Relief

After consolidating the Tang Empire, Emperor Taizong ordered six large stone panels to be carved with the portraits of his favorite horses. These were the horses he had ridden in overcoming his rivals and securing the territory of the empire. From the laudatory poem he composed for each horse, the names and attributes of the horses can be matched to the stone reliefs. The relief shown here depicts the horse called Saluzi, ridden by Taizong at the battle for the city of Luoyang, the Eastern Capital, in 621 CE. When the horse was stuck with an arrow, the emperor was forced to dismount and switch horses with his general, Qiu Xinggong. The general is shown in the relief pulling the arrow out of the horse's chest while it stoically bears the pain.