Page 279 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols 272
Ox (Cow)

niu

The ox (cow) is the second animal in the Chinese zodiac, where it follows the rat.
The word niu is used in Chinese as a generic term, covering the animals which are
distinguished in English as ox, cow, bull, etc. To Chinese, the niu is the animal that draws
the plough and acts as beast of burden. Even today, many Chinese will not eat beef,
believing it to be immoral to kill and eat the creature which helps them with the harvest,
and which therefore deserves their thanks. It is likely that this taboo came into China with
Buddhism, as it suggests a connection with the Buddhist ban on meat, especially beef.
More than one medieval Emperor issued edicts prohibiting the slaughter and the
consumption of oxen. Similar edicts of a more rigorous nature were issued in Japan.
In South China, again, there was a popular cult of the ox (or the water buffalo) which
had nothing at all to do with Buddhism. The ox symbolises the spring, as work on the
land began in spring with the ceremonial ploughing, in which at one time the
Emperor took an active part. There existed ‘ox-temples’ for the ‘yellow ox’ (Bovina
communis). Oxen of other colours were not rare; and one old story tells how two black
and two blue oxen came out of the river in the neighbourhood of the city of Lo-yang,
and fought with each other. The connection between the ox and water is of very long
standing: and at one time, stone or bronze figures of oxen used to be thrown into rivers if
the dykes were threatening to give way. Several legends tell how an ox came out of
a tree, ran into the river and was then revered as a god. Common to all of these legends is
a popular belief in the strength of the animal.

Boy with kite on an ox