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Image
of Taiwan Cattle
Yuan-Hui Chiu
The
Center of General Education, Kao-Yuan Institute of Technology, Kaohsiung,
Chinese Taipei
Introduction
Water
buffalo and cattle might look slightly differ in their appearance or in biology
classifications, but Taiwanese did not consider any culture difference between
them seriously. Cattle and buffalo
share the same character, “牛”,
in Han dictionary. Therefore, in
the following paragraph, “cattle” were used as “牛”, if not be
referred intentionally. Cattle
played an important role in the traditional village life in Taiwan society and
had a substantial function, economic value, culture and historic meaning.
Cattle carts were used by farmers to transport goods, as a vehicle, and
the cattle were even sometimes straddled and ridden like a horse.
Prior to the emergence of the farming tractor commonly named as “iron
cattle”, cattle were indispensable laborers in the paddy fields and sugarcane
orchards. Cattle, in addition to
their intrinsic value were essential players in a family’s livelihood. Taiwan’s development progressed from south to north, and
was cultivated from the west to the east. As
the cultivated land increased, the number of cattle increased rapidly from a few
thousand to more than 200 thousand. On
the Taiwan map made by Ching Dynasty, cattle were drawn with the homes that
represented villages to indicate the developed areas. Cattle were therefore used as an index in the developed
history of Taiwan and were internalized as a part of Taiwan culture and history.
Taiwanese farmers used
tilling cattle for three hundred years. Proverbs
were written detailing the intimate life relationship and feelings between
farmers and their cattle. Taiwanese
farmers often referred themselves as cattle, thereby indicating the fundamental
character of the farmer. The Taiwan
Governor Headquarters looked upon the buffalo as the Taiwan image used in paying
tribute to the Japanese Royalty during the Japanese Reign. A stage photograph of a Taiwan entertainment troupe performing
in Japan shows the cowboy striding the ox as “coming from Taiwan”.
The cowboys astride the ox and cattle carts were sighted everywhere in
the village forming a particular spectacle in Taiwanese villages. Cattle’s
place in the village life of Taiwan was an index that could never be
overemphasized. Cattle were not
used merely for labor in the traditional village. They
were livelihood animals closely related to the farmer’s life.
The Taiwan cattle (Fig. 1) have become a totem for Taiwanese.
Netherlander herding cattle
Netherlanders migrated from
the Peng-Hu Archipelago to Taiwan in 1624.
The Netherlanders occupied Taiwan is merely as a stronghold for trade in
the Eastern Hemisphere. Later on,
Taiwan was discovered as a productive and potential virgin land for development.
Cultivation was begun in southwest
Taiwan. The Netherlanders began
with livestock breeding, ushering in numerous cattle and establishing the
Department of Cattle Husbandry. Then
cattle were pastured to make profits in southern
Taiwan (today Kaohsiung and Tainan areas).
Picture was painted by a Spaniard in 1626, with two head of cattle
bearing testimony to Netherlanders raising cattle in the City of Pu-Luo-Min-Che
(today Chih-Kan, Tainan, Fig. 2).
Buffalo
The Taiwanese have a legend
for why the buffalo and yellow cattle differed externally.
The legend has it that once upon a time a buffalo and a yellow ox were
taking a bath in a brook. They
suddenly heard the sound of a tiger while bathing. They both hurried ashore to
put on their garments to escape. Out
of impatience, the yellow ox put on the buffalo’s garment and scurried.
Because the buffalo’s garment was larger, a spare piece of cloth hung
around the yellow ox’s neck. This
is the reason why there is a dewlap around the yellow ox’s neck.
However, the sluggish buffalo is larger than the yellow ox in stature and
could not fit the small garment left by yellow ox. The
buffalo put it on, leaving his neck uncovered. The
Kuan Yin Buddha saw and took apart her puttee near the hem (customarily called
Chiao Pai) to patch the buffalo’s uncovered neck. This
is why there is white skin surrounding the buffalo’s neck. When the tiger moved away, the buffalo came back the brook
and waited for the yellow ox to return. The
yellow ox did not return so the buffalo shouted, “Change! Change!”
(“Huan” is the word “change” in Taiwanese).
The yellow ox cried, “No! No!”
(“Mun” is the word “No” in Taiwanese).
To this day the buffalo is still shouting, “Huan! Huan!”
and the yellow ox is still crying back “Mun! Mun!”. The
buffalo was once the major draft animal used by farmers to cultivate rice and
greatly appreciated by Taiwanese before the “iron cattle” (farming tractor)
arrived (Fig. 3).
Yellow ox
The yellow ox is strong in
body and docile in nature. It is
light brown or brown in color (Fig. 4). The
male yellow ox is rather stout at the shoulder and rhombic muscle whereas the
female has a slender rhombic muscle.
The adult male yellow ox weighs about 340 kg. The
adult female weighs about 250 kg. The
yellow ox can plough non-irrigated fields 20 to 25 acres per 4-hour working
period.
Ploughing the field
Four procedures are used in
soil preparation; ploughing the field (Fig. 5), rough raking the field, fine
raking the field and final mixing. The
plough is the first-stage tool for scarifying the soil.
Because rice must grow in soft soil saturated with water, the soil must
be prepared after cultivation. Ploughing
the field involves turning the soil in the lower earth levels and covering the
surface soil used in the last season. By
doing so, the surface soil used in the last season can recover and the rice
straw and green manure are simultaneously merged into the soil to become
fertilizer.
Procedure for raking the field
After the field soil is rough
raked, fertilizer is sprayed once into the soil. Fine raking is then performed (Fig. 6). The farm implement used for raking the field is a rake shaped
like the Chinese word “而”.
The farmers in Taiwan call this rake the “hand raker”.
This rake is more than 0.6 meter
high, 1.2 meters wide, with 7 – 11 iron teeth. The
number of teeth in the rake is increased or decreased according to the size of
the farmland. There are two
straight posts above the rake. Across
these posts is a handle that the farmer holds. The farmer draws this tool with the ox. In doing so, the soil in the field can be raked into smaller
fragments. The rake teeth collect
weeds while fragmenting the soil. A
piece of board is placed horizontally ahead of the rake in some districts. This
board allows raking the soil and mixing the field simultaneously, saving the job
of final mixing.
Cattle bamboo muzzle
The cattle muzzle used in
Taiwan is made of bamboo strips or iron lines (Fig. 7).
Muzzling can prevent the cattle from grazing on the crops ahead,
ignoring tilling the soil or eating the green crops cultivated by the next-door
neighbor. To extend in
meaning, people call gluttonous children “cattle with no muzzle” in idioms.
Old picture of a cattle cart
The
Cattle Cart has been available in Taiwan for more than 300 years.
Taiwanese depended on it no less than the cars used in modern life (Fig.
8). In addition to tilling the soil
and towing heavy objects, people “take cattle carts at any moment” for
traveling, watching operas and so on.
Board wheel cattle cart
The
greatest feature of the cattle cart was the wheels made of boards. This
wheel consisted of three pieces of solid board with no distinction between the
axle and the spoke (Fig. 9). The
board wheel was some 5 – 6 feet high (the diameter of board wheel is 150 –
170 cm). A cattle cart with a high
wheel makes much noise when the cart is traveling on bumpy roads. Uncomfortable
hubbub, sounded like turning a wheel without oil, would keep going as the cart
moved.
Iron leather wheel cattle cart
Improvement in the roads, the
two-wheeled cattle cart was replaced by a four-wheeled cart with spoke wheels
covered with an iron hoop (Fig. 10). The
improved four-wheeled cattle cart could “carry more” than two-wheeled carts.
However, it was no faster than
two-wheeled carts on jolting roads.
Rubber wheeled cattle cart
The rubber wheeled cattle
cart appeared post World War II, replacing the iron leather wheel cart (Fig.
11). The rubber wheeled cattle cart
is still in use in the Taiwan countryside today.
Cattle cart and children
Not many modern Taiwanese
children had the opportunity to ride in cattle carts as their parents had (Fig.
12).
Sugar refining
The stone-grinding wheel was
the major equipment for old sugar refining (simple factory of making sugar).
The grinding wheel was placed in the center of a house covered with cogon
grass (Fig. 13). The grinding wheel
was made of two parts, a “male and female stone” over a stone floor.
Large-scale sugar refineries used three grinding wheels made of granite.
The grinding wheel was operated using a cow drawing the wheel.
Because turning grinding wheels required a large amount of strength,
several cows turn doing the chore. Sugarcane
with the tails removed was placed into the space between the two wheels while
the cow turned the top wheel. Sugarcane
juice was squeezed out, treated and processed.
The farmer’s cattle market at Shanhua, Tainan
The
“farmer’s cattle market” is an open temporary market for the regular
buying and selling of cattle. There
were more than 80 farmer’s cattle markets during the Japanese reign. Today only the Pei-Kang and Shanhua farmer’s cattle markets
exist (Fig. 14). The fixed dates
for transactions at the Pei-Kang farmer’s market in Chia-Yi are on the 3rd,
6th, 9th of each month. At the Shanhua farmer’s market
in Tainan the transaction dates fall on the 2nd, 5th and 8th.
The main purpose of purchasing cattle in early times was for tilling and
cultivating farmland. Four steps
were involved prior to selecting tilling cattle to determine if a given cow was
suitable for tilling and cultivating farmland.
The four steps were touching the cow’s teeth, testing the cow’s
steps, having the cow pull a cart and having the cow pull a plough.
Touching teeth
Adult cattle normally have 8
front teeth in the lower jaw. A cow
with less than 8 teeth is considered too young or unhealthy.
The purchaser identifies the cattle’s healthy condition by counting the
teeth, observing the color of the teeth and the degree of wear on the teeth to
discern the cow’s age (Fig. 15).
Dragging carts
Dragging carts could be a
formidable challenge for a cow. Two
or three cattle carts are generally joined together in a test of cart
pulling. The front wheels of the carts are tied firmly with hemp rope.
The cow is then whipped to make it
drag the carts without the wheels moving. The
buffalo drags the carts painstakingly with its’ head nearly touching the
ground (Fig. 16). The cattle
harness is stuck deeply into the cows flesh.
Only cattle with sufficient strength are able to drag carts with locked
wheels.
Testing the cow’s steps
Specialists observe the step
test. Laymen only watch this
exciting “hustle and bustle”. The
ox in the picture is having its steps tested.
The owner leads the ox to circle around two or three times at the
farmer’s market. An experienced
cattle dealer or farmer will probably judge whether this ox is docile or
hardworking and assiduous. If it is
a lazy ox it will “conceal itself behind the plough”. If
it is untamed, it will pay no attention to the owner’s commands. After observing the ox’s stride and appearance, the
purchaser arrives at a decision regarding buying this ox or not (Fig. 17).
Negotiating a price and make the deal
After the procedures above,
the buying and selling negotiation begins (Fig. 18). More often than not, a professional “cattle umpire” will
initiate a compromise bargain on the scene.
In early times, farmers went to the farmer’s market to purchase cattle
for tilling fields and hauling carts. Today the purchasers are butchers who buy
cattle for meat sales. After the
transaction, mark was made on the back of “sold cattle” (Fig. 19).
As shown in figure, there seems an innocent look on the buffalo “man as
cutting-tool, cattle as beef”.
Cattle license during the Japanese occupation era
The farmer had to take his
“Cattle license” card, an identification card for cattle, while leading the
cattle into the farmer’s cattle market in early times.
During the Japanese Occupation Era, it was stipulated that each animal
must receive a cattle license identification card (Fig. 20, 21). The
front side of the card showed the registered owner’s name, address and four
drawings of the front, back, left and right of the cow or buffalo’s
conformation. The hair whirl shape
of the cattle was stamped to display the characteristics of the cattle.
The overleaf side of cattle license showed the names and addresses of the
previous cattle owners. The owner
of the cattle had to have the cattle license with him at any time for immediate
examination during the Japanese Occupation Era.
Taiwan cattle identification card after World War II
Cattle registration remained
in effect long after World War II. The
new cattle identification card is not different from the cattle license
implemented during the Japanese occupation era (Fig. 22).
Later on, the “iron
cattle” (farming tractor) replaced ordinary farming cattle. Farming cattle gradually became unnecessary.
The cattle identification card system was abolished in 1967.
Buffalo
bath
The buffalo is heat
intolerant by nature. Its
temperature rises 2.7 degrees Centigrade, pulse increases 131 times and
respiration increases 27 times after being exposed to the sun.
The buffalo must be coated with mud or sprinkled with water to survive
high heat conditions. The effects
of being sprinkled with water last for 20 minutes. A mud coating could last for more than 2 hours.
The buffalo takes baths to reduce heat exposure while the farmer is
herding it during leisure hours (Fig. 23).
The above picture shows two buffaloes gossiping while taking a bath.
Black drongo riding the Buffalo
When cattle are pastured, the
Black Drongo (the name of a bird) often saddles the cattle to eat insects and
other parasites on the cattle (Fig. 24). Taiwanese
liken the “Black Drongo riding on cattle” to a match between ”a husband of
small build to a wife of giant stature”.
Racing cattle
Modern juveniles enjoy
motorcycle drag racing. In past
times “village cowboys” “raced cattle” for pleasure. ”Driving the buffalo” was considered a matter of great
fun! In the Ching Dynasty, riding
male yellow cattle (stout yellow cattle) came into vogue. The back of the yellow ox is equipped with an ox saddle.
one “could ride hundreds of miles(1 Chinese mile ≈ 0.6km) a
day” on the saddled back of yellow cattle, which
was equivalent to 20 – 30 Chinese miles per hour.
When riding cattle, one hand controls the halter and the other hand
brandishes a whip or something to coach the animal on. The
children driving the buffalo in Fig. 25 is an example.
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Fig.
1. Taiwan cattle (photo at
the Tong Hai University neighborhood in 1991)
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Fig.
2. Netherlander herding
cattle (from the cover of Early
History of Taiwan by Yung Ho Tsao, Lenking Publishing Corporation)
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Fig.
3. Buffalo (photo at Men-Li
village, Niao-Sung Town, Kaohsiung in 1990)
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Fig.
4. Yellow ox (photo at Yuan
Chang Town, Yun Lin County in 1999)
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Fig.
5. Ploughing the field (photo
at Tung Hai University neighborhood in 1999)
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Fig.
6. Raking the field (photo at
Kao Tan village, Jen Wu Town, Kaohsiung in 1990)
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Fig.
7. Cattle bamboo muzzle
(photo at Tung Hai University neighborhood in 1991)
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Fig.
8. Cattle cart board wheel on
an old painting (Photo from Map of
Taiwan by Shu-Ching Huang during the reign of Emperor Kang His, Ching
Dynasty)
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Fig.
9. Cattle cart board wheel
(photo at National Taiwan Museum in 1996)
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Fig.
10. Iron leather wheel cattle
cart (photo at the farmer’s cattle market in Pei-Kang)
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Fig.
11. Rubber wheel cattle cart
(photo in Yuan-Chang Town, Yun-Lin County in 1999)
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Fig.
12. Cattle cart and kids (photo at Tung-Hai University
neighborhood in 1990)
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Fig.
13. Sugar refinery (Fan
She Tu Kao, History paintings of Natives).
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Fig.
14. The farmer cattle market
at Shanhua, Tainan (photo by author in 1994)
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Fig.
15. Touching teeth to judge
the cow’s age (photo at the Pei-Kang farmer’s market in 1992)
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Fig.
16. Dragging carts (photo at
the farmer’s market in Pei-Kang in 1992)
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Fig.
17. Testing steps (photo at
the farmer’s cattle market in Pei-Kang in 1992)
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Fig.
18. Negotiating a price
(photo at the farmer’s market in Pei-Kang in 1992)
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Fig.
19. Red paint marked a
“sold buffalo (photo at the farmer’s market in Pei-Kang in 1992)
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Fig.
20. Cattle license (front
view) during the Japanese Occupation Era
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Fig.
21. Cattle license (overleaf)
during the Japanese Occupation Era
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Fig.
22. Taiwan cattle
identification after World War II
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Fig.
23. Spa or tub bath? (photo
at Ta An Town in Taichung County in 1990)
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Fig.
24. Black drongo riding a
buffalo (photo in Pei-Tou Town in Chang-Hua County in 1993)
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Fig.
25. Racing buffalo (from
Yuan-Hui Chiu. 1997. Taiwan Cattle.
Yuan-Liu Publishing Corporation)
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