As the Year of the Horse approaches, Prof Cai Zongqi, Director of the Advanced Institute for Global Chinese Studies and Lee Wing Tat Chair Professor of Chinese Literature of Lingnan University, and Mr Jerry Wang Junzhe, Research Officer of the Advanced Institute for Global Chinese Studies, offer a detailed interpretation of the Horse zodiac sign from the cultural perspectives of customs, classical texts, history, management, and literature, and link this explanation to contemporary Chinese New Year greetings.
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Of the 12 zodiac animals, the Horse stands out for its close connection to human life since antiquity. Unlike mythical creatures such as the dragon or phoenix, the Horse is a real animal and has partnered human beings in warfare, agriculture, long-distance travel, entertainment, and sport. In the Chinese tradition, the Horse symbolises speed and success, and idioms such as “to spur the horse to full speed” (kuàimă jiābiān 快馬加鞭) and “urging the horse forward with the whip” (cèmă yángbiān 策馬揚鞭) reflect the pursuit of progress, timely action, smooth development, and ambition.
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Prof Cai Zongqi, Director of the Advanced Institute for Global Chinese Studies and and Lee Wing Tat Chair Professor of Chinese Literature of Lingnan University.
In the past, the Horse was an essential public resource and symbolised order, rhythm, and direction. The Rites of Zhou (Zhouli 《周禮》) records that the Zhou Dynasty established a comprehensive system for the “Four Seasonal Horse Rites” (四季祭馬), with strict regulations for breeding, training and assigning duties: in spring, the horse ancestors were honoured and young horses trained; in summer, experience from herdsmen was shared, and horses chosen for training; in autumn, with the harvest, offerings were made to the land deity, and suitable horses selected; in winter, the gods protecting the horses' health were worshipped, horses were presented to the Zhou king, and charioteers were trained.
Prof Cai Zongqi, Director of the Advanced Institute for Global Chinese Studies and and Lee Wing Tat Chair Professor of Chinese Literature of Lingnan University.
Prof Cai Zongqi explains “Through these horse rituals and training, the ancients conveyed respect for life and an emphasis on social order. This cultural tradition continues to shape contemporary understanding of the Horse zodiac, expressing respect for life, the maintenance of social order, and wishes for a smooth and auspicious year ahead."
The professor also says that the Horse is a metaphor for moderation and balance. Ancient teachings on “controlling the horse” stress the importance of the right tension on the reins: if the reins are too loose, the horse may become unmanageable; if pulled too tightly, it falters. The Warring States bamboo text Yushu (《馭術》) not only details the techniques of horse handling but also introduces the idea of “slow and steady process” (xútú huănjìn 徐圖緩進)—a principle of measured progress. This concept may also be applied to understanding the relationship between people and systems: in both managing a team and running a city, lasting balance cannot be achieved by prioritising speed while ignoring capacity and sustainability.
This philosophy of management is also reflected in the Warring States period idiom “buying horse bones with a thousand pieces of gold” (千金買馬骨) recorded in Strategies of the Warring States (Zhanguo Ce – Yan Ce 《戰國策·燕策》). When King Zhao of Yan sought to attract talent, his advisor Guo Wei told the story of a ruler who offered a thousand pieces of gold for a fine horse. After three wasted years, a courtier bought the bones of a dead thousand-li horse for five hundred pieces of gold. Though the ruler was angry at first, the courtier explained “If dead horse bones are worth five hundred, a living horse must be worth far more. Once the world knows Your Majesty truly values horses, the finest steeds will come of their own accord.” Sure enough, within a year three exceptional horses had been found.
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Prof Cai adds “The story stresses the spirit of sincere appreciation for talent, and in the context of Hong Kong's current efforts to attract talent, it remains highly relevant: by demonstrating genuine commitment through both intentions and action, Hong Kong is attracting and retaining the most talented elite, injecting vitality into its long-term prosperity."
Beyond its history and intelligence, the Horse in literature mirrors the many facets of human life. Don Quixote rides forth on his steed, symbolising breakthrough, persistence, and the quest for ideals; Cao Cao's line “the old horse in the stable still aspires to travel a thousand miles” (老馬伏櫪,志在千里), expresses enduring ambition despite the passage of time. But although the Horse can gallop swiftly it may also tire—reflecting different phases of life and reminding people that sometimes life requires a sprint, while at others it needs rest and to adapt mentally.
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During Chinese New Year, greetings, as well as the familiar “Wishing you swift success, like a galloping horse” (mă dào chéng gōng 馬到成功), may also wish “May you rise steadily and swiftly in your career” (mă bù qīng yún 馬步青雲) or “take the lead at the forefront" (yī mă dāng xiān 一馬當先). Drawing on these idioms, Prof Cai Zongqi extends his own New Year blessing: May everyone remain humble and unhurried while advancing steadily in their careers; may the young take the lead, while the elderly convey their seasoned wisdom; may all find their direction, proceed steadily, and achieve lasting success. As the poem says: “Riding high in the spring breeze, I gallop swiftly, taking in all the flowers of Chang'an in one day!” (春風得意馬蹄疾,一日看盡長安花!).
As generative artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly widely used in translation, questions have been raised over whether it could eventually replace professional interpreters. A joint study led by Lingnan University found that while AI can improve translation efficiency, it is still less capable than professional interpreters of adapting language to context and preserving rhetorical and communicative effects. The researchers conclude that human judgement and oversight remain essential, particularly in politically, diplomatically, and culturally sensitive settings. These findings have been published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, a Nature Portfolio journal.
The research team from Lingnan University and the Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications analysed 16 Chinese-language speeches delivered at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) between 2008 and 2023, and compared the official English interpretations by professional UN conference interpreters with AI-generated translations produced by ChatGPT-4o, examining how each handled language in different contexts.
Before generating the AI translations, the researchers designed detailed prompts that included the speaker's official position, institutional background, year of delivery, audience, and broader sociopolitical stance in order to approximate the contextual information available to professional interpreters.
However, despite providing the AI model with extensive contextual information, they found major differences between AI-generated translations and human interpretations in both contextual understanding and translation strategies.
One key difference concerns the use of personal pronouns. As Chinese frequently omits subjects, professional interpreters were more likely to introduce pronouns such as “our” and “they” to reflect interpersonal meanings and relationships between speakers and audiences, reinforcing collective identity and shared responsibility. AI-generated translations, by contrast, tended to produce more literal renderings with fewer personal pronouns.
For example, a Chinese sentence referring to vaccines as a powerful weapon against the pandemic was rendered by a professional interpreter as:
“Vaccination is our powerful weapon against COVID-19.”
whereas ChatGPT-4o translated it as:
“Vaccines are a powerful weapon against the pandemic.”
The researchers found that the interpreter’s addition of “our” strengthened the sense of collective identity, while the AI translation adopted a more neutral tone.
The study also identified distinct differences in how obligation and responsibility were expressed. Professional interpreters were more likely to adjust modal verbs according to context, using expressions such as “should” and “need to” to convey persuasive rather than mandatory obligation. AI-generated translations, however, relied more heavily on “must” and passive constructions, making responsibility less explicit.
For example, the professional interpretation reads:
“We need to enhance coordinated global COVID-19 response and minimise the risk of cross-border virus transmission.”
whereas the AI translation states:
“International joint prevention and control must be strengthened, and the cross-border spread of the virus must be minimised.”
The researchers found that the AI version obscures the agent responsible for action by using passive constructions.
The study also examined culturally embedded metaphors. More than half (52.63 per cent) of the AI translations reduced culturally specific metaphors to their literal meanings, weakening their rhetorical force. By contrast, professional interpreters adopted more flexible strategies, preserving, adapting, and explaining metaphorical expressions according to context. In about one-third of the cases (31.6 per cent), interpreters retained the metaphor and also conveyed its intended meaning.
A joint study by Lingnan University analyses 16 Chinese-language speeches delivered at the United Nations General Assembly between 2008 and 2023, comparing AI-generated translations with professional conference interpreting. The researchers find that even when AI is provided with extensive contextual information and prompts, major differences remain in contextual understanding and translation strategies between AI and human interpreters.
One example involved the traditional Chinese metaphor of people travelling “in the same boat”. The professional interpreter translated it as:
“We are called upon by our times to unite as one and work together for mutual benefit and win-win progress like passengers in the same boat.”
While ChatGPT-4o rendered it as “Working together and achieving mutual benefits and win-win outcomes are the objective demands of our time.”
According to the researchers, the AI translation conveyed the general meaning, but omitted the metaphorical imagery and its rhetorical impact.
The team noted that ChatGPT-4o generally produces fluent and grammatically accurate translations capable of completing translation tasks effectively. However, drawing on socio-cognitive theory, the study argues that professional interpreters consider not only the source text itself but also factors such as the speaker's identity, communicative setting, audience, cultural background, stance, and rhetorical purpose when deciding how to translate. This suggests that current large language models have yet to replicate fully the human capacity to interpret context and cultural meaning.
Prof Wang Binhua, Professor of the Department of Translation and Head of the Centre for English and Additional Languages at Lingnan University, member of the SIG on Artificial Intelligence in Translation and Interpreting of the European Language Council (ELC), said “Large language models still face the challenge of the ‘black box’, meaning that the mechanisms through which they produce particular translations remain difficult to explain. Unlike professional interpreters, who work within established professional ethical standards and are accountable, AI systems generate translations by identifying patterns in large volumes of language data and do not possess an intrinsic ethical framework. In translation tasks that require careful attention to cultural meaning and contextual understanding, human interpreters remain indispensable in making informed judgements about interpersonal relationships, rhetorical choices, and cultural expression.”
Prof Wang Binhua, Professor of the Department of Translation and Head of the Centre for English and Additional Languages at Lingnan University.
He added that AI is better positioned to augment rather than replace professional translators and interpreters. When integrated with human expertise, AI has the potential to improve efficiency while leaving context-sensitive and culturally informed decision-making in human hands.
For the full research paper A tale of two ‘contexts’: ideological differences in the translations of UN political speeches by human interpreters and by ChatGPT4o, please visit: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-026-07877-7
