Ox in Chinese mythology

Oxen, cows, beef cattle, buffalo and so on are an important motif in Chinese mythology. There are many myths about the oxen or ox-like beings, including both celestial and earthly varieties. The myths range from ones which include oxen or composite beings with ox characteristics as major actors to ones which focus on human or divine actors, in which the role of the oxen are more subsidiary. In some cases, Chinese myths focus on oxen-related subjects, such as plowing and agriculture or ox-powered carriage. Another important role for beef cattle is in the religious capacity of sacrificial offerings.

The Chinese language term used for "ox" is rather non-specific. It can refer to a male, castrate or not, or to a female, young or old, of various species of the bovine family which have been domesticated for use as draft animals, with their strength being harnessed for various purposes, especially carting loads and various types of farm work, such as plowing. Niú also can be construed as singular or plural. However, male cattle used for hard labor are often castrated in order to make them more tractable, as well as providing better quality meat when finally consumed.

In the study of historical Chinese culture and other ethnic cultures in the area of what is now China, many of the stories that have been or are told regarding various characters and events have a double tradition: one of which traditions presents a more historicized version and a more rationalized account, and, another version which presents a more mythological and perhaps fantastic account (Yang 2005:12-13). This is also true of the accounts involving to mythological bovids.

Oxen, in some cases, are real creatures, of the Bovine family. Some have been domesticated, and used in China (or what is now China), for several millennia, doing such tasks as related to agriculture, hauling, or other applications requiring great strength. Despite the use of mechanical innovations such tractors and other modern machinery, the ox has not been totally replaced, and many areas still follow traditional methods, and tell variations of traditional myths involving oxen.

The Bovidae family includes almost 140 species of cloven-hoofed, ruminant mammals with characteristic unbranching horns covered in a permanent sheath of keratin in at least the males, but in terms of domestic cattle in China, this widespread family tends to be represented by the genus Bos in the north, similar to the familiar European and American domestic cattle; the Bubalus ("water buffalo"), generally in the warmer and wetter areas of the south, such as the Yangzi River valley; and, the yak (also in the Bos genus), in the higher and colder elevations of the more westward regions. There were many crosses between the various types, including with the zebu (taxonomically another Bos), and many specialized breeds developed over the millennia.

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