Sun Yang (), better known by the honorific name Bole or Bo Le (Po-le; ) was a horse tamer in Spring and Autumn period, a retainer for the Duke Mu of Qin (r. 659–621 BCE), and a famous judge of horses. Bole was the legendary inventor of equine physiognomy ("judging a horse's qualities from appearance").
Names Sun Yang, with the surname Sun and given name Yang (of yin and yang), was renowned for his extraordinary understanding of horses. He was given the Chinese honorific name Bole, and is also known as Sun Bole.(Henry 1987:28)
Bo means "eldest" and le means "pleasure; happiness". Bole was a mythological figure who first tamed horses. His name was given to a star, from which he supervised the winged tianma ("heavenly horses"). Proposed locations of this star are with Zaofu (the legendary charioteer, see below) in Zeta Cephei within Cepheus (Chinese astronomy)Book of Jin, Spring 1988:198 or in the constellation Scorpius.(Harrist 1997:135-6)
In Modern Standard Chinese, Bole figuratively means "good judge of talent", from the chengyu idiom Bole-xiangma (). The Classical Chinese expression (from the Zhanguo Ce below) Bole yigu () means "to instantly raise the ask price of something".
In Japanese, Bole is known by the name Hakuraku (), which is the On reading of the Chinese characters , and which has become Japanese slang for a veterinarian.
The name Bo Le can also be romanized as Po-le or Po Lo.
Historical context
"Although his fame exceeded that of all others, Bole was only one of many horse experts active during the late Bronze Age".(Harrist 1997:136). Owing to the importance of horse warfare in ancient China, equestrian experts were highly valued. The Lüshi Chunqiu listed ten specialized horse physiognomers, and Herrlee Glessner Creel said the "judging of horses was early recognized as a special art".(Creel 1965:654)
During the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BCE), Chinese armies first battled Eurasian nomadic warriors on horseback. Creel writes, "The riding horse was forced upon the Chinese. It was first thrust upon their attention as a new and deadly weapon that their nomadic enemies had acquired, and it seems always to have been regarded primarily as an instrument for fighting the nomads."(Creel 1965:670) The earliest archaeologically discovered Chinese chariot dated circa 1200 BCE during the reign of King Wu Ding.(Shaughnessy 1998). During the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BCE), horse-drawn chariots were increasingly used both for warfare and aristocratic transportation. The first clear evidence of horse riding in China comes from the late 4th century BCE (Goodrich 1984). King Wuling of Zhao (r. 325–298 BCE) initiated the military reform of hufu qishe "barbarian clothing and horse archery", which replaced chariot tactics with superior cavalry tactics.
When the Chinese imported military horses and chariots from foreign "horse riders", they concurrently introduced a complex equestrian culture, which resulted in new professions in fields such as horse domestication, selective horse breeding (as early as the 14th century BCE),Creel 1965:654 horse training, horse riding, horse tack, horse care, veterinary medicine, animal acupuncture and horse shamanism.
The Chinese traditionally believed the best horses and horse specialists came from foreign sources. While some people became outstanding equestrians, for Chinese people in general, Creel says, "the riding horse remained something strange, almost foreign in nature. Horses, and horsemen, were in general associated with the border areas of the north and west. It is a striking fact that the grooms and handlers of horses appearing in Chinese art seem almost always to be depicted as non-Chinese."(Creel 1965:670)
Horse physiognomy
Techniques from the Chinese pseudoscience of xiangshu "human physiognomy; judgment of character from facial appearance" were extended to xiangma "horse physiognomy; evaluating a horse by its appearance". (Sōma is a common Japanese name.) Bole was specifically a xiangmashi } "horse physiognomist", which Robert E. Harrist explains: "By studying the body of a horse, giving special attention to its bone structure and the sizes and shapes of its various parts, Bole was able to assess with unfailing accuracy hidden capacities that a lesser judge of horses would have overlooked."(Harrist 1988:136)
In 1973, archeologists excavating a 168 BCE tomb in Changsha discovered the Mawangdui Silk Texts. They included a fragmentary text about judging horses, which scholars tentatively call the Xiangmajing "Classic of Horse Physiognomy" (also used for a 5th-century text). This manuscript mentions Bole himself; "What Bole physiognomized were the horses of a superior man. Yin and yang abided by the plumb line, and curved and straight were exactly even."(tr. Harrist 1997:137)
The (c. 544) Qimin yaoshu (Essential Techniques for the Common People) records early Chinese methods of agriculture and animal husbandry, including horse physiognomy. This text metaphorically associates parts of a horse's body with the political organization of a state, and describes the appearance of an ideal horse. A horse's head is king; it should be square. The eyes are the prime ministers; they should be radiant. The spine is the general; it should be strong. The belly and chest are the city walls; they should be extended. The four legs are the local officials; they should be long. … In judging a horse one begins with the head. The head should be high and erect; it should look as if it were shaved. The head should be heavy, and it is good that there be little flesh, like the skinned head of a rabbit.(56, tr. Harrist 1997:138-9)
The Chinese historically used bronze scale models of horses as hippology reference guides to the ideal horse.(Harrist 1997:149–150). The Book of the Later Han records two early examples. The horse expert Dongmeng Jing presented Emperor Wu of Han (r. 141–87 BCE) with a cast-bronze horse and written instructions for using the model to judge horses. General Ma Yuan (a renowned equestrian surnamed "horse") presented Emperor Guangwu of Han (r. 25–57 CE) a bronze model of a horse designed to clarify the points to observe in equine judging. The inscription, which listed four generations of Ma's horse teachers, said, "Horses are the foundation of military might, the great resource of the state."(tr. Creel 1965:659) Some Chinese scholars propose that the famous "Flying Horse" discovered in a Han tomb in Gansu was a physiognomic model for a superior horse in motion.
Giambattista della Porta's 1586 De humana physiognomonia was an early Western parallel for horse physiognomy.
Early textual references Beginning around the 3rd century BCE, Chinese classics mention Bole as an exemplar of horse judging. Bole is frequently associated with the fabled qianlima "thousand-li horse", which was supposedly able to gallop one thousand li (approximately 400 km) in a single day (e.g., Red Hare). Qianlima was a literary Chinese word for people with latent talent and ability; and Spring suggests, "For centuries of Chinese history, horses had been considered animals capable of performing feats requiring exceptional strength and endurance. Possibly it is for this reason that from early times horses have been used allegorically to represent extraordinary people."(Spring 1988:180) Bole recognizing a qianlima was a metaphor for a wise ruler selecting talented shi "scholar-officials". Thus, "Geniuses in obscurity were called thousand li horses who had not yet met their [Bole]".(Henry 1987:28)
Lüshi Chunqiu The (c. 239 BCE) encyclopedic Lüshi Chunqiu contrasts Bole with other legendarily skilled exemplars: the Spring and Autumn period (771–476 BCE) archer Yang Youji and swordsmith Ouye, and the charioteer Zaofu who served King Mu of Zhou (r. 976–922 BCE).
When Yang Youji shot at a rhinoceros, he hit a stone instead and the arrow was swallowed, feathers and all. This happened because he was so intent on the rhinoceros. When Bole studied the physiognomy of horses, he saw nothing except horses. This was because he was so intent on horses.(9, tr. Knoblock and Riegel 2000:220)
Obtaining ten good horses is not as good as obtaining one excellent physiognomist of horses, like Bole, nor ten fine swords as good as one excellent smith, like Ouye, nor a thousand li of land as good as one sage.(24, tr. Knoblock and Riegel 2000:609)
As for a horse, if Bole physiognomized its quality and Zaofu held the reins, a worthy ruler riding as a passenger in a carriage drawn by it could go a thousand li in a single day. That such a ruler would expend none of the effort of the physiognomist and driver and yet enjoy the efficaciousness of the horse would be because he knows the principle of being a passenger.(24, tr. Knoblock and Riegel 2000:633)
Another Lüshi Chunqiu chapter lists ten specialist horse physiognomers. Of those in antiquity who expertly physiognomized horses, Hanfeng Shi examined the teeth; Ma Chao , the forehead; Zinu Li , the eyes; Wey Ji , the whiskers; Xu Bi , the rump; Toufa He , the chest; Guan Qing , the lips and throat; Chen Pei , the legs and hooves; Qin Ya , the front; and Zan Jun , the rear. All ten of these men were the most skilled of their age. How they examined horses was not the same, but each looked for characteristics that confirmed a horse's qualities. From this they could know whether the horse had superior or inferior joints, whether it would be clumsy or fleet of foot, whether it was made of sturdy or inferior stuff, and whether it was highly talented or not. It is not only the judging of horses that is like this. There are also confirming characteristics for people, as well as for deeds and states.(20, tr. Knoblock and Riegel 2000:543)
Hanfeizi The (c. 3rd century BCE) Legalist classic Hanfeizi has two stories about Bole teaching horse physiognomy. Pai-lo once taught two men how to select horses that kick habitually. Later, he went with them to Viscount Chien's stable to inspect the horses. One of the men pulled out a kicking horse. The other man went near behind the horse and patted its flank three times, but the horse never kicked. Therefore, the man who had pulled out the horse thought he had been wrong in the way of selection. Yet the other man said: "You were not wrong in the way of selection. The shoulders of this horse are short but its laps are swollen. The horse that kicks habitually has to raise the hindlegs and lay its whole weight upon the forelegs. Yet swollen laps are not dependable. So the hind legs cannot be raised. You were skillful in selecting kicking horses but not in observing the swollen laps." Verily, everything has the supporter of its weight. However, that the forelegs have swollen laps and therefore cannot support its whole weight, is known only by intelligent men. … Pai-lo taught men whom he disliked how to select swift race-horses and taught men whom he liked how to select inferior horses, because swift race-horses being few and far between would yield slow profits while inferior horses being sold every day would bring about quick profits.(8, tr. Liao 1939:244-6)
Zhanguo ce The (c. 3rd–1st centuries BCE) Zhanguo ce "Strategies of the Warring States" has two historical stories about Bole in which a courtier seeking an audience with a ruler compares himself to an excellent horse.
After waiting three months for an interview with Lord Chunshen (d. 238 BCE), the Prime Minister of Chu, Han Ming told a story equating himself to a ji "thoroughbred horse; virtuous person" being recognized by Bole. The (c. 121 CE) Shuowen Jiezi dictionary defined ji (tr. Spring 1988:188) as "a thousand li horse that needs a Sun Yang (i.e., Po-le) to be recognized."