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Horse slaughter was forbidden during the Yuan dynasty, even for purposes of ceremonial banquets for senior officials. Sick and old horses had to be certified as being of no use before slaughter. If caught secretly slaughtering horses or cattle, each perpetrator would be sentenced to 100 strokes of the paddle and to a fine, which … Continue reading Mogol Empire: Harsh Punishments for Horse-Related Crimes

The Mongolian horse is the breed we most often associate with Mongolia, where the people have been famous for their horsemanship since history began. As one of the oldest surviving horse breeds in the world, Mongolian horses feature the largest genetic variety among all the Chinese horse breeds, representing an original nature less affected by … Continue reading Genghis Khan’s Charger

Book review by John Grant Ross, author of You Don’t Know China and Formosan Odyssey. China is not usually associated with horses – well, other than being an agrarian civilisation long in opposition to the nomadic horse peoples of Central Asia – and yet it has a rich equestrian history and culture, as detailed in breadth and … Continue reading Bookish.asia Review

Book review by David Chaffetz who is the author of Three Asian Divas: Women, Art and Culture in Shiraz, Delhi and Yangzhou (Abbreviated Press, November 2019). He is working on a new book about the horse in Asian history. “When people talk of horses, no one ever thinks of China,” complains Yin Hung Young in the opening … Continue reading Asian Review of Books