In the National Museum, there is a "three-colored pottery horse" which was fired in the 11th year of Tang Kaiyuan (723). It is clearly written on the display board: "The horse's head is facing left, three flowers are cut on the horse's mane, and the saddle is covered with a dark green carpet saddle, and a green belt is wrapped around the saddle. Cutting horse mane into petals is a popular way of horse decoration in Tang Dynasty, which should be influenced by Turkish horse decoration. At present, there are one flower, two flowers and three flowers in the horse figurines unearthed from the tomb of Tang Dynasty. Scattered flowers are not only a decoration, but also the highest symbol of a good horse. "

This passage must have been determined after careful consideration by experts. It seems that the "streaky horse" written by Li Bai is just a good horse with mottled fur, not a BMW with its mane cut into five petals.

I'm a little suspicious again, because I saw a "five flowers horse" handicraft in a small shop today. So I searched "Three Flowers Horse" and "Five Flowers Horse" on the Internet again. There is an explanation under the entry "Three Flowers Horse": "In the Tang Dynasty, the good horses that entered the border areas were stamped with the word" Three Flowers Flying Phoenix "by Shangcheng Bureau. It is also advocated to cut the horse's mane into three braids as an ornament, and the one that cuts the horse's mane into three braids is called Sanhua horse; Five braids are called five flowers horse. See "New Tang Book Official History II"

I'm so happy. When I was working on a project, I just bought new Tang books and old Tang books and put them in my bookcase. I took out the new Tang book and looked at it carefully. Volume 47 is the second "Official Records". Under the entry Shang Chengju on page 1220, it is true that "foreign herders entered a good horse at the age of six and printed the word' flying' and' phoenix'." But it is not recommended to cut horse mane as decorative text. I also read old Tang books, such as new Tang books.

I checked Cihai again, and there are two explanations for "streaky horse", one is "a horse with mottled fur", and the other is "cutting horse mane into five clusters and dividing it into five patterns, which is called" streaky horse ".

Judging from the existing paintings, whether it is Han Gan's Reading Horses with Your Majesty or Zhang Xuan's You Chuntu, the horse in the middle is a "three flowers".

Even Li Shimin's "Six Horses in Zhaoling" are all "three flowers". More and more evidence proves that the words signed at the Expo are correct, and "Three Flowers" is indeed the highest symbol of a good horse in the Tang Dynasty.

Just like other historical issues, leave it to archaeological excavations. As there is no direct evidence of "streaky horse" at present, I accept Guo Bo's statement, but I am not completely convinced. I will also look for information, hoping that an expert can help me straighten this question mark completely.