Page 317 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols 310

The military god of riches with his civilian counterpart

Riding

qi-ma

The Chinese seem to have learned how to ride horses from their northern neighbours.
Riding brought with it a change in men’s garb from the flowing garments formerly worn
(and retained till much later by civil officials) to trousers. The use of the verb qi is also a
late development; earlier, one spoke of ‘mounting a horse’.
A picture showing an official on horseback, accompanied by a man who holds
a canopy over him, while eight other persons stand round him, is a reference to
Liang Hao (913–1004), who was actually 84 years old when he came first in the final
civil service examination.
Sitting on a horse facing backwards was not considered, as it was in Europe, a
punishment or a silly caper: China’s most famous poet, Li Tai-bo, rode in this fashion –
and on an ass, into the bargain, i.e. on a mount used by only the poorest of the poor.
‘Riding’ as a metaphor for sexual intercourse is known from usage in Europe and
Japan, but is not in common use in China.