Chollima

Chollima
Picture of Chollima
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	千里馬
Simplified Chinese	千里马
Literal meaning	Thousand li horse
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Qiānlǐmǎ Wade–Giles Ch'ien1-li3-ma3 IPA [tɕʰjɛ́nlìmà]
Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl	천리마
Hancha	千里馬
Transcriptions Revised Romanization Cheollima McCune–Reischauer Ch'ŏllima
Japanese name
Kanji	千里馬
Kana	センリマ
Transcriptions Romanization Senrima

A Chollima (also Qianlima or Senrima, literally "thousand-mile horse") is a mythical winged horse that originates from the Chinese classics and is commonly portrayed in East Asian cultures. This winged horse is said to be too swift and elegant to be mounted (by any mortal man).

Beginning around the 3rd century BCE, Chinese classics mention Bole, a mythological horse-tamer, as an of horse judging. Bole is frequently associated with the fabled qianlima (Chinese: 千里馬) "thousand-miles 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 (1988:180) 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, (Henry 1987:28) "Geniuses in obscurity were called thousand li horses who had not yet met their [Bole]".

Keitoku Senrima (Kim Ge-Dok), a professional middleweight boxer in Japan, uses the stage name "Senrima" (the Japanese form of Qianlima/Chollima) to reference North Korea's Chollima campaigns and thereby express his Zainichi Korean heritage.

Chollima is an important symbol in North Korea. It is the nickname of the North Korean national football team. It gave its name to the Chollima Movement, which promoted fast economic development, similar to that of the Chinese Great Leap Forward and the Soviet Stakhanovite movement. After the Korean War, the country required rebuilding to function again. In order to expedite the construction, President Kim Il-sung devised the slogan "rush as the speed of Chollima".