"Flying Swallows on horseback" uses this ancient art as a graphic symbol of China tourism. What is its symbolic meaning?

1983, China Tourism Administration decided to use Tianma as a graphic symbol of China tourism.

The image of this graphic symbol is based on a bronze carving handicraft in the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220). 1969, this cultural relic was unearthed in Wuwei, Gansu Province, which immediately shocked the whole country and sensationalized the world. It is an ancient plastic arts and smelting in China. The crystallization of casting art is the masterpiece of China's long cultural history.

Tianma is light and agile. No matter from the front or the side, it is extremely vivid and bodybuilding. Tianma holds its head high, its hooves are flying, it is free and unrestrained, and its movements are coordinated. Even if people feel power, it also stimulates people's imagination.

The most amazing thing is that a horse's hind leg is stepping on the back of a sparrow. The sparrow is a part of the whole art and the base of the horse, which keeps the soaring Tianma skillfully balanced and solves the problem of supporting the main image. The instantaneous image of this flight is extremely magical, and its superb design concept is amazing even today after 2000.

There are no reins, saddles and reins on the horse, but there is a ripple fluttering in the wind on its head and a knot at the end of its tail. This subtle artistic treatment has strong China characteristics and style.

At first, people called this ancient work of art "bronze galloping horse", while others called it "riding a swallow". The name swallow on horseback is both vivid and elegant, and is widely used. But after research, it is found that the clues are not swallows, but sparrows. Dragonfinch is a legendary god bird, also called Fei Lian. It is recorded in ancient books that "Ming Di went to Chang 'an to welcome Fei Lian and cast bronze horses. We can't be sure that this article was welcomed by Emperor Han Ming, but at least we can say that handicrafts with this theme were very precious at that time. Dragonfinch is a fengshen, flying fast, but the horse is stepping on it and surpassing it. This is really a horse.

Taking this famous ancient art as a graphic symbol of China tourism is quite symbolic: China, an ancient cultural country with a long history, is advancing rapidly in the air.