Qianlima

Qianlima (千里马) literally means "thousand-li horse", which was supposedly able to gallop one thousand li (approximately 400 km) in a single day. Qianlima was a literary Chinese word for people with latent talent and ability. Spring (1988:180) suggests, "For centuries of Chinese history, horses had been considered animals capable of performing feats requiring exceptional strength and endurance. Possibly it is for this reason that from early times horses have been used allegorically to represent extraordinary people."

Bole (伯乐) was a horse tamer in Spring and Autumn period (roughly 771 - 476 BCE), and a famous judge of horses. Bole was the legendary inventor of equine physiognomy ("judging a horse's qualities from appearance"). In Modern Standard Chinese, Bole figuratively means "good judge of [especially hidden] talent", from the idiom Bole-xiangma (伯乐相马, lit. 'Bole physiognomizing horse'). Thus, "(Henry 1987:28) Geniuses in obscurity were called thousand li horses [Qianlima] who had not yet met their [Bole]"

--Adopted from Wikipedia with slight modification

References

1. Henry, Eric (1987), "The Motif of Recognition in Early China," Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 47.1, pp. 5–30.

2. Spring, Madeline K. (1988), "Fabulous Horses and Worthy Scholars in Ninth-Century China," T'oung Pao 74.4/5: 173-210.