Year of the Ox Says Niu

The Spring Festival is approaching and the Year of the Ox is coming. In our impression, the cow is a kind of industrious and docile animal.

In China's thousands of years of farming culture, cattle have made great contributions to agricultural production. They are dependent on human beings and form an indissoluble bond. Cattle were domesticated by humans in the Neolithic Age and have a history of at least 7000 years. Nowadays, although agriculture is moving towards mechanization, people still affectionately call tractors "iron cattle!

There are many kinds of cattle in China, such as cattle in the north, buffalo in the south, and yak in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Their common feature is that they can bear hardships and stand hard work and work hard. Compared with horses, its characteristics are more prominent. For example, horses do not drink clean water, while cattle do not drink in mud ponds. The horse and the cow each pulled the cart. If the slope was steep and the road was slippery, the horse had to retreat. As for the cow, its eyes were wide open, its neck was stuck, and it held its breath. It just stayed there and did not move. Although it could not be pulled up, it did not relax.

People like cattle, praise cattle, sing cattle and draw cattle. "Old cattle" has become a synonym for hard work and dedication. Throughout the ages, literati have written many poems praising cattle. Lu Xun once used cattle as a self-metaphor. In the poem "Self-mockery", he wrote a good sentence of "turning his eyebrows coldly to a thousand fingers, bowing his head to be a willing ox, he expressed his firm belief and a sincere and fiery heart for the younger generation. The figure of the cow in the pen of the calligrapher and painter adds to the interest. In the melodious sound of the herding flute, there is a tranquil pastoral beauty; in the high-pitched labor chant, there is the solid pedaling of the pioneer cow.

Cattle not only provide people with farming labor, but also have a huge impact on the military, transportation and even the shaping of the national spirit. Cattle were used as divination and sacrifice in ancient times. In Zhouyi, cattle are called the symbol of "Kun Gua", which represents the land where all things are born and raised, and has a high symbolic significance.

In the Shang Dynasty, from the monarch to the common people, everyone believed in ghosts and gods and worshiped witchcraft, while the shoulder blades of cattle were the main material for divination. People would divine wars, harvests, marriages and even the weather on the bones. The Zhou Dynasty had a complete system of sacrifices, and set up "cattle people" to be in charge of cattle sacrifices and other affairs. The "too prison" with three animals of cattle, sheep and pigs was the sacrifice used by the emperors of the Zhou Dynasty when offering sacrifices to the country, while the princes and senior officials could only use the "less prison" lacking cattle and animals when offering sacrifices to the ancestral temple ". The cattle used in the sacrifice are very particular. In the Book of Rites, the King's System, it is said: "Sacrifice the cattle of heaven and earth, the horned cocoon chestnut; The cow of the ancestral temple, the horned grip; The cow of the guest, the angular ruler." It shows that the sacrifice needs to judge the grade of cattle used according to the degree of horn development. In addition, whether the cow's hair color is pure, whether its horns are regular, and whether its figure is tall are also the basis for judgment.

The cow in the eyes of modern food is probably a beef roll with steak and brisket. However, in ancient times, it was not so easy to have a beef dinner. As an important labor force in the development of ancient agriculture, cattle are not allowed to be slaughtered without permission, otherwise they may be sentenced or even "life for life"! For example, in the Book of Rites of the Western Zhou Dynasty, it is recorded that "princes do not kill cattle for no reason", and rulers can only kill cattle when offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors. In the Qin Dynasty, "those who steal horses die, and those who steal cattle add"; Sui and Tang Dynasties were sentenced to at least one year for killing cattle privately. Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms folk cattle died, and all cattle were handed over to the court ".

Militarily, it is said that Tian Shan, the general of the warring States period, invented the tactic of "fire cow array". When Qi Yan fought, he tied more than a thousand cattle horns to their blades, tied reeds to their tails and filled them with oil to light them. He rushed to Yan's army and broke it, even killing more than 70 cities.

In terms of transportation, Wang Hai invented the ox cart as early as the Shang Dynasty more than 3000 years ago. In the Jin Dynasty, the ox cart became the main means of transportation and transportation, from the nobles to the common people, they generally used and rode the ox cart.

In art, due to the high status of cattle in the farming society and their quality of hard work and perseverance, they carry people's expectations for a rich life. People respect cattle and love cattle, and regard cattle as a symbol of good luck. Therefore, they often express their love for cattle in the form of art.

Niu, as one of the animals that have been accompanying humans for thousands of years, has been endowed with the virtues of the Chinese nation. Its gentleness, diligence, and loyalty have always affected the trend of the national spirit. I hope that the "cow" spirit can be 2021. The Year of the Ox continues to nourish us, let us be like cattle, leisurely, down-to-earth, and use the ordinary to build greatness and make ourselves great. (Content from network)