Talking about Niu's Culture

The ethnic minorities in our country also have the custom of cultivating cattle, which is called "the king of offering cattle." The Buyi people in Litchi, Luodian, Anlong and other places in Guizhou celebrate the new year of the ox on the eighth day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar. On that day, let the cows rest for a day and let the cows eat glutinous rice. The Gelao Nationality’s Ox King Festival is also called "Bull God Festival", "Bull King Bodhisattva Festival", and "Null King Festival". It is held on the first day of October in the lunar calendar every year. On that day, people stopped letting the cow work, and made two glutinous rice cakes with good glutinous rice, hung them on the horns of the cows, and then took the cows to the water to look after the shadows, in this way they wished the cows longevity. Among the Dong people in the Rongjiang and Dongjiang areas of Guizhou, the "Owl Washing Festival" is held on the sixth day of June every summer. By that time, spring plowing is over. People take the cows to the river to bathe and insert a few chicken feathers and duck feathers next to the cows . It means that the cattle are listening to the dust and praying for the safety and health of the cattle.

In the Chinese zodiac , the ox is the largest in size, which is in contrast to the mouse . Therefore, people use "rats" as a metaphor for small or small, and "ox" for large or large. The cow has a large body and naturally more hair, so it is called "cow hair" as numerous and fine. The ancients used bamboo and cattails to paint and ox-carried books, so there is a story of "sweat and oxen". Liu Zongyuan's text: "It is a book, but the place is full of buildings, and when you go out, you will sweat." Later generations often referred to books as "sweat cows full of buildings".

The poet Yuan Zhen of the Tang dynasty's "Shengchun" poem: "Outside the gate of Niu County, contend for soil to cover spring silkworms." First "whip" and then "struggle" are two parts of the ancient custom of sending winter cold and welcoming the new spring. Whip spring cattle, also known as whip earth cattle, have an earlier origin. "Zhou Li·Yue Ling": "A cow was unearthed to send cold air." Later, it has been retained, but it was changed to spring and flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties. Especially after Song Renzong promulgated the "Tu Niu Jing", the custom of whip cattle was spread more. Wide, and even become an important content of folklore culture.

Kangxi's "Jinan Fuzhi · Sui Shi": "The day before the beginning of spring, the government led the people, with spring oxen and awn gods, to welcome the spring in the eastern suburbs. He made a five-single plate, commonly known as a spring plate, drinking spring wine, and hairpin spring flowers. Xinghu pretends to be the drama of fisherman, woodcutter and farming, and the colorful decoration is the spring tower, while the children of the city, wearing colorful clothes, wearing ghost masks, dancing to and fro, are also the legacy of the ancient hometown Nuo. At the beginning of spring, the officials have their own colorful battles, and the cattle hitters Third, it is called the whip spring, to show the intention to persuade the farmers. For the little spring cows, we will send them to the family of the gentry, and the door drum music to offer, so that they will send the spring. "The meaning of the whip spring is not limited to sending cold air and promoting spring ploughing. There is also a certain witchcraft meaning. People in Shandong want to smash the cattle into pieces, and everyone scrambles for the spring cattle, which is called the spring cattle, and it is auspicious to grab the cattle head. The characteristic of the Spring Cattle in Zhejiang is that when the Spring Cattle is greeting the Spring Cattle, they will bow their heads to the Spring Cattle in turn. After the worship, the people cradle up to break the Cattle, and then take the snatched Spring Cattle back home and spread it in the cattle pen. It can be seen from this that the whip spring cow is still a breeding witchcraft, that is, after the spring cow soil, scattered in the cow pen can promote the reproduction of the cow.

Cows have four sacs and can regurgitate after eating. They have a large appetite. The people ridicule people as “tripes”, those who drink well are called “cow drink”, and those who have a strong temper are called “bull temperament”. Calling to stop tantrums or to stop liars is "pull the nose." Calling people to act as slow as a cow is "delayed in a cow's steps". Those who buy wives and ask for grass are ridiculed as "ramming the bull's head", that is, wearing fakes to cover shame. (Chinese Zodiac http:///shengxiao/)

Niu is famous for its foolishness and loyalty. People often refer to unwise and stupid people as "stupid cows" or "feeding cows". In ancient times, the illiterate was ridiculed as "green cow" (blind cow). The world said that unknown words mean "playing the piano against the cow". It is called "Hu Niu Hu Ma" by people. As the "Zhuangzi" says: "You call me a cow, and you call me a cow, and call me a horse, you call me a horse." There is a sentence in the Han Scripts that "remember the cow's clothes and cry when the evil is evil", so later generations describe the poor conditions of the poor and humble as their wives as "the cow's clothes cry against each other." Han Yuyun: "The skin of the cow, the puffball, and the defeated drum", later generations described the extremely subtle things as also useful, the so-called "niu puffball".