Horse of deception

欺实马 (qīshímǎ): horse of deception

“A new species of horse has been discovered in XX.” “Yep, it’s called the horse of deception.” “This is a major discovery.” “Cheese!”

The horse of deception once roamed freely before being trapped in the Well of Commerce (交井 Jiāo Jǐng), i.e. by the traffic police (交警 jiāojǐng), and was trapped inside by centuries of grass-mud horse excrement. It was customary for the rich to cast their money into the well when faced with difficulties. Finally, in May 2009, the horse of deception burst free to cause mischief once more.

In Mandarin, “horse of deception” sounds the same as “70 kilometers per hour” (七十码 qīshí mǎ). It refers to the 70 kph incident, in which the son of a wealthy man ran over and killed another man. Police maintained the driver had only been going 70 kph (about 43 miles per hour), despite onlookers attesting that the car had been going much faster.

The horse of deception is one of a number of mythical creatures, including the river crab, grass-mud horse, and valley dove. Talking about mythical creatures whose names are references to sensitive issues is a creative way that netizens talk about and mock politically sensitive issues.