Mongolian Horseman

Western Han Dynasty, Yangling Museum, Xi'an

This figure would originally have been mounted upon a pottery horse. His Mongolian face is particularly interesting, evidence of the incorporation of "barbarian" peoples into the Han ecumene. The nomads were renowned and feared for their skills in horsemanship; their animals commanded a high premium in the Chinese heartland, whose biogeography was not suitable for breeding horses.

See the Flying Horse of Gansu for the ultimate expression of the Han devotion to horseflesh.