Six Steeds of Zhao Mausoleum

By tradition the reliefs were designed by the court painter, and administrator for public works, Yan Liben, and the relief is so flat and linear that it seems likely they were carved after drawings or paintings.

[1] Yan Liben is documented as producing other works for the tomb, a portrait series that is now lost, and perhaps designed the whole structure.

[2] The steeds were six precious war horses of Taizong, which he rode during the early campaigns to reunify China under the Tang, and all bear names which are not Chinese but rather transliterations of Turkic or Central Asian terms, indicative of the horses' probable origin as gifts or tributes from the Tujue to the Tang forces.

They are: The sculptures are regarded as ancient Chinese art treasures.

Loo in 1914 and are exhibited at the Penn Museum at University of Pennsylvania, USA.