Date：2026-02-04 - 2026-03-17
Location：The Shanghai Museum on People's Square, No.3 Exhibition Hall (4F)
Since ancient times, the horse has been both a vital companion to human beings and a spiritual emblem woven into the fabric of Chinese civilization. It served in farming and warfare, enabled postal and transport services, embodied ceremonial grandeur and auspiciousness. As the Bing-Wu Year of the Horse arrives and spring returns, we are proud to present this exhibition, "Galloping into Spring". The phrase qi ji in its Chinese title echoes the sound of "miracle" in the same language, while evoking the image of a fine horse catching the favorable spring breeze. It conveys the idea of embarking on a new great journey in a flourishing age, when grand visions meet auspicious timing, and all creation is renewed with limitless possibilities ahead.
This exhibition brings together 16 pieces or sets of horse-themed artifacts spanning about a millennium. Here, you will encounter a bronze chariot from the Leitai Tomb of the Han dynasty in Wuwei—the same site that yielded the famed bronze sculpture, "A Galloping Horse Treading on a Flying Swallow"—and experience the imposing spectacle of Han chariot processions. You will appreciate the "Celestial Immortal Riding a Galloping Horse", a sculpture infused with the lively spirit of Han jade carving. And in Xu Beihong's Drinking Horse and Zhang Daqian's After Cao Ba's Yu Hua Cong, you will feel the "soul and sinew" of the horse conveyed through the flowing energy of ink.
As we celebrate the arrival of spring, may our visitors find inspiration from these steeds in the spring breeze, behold the noble images of horses across the ages, and hear the resounding hoofbeats of history. And may everyone go well in the coming Chinese New Year—swift as a galloping horse and victorious in every endeavor!
