Vol. 09, Issue 01 January 2009 
2009: The Year of the Ox
The year 2009 is the year of the Ox in the Oriental lunar calendar, which has been handed down for the last thousand years. The ox is the second animal in the Oriental zodiac, the rat being the first. The story goes that the heavenly god announced that the first animal to come to the palace for the New Year greetings would be amply awarded. Looking around, the rat saw that other animals were bigger and faster than he and he thought there seemed no chance for him to be the winner. Noticing that the ox was at the head of the line of animals, the rat got on to the ox’s back unnoticed, and when the ox entered the heavenly gate, the rat jumped down and took the first place.
The characters 牛, [niu] in Chinese, [wu] in Korean and [gyu] in Japanese, are used universally in the so-called Chinese character culture sphere as a generic term, covering the animals which are distinguished in English as ox, cow, bull etc. To the Orientals in general, this animal is known to draw the plough and act as beast of burden, having been considered the most useful, faithful and persevering domestic animal for farmers, even requiring a meager feed.
As to the characteristics of the ox, Koreans in general think that the ox is rather obstinate, stubborn, pouty, friendly, apathetic, genuine and persevering. Some of these characteristics seem to be shared by the Occidental people, too.
Here, popular sayings in Korea regarding the ox are introduced with the underlying meaning they convey. They may illustrate the relationship between the Korean people and the ox, which has been a domestic animal for farmers for centuries.
- Even the ox might laugh at it – said of things or states that are ludicrous and absurd. A laughing stock for the ox.
- Though an ox may be big, could it become a king? – said of a person who is big and powerful, but cannot perform a grand job unless he is resourceful.
- Be not choosey between the ox lane and the horse lane – said of going to any place regardless of difficulty for earning a livelihood.
- Eating like an ox – said of a person who eats a lot; a great eater.
- Earn like an ox, eat like a rat – said of earning much with hard labor but spending sparingly.
- Throwing fodder on the rump of an ox – said of working with much labor but in vain.
- An ox is the ancestor of a farming family – said of an ox being important for a farming family and is treated as the ancestor is. (Ancestor worship is a cultural tradition in Korea.)
- Just like an ox looking at a chicken, and vice versa – said of meeting (or looking at) each other without any concern, or indifferently.
- A talk given to an ox won’t get around, but the one to one’s wife will – a warning of carefulness, however intimate one may be to another.
- An ox must have a foothill to rub its side against – meaning you must have something to rely on to accomplish something.
- Catching a rat by a backward-stepping ox – said of getting merits by mere chance.
Like an ox gulping down rice-washing water – this means gulping down water in great quantity (rice-washing water is milk-white water produced when washing rice before cooking it, which is supposedly nutritious) - Mending the stable after an ox is stolen – meaning “too late to be sorry; Regret will not mend matters; No use crying over spilt milk.”
- Butcher an ox and eat it – said of devising wicked ideas.
- Talking with the yangban on an ox about a lawsuit – means that when asked about one thing, he nods and when asked about another, he nods, too. This makes it difficult to surmise the situation.
- Just like an ox entering a butchery – said of someone resisting something, like an ox would resist entering a butchery.
- To be bitten by an ox – said of unforeseen damage happening, because an ox is not supposed to bite people.
- The site where an ox is butchered may disappear, but the site where chestnuts are peeled remains – meaning tracks of big events may be covered up, but an evil thing, however small it may be, will be revealed.
- It’s like the ghost of a dead ox – said of tenacious human nature.
- The power of an ox is a power, so is the power of a sparrow – which means everyone has one’s own ability, be it may small or big.
- Just like mounting a lying ox – meaning it’s an easy thing to do.
- The ox that eats feed works harder – said of getting accomplishments after making efforts or investment, just like ‘no effect without a cause.’
- A foolish calf (ox) does not notice a butcher – said of an inexperienced or foolish person being unreasonable.
