Wild Horses...

The first time I saw this image on the web, I knew I had to see it at the Daegu Arboretum. This ancient horse blanket was discovered in an unmarked tomb.

It is amazing to me how many of the cultural artifacts have been lost due to wars that have ravaged Korea...China, Japan, and the division of this peninsula. For a culture that is 1000s of years old, it is ironic that is illegal to export anything 50 years or older.

Even though this display is not the actual blanket itself, I was still fascinated by the image of the horse and how much they were able to salvage of this blanket...that was thousands of years old. Perhaps it is because it seems like there are extra appendages, or that the animal seemed to be surrounded by fire, but I suspect the truthful answer is the more personal trait of me being born in the year of the fire horse. I don't often gravitate to images of animals, but this captured my imagination.

However, what appeals to me, are the countless stories that remain a mystery, in unmarked tombs. Though it is said, those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it, but what if history leaves only unmarked graves and temples to study? Where is the art, the prose, and the philosophers of the ancient world that once existed here?

A history that remains for me, almost intangible...and elusive.

It's there...it's just not obvious.