Beginning around the 3rd century BCE,
Chinese classics mention
Bole, a mythological horse-tamer, as an
exemplar of horse judging. Bole is frequently associated with the fabled , which was supposedly able to gallop one thousand
li (approximately 400 km) in a single day (e.g.
Red Hare,
sweats blood horse). 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." 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 ". ==Japan==