreciation of the powerful beast, as well as showing the dynamics of several thousand years of cultural interaction between the agrarian Chinese and their nomadic neighbors. Fokuangshan, the event's sponsor, has enriched Taiwan society in recent years through Master Hsing Yun's "Dharma Art and Culture" program, and hopes that this exhibit's exquisite artistry and Buddhist spirituality will lead us into an enlightened and fulfilling year.

Among the pieces on display, aside from the Buddhist-themed "White Horse Carrying the Scriptures" section, there are three other collections that are on loan from the National Museum of History and private art collectors. These three collections-"Spirited Horses of the Han and Tang Dynasties," "Galloping Horses," and the "Liu Chiwei Gallery"-show us the secular aspects of "horse culture," greatly enriching the exhibition as a result.

The National Museum of History loaned the 60-odd Han and Tang dynasty works that comprise the "Spirited Horses" collection. The heroic depictions of these steeds cover the gamut of artistic media, from wood and jade carvings to pottery and bronze ware. Another series of artworks contains Eastern Han ceramic horse carts, Tang dynasty glazed figures of horses and men, and Ming dynasty tricolored, equestrian-themed instruments. These items boast excellent craftsmanship that is at once both stirring and simple. Finally, there are the multicast Western Han bronze horses that epitomize that era's approach to the genre.

Powerful and majestic, equine relics from the Han and Tang evoke the might of the two prosperous periods, as well as showing the influence of frequent contact with the cultures of the western steppes. Understanding "horse culture" provides insight into Chinese literature and culture. Of the Chinese zodiac's 12 animals, the horse is the mightiest of those who are friends unto man; indeed, when man takes up the reigns of a horse, it causes his spirit to soar. "The powerful gait of a horse thrills people, and so horses have become one of mankind's favorite symbols," believes Lin Ku-fang, one of the event's planners and the head of Fo Guang University's graduate institute of fine arts. Viewing things from the historical perspective of the agrarian Chinese, the nomadic peoples of the north were perhaps not as advanced as the Han. However, they nonetheless were able to use their flourishing military (amongst which cavalry was paramount) to subjugate their agrarian neighbors. The military clashes with the neighboring nomadic tribes greatly stimulated cultural exchange and, in the end, broadened Chinese culture by making the horse an indispensable part of their civilization.