A creature that has served us well

Festival celebrations

The ox is not only celebrated every twelve years, like other zodiac animals. With its high status, across China there are a lot of regional festivals celebrating the ox throughout the year, a rare reception among zodiac animals.

One of the most representative is the ox king festival, a folk festival celebrated by many ethnic groups. As the name implies, these festivals are established to pay tribute and appreciation to cattle.

Not only have the people, across time and space, reached the consensus to worship the ox king, many of the customs are similar, involving giving their farming cattle a day off, a good bath and a gourmet meal.

On the first day of the 10th lunar month, the Gelao ethnic group in Guizhou province serve their cattle with the best fodder and clean the shed, meanwhile preparing meat and alcohol as sacrificial offerings to the ox king, wishing the cattle good health. Even those without their own cattle will prepare offerings and pray that they will soon possess one.

The Bouyei ethnic group from the same province commemorates the ox king on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, when they make a colored sticky rice dish with the sap of plants and flowers. After serving the cattle, people sit down for a banquet, drinking, singing and socializing.

Festivals of the same ethos, despite maybe different names, can be found in also Hubei, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces.

The origins of this festival vary from region to region, but almost always involve a moving legend about how oxen saved the people.

The Bouyei people's story probably corresponds to human history the most, apart from the fictional ox king part. It goes that the group had no cattle in ancient times, and could only use human labor to tend the fields. The ox king felt sympathy for the people and sent cattle to help them, relieving the locals of the burden.

In Gelao folklore, the story relates that when a village was besieged for seven days and nights, an old ox from the tribe chief led him to a secret cave with a route to the back of the mountain. The whole village escaped unharmed.

Although these festivals have become sort of niche, in this Year of the Ox, we might learn something from this friend of ours throughout the ages.