李丹

The Year of the Ox is coming. In China， you will find various ox figures made of gold， wood， plastic， paper， shell and stone on sale in stores and on streets to celebrate the return.

But why was the ox chosen to be one of the 12 Chinese zodiac signs？

Centuries ago， most people earned their living through farming. The ox was used to help plow， cultivate and carry heavy goods.

The ox has long had a significant place in Chinese culture. Ancient Chinese poets and writers frequently described the ox in literature. In the Clasic of Poetry， the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry， the animal was mentioned in nine out of the 305 pieces.

The ox is considered a symbol of diligence and earnestness in Chinese culture. To this day， the phrase “the spirit of ox” still refers to conquering anything that may present itself as an obstacle. The spirit is highly praised and many people follow it as their work ethic. When someone achieves a great accomplishment through hard work， people often use “niu”， meaning “awesome”， to describe him or her.

Oxen seldom bully the weak or fear the strong. They work hard and make sacrifices.

This is reflected in a couplet from a poem by Lu Xun （1881—1936）： “Fierce-browed， I coolly defy a thousand pointing fingers; Head bowed， like a willing ox I serve the children”， which fully expresses the poets loyalty to the people.

So naturally， those who were born in the Year of the Ox are often expected to be hardworking， reliable and loyal. “They never seek to be the center of attention and do not look for praise，” the website China Highlights noted.

牛年來(lái)了。在中國(guó)，你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)商場(chǎng)和大街上都在出售用黃金、木頭、塑料、紙、殼、石頭制成的各式各樣的牛型擺件，以慶祝牛年的到來(lái)。

但十二生肖中為什么有牛呢？

幾百年前，大多數(shù)人以農(nóng)業(yè)為生。牛常被用來(lái)幫助犁地、耕種、馱重物。

牛在中國(guó)文化中向來(lái)占有重要地位。中國(guó)古代詩(shī)人和作家常在文學(xué)作品中描寫(xiě)牛。在我國(guó)現(xiàn)存最早的詩(shī)歌總集《詩(shī)經(jīng)》的305篇詩(shī)歌中，有9篇都提到了牛。

在中國(guó)文化中，牛被視為勤勞誠(chéng)懇的象征。如今，“牛氣成天”仍喻意能夠戰(zhàn)勝一切成為阻礙之事。這一精神也被高度贊揚(yáng)，很多人將其奉為工作準(zhǔn)則。當(dāng)有人通過(guò)辛苦努力獲得巨大成就時(shí)，人們往往會(huì)說(shuō)他或她“牛”，意為“很棒”。

牛很少欺軟怕硬。它們努力工作，犧牲自我。

這點(diǎn)體現(xiàn)在了魯迅一首詩(shī)的對(duì)句“橫眉冷對(duì)千夫指，俯首甘為孺子牛”中。這兩句詩(shī)充分表達(dá)了詩(shī)人對(duì)人民的忠誠(chéng)。

因此，在牛年出生的人自然常常被認(rèn)為是勤勞、可靠、忠誠(chéng)的人。“他們從不想要成為關(guān)注的焦點(diǎn)，也不期許獲得贊美。”“中華游”網(wǎng)站上如此寫(xiě)道。