Monkey on a Horse's Back

Transcript >John We're standing on the Dodo Terrace, a slightly surreal corner of the garden, created by Lady Londonderry in the 1920s. It is lined with sculpted animals, some real, some mythical, that symbolised her circle of friends. Look around you and you will see sculptures of animals and strange beasts that represented each of them. That is, except for the one at the end nearest to the house on the left-hand side. It is a monkey on a horse's back and has fascinating Chinese origins, as I discovered when I met Kelly Wang, a member of the local Chinese welfare association, at their New Year celebrations. So Kelly, tell me about this. >Kelly Oh yeah, so it is a very famous visual pun in China. We call it a rebus. To a Chinese eye, that statue isn't just an animal. Actually, it is a high-speed career wish. It's a really good gift. Well, it is all about wordplay. In Chinese, on a horse is ma shang, which also means immediately. And the word for monkey is hole. which sounds exactly like the word for Marquess, a high-ranking noble. >John It could mean become a Marquess immediately? >Kelly Yes, you can. If you want somebody to get promoted as soon as possible, that's the right gift to give. >John Perhaps the meaning is that she wanted all of her friends to succeed, because her friends did include Winston Churchill, who was Winston the Warlock, and the Prince of Wales was David the Dragon, Harold Macmillan, Harold the Hummingbird. >Kelly Yes, in China, we have the legend of Monkey King. who was the protector of the heavenly horses. It feels like Lady Londonderry was playing the same role here, protecting her animals and her powerful friends with these symbols. >John I think she would have loved that comparison. She believed the garden was haunted by more than just stone animals; and there was the Grey Lady ghost in the house, and the luminous children in the fireplaces. So, there were all sorts of other things going on, maybe, in this story of the monkey on the horse's back. >Kelly Yes, of course, with all those monkeys and dragons watching over us. I think we're in safe hands. >John She was an amazing person. >Kelly Yes, I can tell, like, from her face, she seems like a very brave and courageous woman. Yes, I think that's what she tried to give people, that image of her.