Popular toy brings history home

Our cultural and creative product, the "green horse", inspired by the bronze galloping horse, has gained popularity among netizens since it was launched in June 2022.

It has helped raise the number of visitors to the museum. Many tourists visit specifically to buy it and have their photo taken with it.

The popularity of this toy horse has brought economic and social benefits to the Gansu Provincial Museum. Through widespread recognition of the horse, more people have become acquainted with the museum and have stepped inside its doors.

The bronze galloping horse is a must-see cultural relic for many visitors. However, many young people may be familiar with the bronze horse itself but not aware of its profound cultural significance.

Therefore, our initial goal is to attract young people to learn about the story behind it in a more innovative way that they will enjoy.

During the toy's design process, the overall shape of the original relic and its cultural background provided abundant inspiration for the creators.

The horse has a skewed mouth and its teeth are visible as it is "running" at high speed. We have retained this exaggerated expression in the plush toy.

In terms of its posture, we maintained the image of one foot stepping on a flying swallow while raising the other leg high like a person, hoping to make it more appealing and funny.

Many people can't help but laugh when they see the toy. They find it relaxing and lighthearted, and many tourists even imitate its posture.

In addition, numerous bloggers on various short-video platforms have created funny videos using this toy, which has helped to raise awareness of it.

Of course, there has been some criticism, suggesting that we have made it look comical and ugly. We accept those opinions because people always have different opinions.

So far, we have developed nearly 800 cultural and creative products based on the museum's relics. Our design team comprises people born in the 1990s and later, who can bring a lot of vitality to the traditions.

We hope to use more creative and interesting methods to encourage young people to learn the stories behind cultural relics and raise their cultural pride.

Cui Youxin spoke with Zhang Yi and Shi Xuefan.