China: Manchu general Machang riding at full gallop on white horse with bow and arrows, reign of Emperor Qianlong, c.1765

Ferghana horses were one of China's earliest major imports, originating in an area in Central Asia.

Dayuan, north of Bactria, was a nation centered in the Ferghana Valley of present-day Central Asia, and even as early as the Han Dynasty, China projected its military power to that area.

The Han imperial regime required Ferghana horses and imported such great numbers of them that the rulers of Ferghana closed their borders to such trade. That move resulted in a war that China won. In 102 CE, the Chinese required of the defeated Ferghana that they provide at least 10 of their finest horses for breeding purposes, and 3,000 Ferghana horses of ordinary quality.

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