A Man and His Horse is the story of a young man who is forced to flee
Beijing during the Cultural Revolution. Coming from an intellectual
family that is being torn apart by political campaigns, Wen Bo is barred
from signing up with the Inner Mongolia Production and Construction
Corps that he desperately wants to join in order to avoid the fate of
being sent to an even poorer and more remote rural area. He decides to
take a chance by sneaking aboard a train carrying new recruits bound for
Inner Mongolia. Once there, deprived of the love of the girl who helped
him escape, Wen Bo finds solace in a unique kind of love that he
establishes with a feisty black horse.
This autobiographical novel is based on the real-life experiences of a
physician in Beijing. It shows how love, even one between a man and his
horse, can compensate for what the Cultural Revolution tried to destroy.