Discussion

Oxen

Oxen are domesticated draft animals in the bovine family which includes cattle, water buffalo, bison, etc. Specialists say that only two bovine subspecies can be oxen; bos indicus and bos taurus. There are several breeds in each of these subspecies so that their physical appearance can vary. Furthermore, to be an ox, the animal must be castrated, domesticated, and used for labor and food. They are commonly used for plowing, pulling carts, hauling wagons, threshing grain, and powering machinery for grinding grain or irrigation. They are sometimes even ridden.

All of the animals in the pictures below are oxen.

Oxen in Art

The painting below on a six-fold byōbu of oxen and shepherds is by Soga Shōhaku (1730-1781) in the mid-Edo period. It was painted around 1760. 

Next is a woodblock print by Hiroshige (1787-1858) of a farmer and his ox.

Japanese Zodiac

The Japanese Zodiac (jūnishi 十二支), literally 12 years, is basically the same as that used in many East Asian countries, particularly China. it consists of a 12-year cycle, each year of which is named after a different animal. Japanese believe that the year of one's birth determines personality characteristics, physical and mental attributes, and degree of success and happiness. In that regard, it is much like astrology in the west.

The following chart summarizes the jūnishi animals and the years they apply to.

Those familiar with Japanese kanji, the non-phonetic characters adopted from Chinese, may notice that the kanji for some of the animals above are different than the conventional kanji for those animals. For example, the conventional kanji for Tiger (tora) is 虎 while the kanji used in jūnishi is 寅.

Jūnishi Forecasts

In what year were you born? See if you can figure out what jūnishi animal applies to you and see what it says about your fortune below. How does it compare with your western horoscope?