Tianma (天馬Tiānmǎ, "heavenly horse") was a winged (perhaps metaphorically) flying horse in Chinese folklore.
The Tianma is a flying horse that was sometimes depicted with chimerical features such as dragon scales and was at times attributed the ability to sweat blood, possibly inspired by the parasite Parafilaria multipapillosa , [1] which infected the highly sought-after Ferghana horse (大宛馬), sometimes conflated with Tianma. Tianma, the flying horse, is clearly connected to Pegasus from the Western Han dynasty artwork [2] and in the Tang dynasty sources, as coming from Hellenized Central Asia. [3]
In the Western Zhou Empire, Tianma referred to a constellation. [4] Tianma is also associated with Emperor Wu of Han, an aficionado of the Central Asian horse, [5] and the famous poet Li Bo. [6] The bronze statue Gansu Flying Horse is a well-known example.