"Horses" in rock painting of  Huamaya cliff

An image of two men riding horses

Rock paintings in Guizhou are mostly drawn in reddish brown and a few of them are carved on cliffs. They reflect the life and production of ancient societies and spiritual and cultural life of ancient people. For example, rock paintings in Painted Horse Cliff are considered a historical panorama on life of ancient ethnic groups. This set of rock paintings describes the celebrations of a local festival and vividly depicts some 150 images, including human figures, horses, trees, caves, cranes, birds, the sun, stars, mountain paths and clouds.

The horse is the subject that most frequently appears in rock paintings in Guizhou, because the horse is raised in a large number during the Song and Ming dynasties. According to historical records, 42,679 horses raised in western Guizhou were sent to the empire's capital as tributes within the twenty years from 1384 to 1404. Thanks to growing demands for horses, local people in Guizhou raised horses with great enthusiasm. And thus, horse grazing scenes often appear in rock paintings made during this period of time.

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