Bronze Ox

Bronze Ox, located to the east of Seventeen-Arch Bridge, was cast in 1755 when Emperor Qianlong

Bronze Ox, summer palace, Beijing

expanded Summer Palace. On the back of the ox, an 80-character-posy wrote by Emperor Qianlong was inscribed, telling that the ox was used to suppress flood. Cast with upturned horns and ears, the bronze ox looks vigilantly at the Kunming Lake like a conscientious sentinel.

 

It was said that in ancient times, ox used to be a symbol of flood control. Early in the Xia dynasty, whenever flood was brought under control, people used to put an iron ox in the riverbed. In the Tang dynasty, people placed the ox by the bank of the river instead in the riverbed. In the Qing dynasty, Emperor Qianlong, following the Tang dynasty example, placed a bronze ox east of Kunming Lake to bless the safe of the lake.