- Koguryo and Balhae
- Tokhung-ri Tomb
Koguryo and Balhae
| Title | Horse | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Horses in the stable scene on the southern wall of the main chamber wall
This is a detailed view of the horses in the stable scene on the southern wall of the main chamber in Tokhung-ri Tomb. The yellow and red steeds feature thick necks, enhancing their strong and healthy appearance. The horses that appear in Koguryo tomb murals aren't the large, long-legged Ferghana horses (literally "sweats blood horse" in Chinese) from the mountains of Central Asia but a type of short-legged pony found in the grasslands of Mongolia. Their sizes were so small that they were often facetiously referred to as Gwahama, or “horse below fruit [tree]”, as they were ostensibly able to easily pass underneath fruit trees. Samguk sagi or The History of the Three Kingdoms includes a description of these horses that states, "The horses are short and excel at climbing mountains."