Although the lore varies, the Ox's story is pretty straightforward. The Ox decided to participate in the Jade Emperor's race and ran until it got to the river. Before swimming, the Ox allowed the rat to hitch a ride. Some stories say the rat convinced the Ox to carry it across the river. Other lore says the Rat just jumped into the ear or onto the Ox and the Ox allowed the rat to stay. When they got across the river and/or close to the finish line, the Rat jumped off the Ox and the Ox came in second place. For all my Chinese New Year Posts including the story of the Rat check out the Category Chinese New Year.
References: Want to know why I chose a Banteng to represent an Ox? Check out Professor Yu Jiang and Professor Chuzhao Lei articles: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305440313003166 https://natureecoevocommunity.nature.com/posts/34309-where-is-the-chinese-yellow-cattle-from The Heavenly Race Jade Emperor/Buddha's Race https://chinesenewyear.net/zodiac/ox/ https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-zodiac/story.htm https://wehavekids.com/parenting/Chinese-Zodiac-Story https://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/social_customs/zodiac/ https://wehavekids.com/parenting/Chinese-Zodiac-Story#gid=ci026c487c100027c9&pid=chinese-zodiac-story-MTc0NTk0MTgyMTY5MzA3MTI2 https://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/ChineseNewYear/ChineseNewYearDay9.asp https://chinesenewyear.net/myths/
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Happy Belated Chinese New Year Everyone! February 12, 2021 was the start of the year of the Ox!
The Ox is the second animal in the Chinese Zodiac lore to complete the Jade Emperor's Heavenly Race. (A story for next week when I do the close ups pictures). In Chinese culture, oxen (aka domesticated cattle) were very important to agriculture. These animals and the farmers who cared for them were seen as being very hardworking, reliable, and modest. The design for my Ox's main body is based on the Banteng, a wild cattle found in Southeastern Asian rather than a domesticated ox or cow. This is because it's hard to find reference photos of Yellow Cattle (or Yanbian taurine cattle) but also because of an interesting article I read by Professor Yu Jiang and Professor Chuzhao Lei. These professors investigated the origins of the domesticated Chinese cattle. In their article, they talked about there being more than 50 breeds of cattle native to China. A good potion of those breeds are yellow so they have been collectively referred to as "Yellow cattle". One of their findings was "Chinese indicine [humped cattle] acquired 2.93% of their genomes from banteng (Bos javanicus), a wild cattle historically distributed in South China and Southeast Asia, with yellow-brown pigment." References: Professor Yu Jiang and Professor Chuzhao Lei articles https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305440313003166 https://natureecoevocommunity.nature.com/posts/34309-where-is-the-chinese-yellow-cattle-from The Heavenly Race Jade Emperor/Buddha's Race https://chinesenewyear.net/zodiac/ox/ https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-zodiac/story.htm https://wehavekids.com/parenting/Chinese-Zodiac-Story https://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/social_customs/zodiac/ https://wehavekids.com/parenting/Chinese-Zodiac-Story#gid=ci026c487c100027c9&pid=chinese-zodiac-story-MTc0NTk0MTgyMTY5MzA3MTI2 https://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/ChineseNewYear/ChineseNewYearDay9.asp https://chinesenewyear.net/myths/ https://chinesenewyear.net/zodiac/rat/ https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-zodiac/story.htm https://depts.washington.edu/triolive/quest/2007/TTQ07030/mythology.html My Saint Nicholas's Reindeer for Instagram @wildlifewednesdaychallenge @ecowarrior8888, @lizzywatercolor #wildlifewednedaychallenge Instead of looking at the Reindeer animal (which I will definitely come back to in the future), I decided to look into the lore behind Santa’s Reindeer. The first publicly written account of Santa's Reindeer was in the "Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas" in the Troy Sentinel in Troy, New York on Dec. 23, 1823. It is better known today as "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and it's writer, although anonymous at first, was later revealed to be either Clement Clark Moore or Henry Livingston, Jr. On a side note, this had a fun court case in 2013 called Livingston vs Moore in Troy, NY. This court had actors for Moore and Livingston, used real lawyers, and chose jurors from the audience. Back to my reindeer, I focused on bits of the original "Account of a Visit from Saint Nicholas" for inspiration such as the descriptions of the reindeers' flying as "More rapid than eagles" and "like the down of a thistle". I also enjoyed watching Animalogic "Reindeer are Ridiculously Cute" video on Youtube and their explanation of how Santa's Reindeer are probably all female or young males.
I hope you are all well and have a safe fun Holiday Season! References https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUgANOoMW00 : Animalogic “Reindeer are Ridiculously Cute” Youtube https://www.brownstoner.com/history/walkabout-a-visit-from-st-nichols-a-troy-story/ : “Walkabout: A Visit From St. Nicholas, a Troy Story” by Suzanne Spellen http://www.henrylivingston.com/xmas/poemvariants/troysentinel1823.htm Original print of ACCOUNT OF A VISIT FROM ST. NICHOLAS
During Irish wakes, people would light pipes and smoke to help confuse evil spirits. They would also light candles by the head and foot of the bed of the deceased. I wish I could find more information on their Cait Sidhe’s interesting lore. If you would like to learn more check out my links below. Cait Sidhe
https://www.scotclans.com/cat-sith-celtic-mythology/ https://www.timberbush-tours.co.uk/news-offers/scottish-folklore-cat-sith-cu-sith Irish Wakes https://www.connollycove.com/insight-irish-wake-superstitions-associated/ https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/the-truth-about-the-irish-wake-lewd-songs-pranks-were-part-of-the-tradition-174087771-237533321.amp https://andersonfuneralservices.com/blogs/blog-entries/1/Articles/35/The-History-of-a-Traditional-Irish-Wake.html Scottish Wakes http://userhome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/anthro/jbeatty/Scotia/issue57/issue57b.html Happy Friday the 13th!
This is my Cat Sìth Scottish Wildcat for the Instagram @UndyingTales #UndyingTalesProject. https://shadowscapes.com/undyingtales_2020_oct.php The Scottish wildcat are critically endangered and there may be only 35 or so left in the world. They are only found in the United Kingdom. The tale within my Scottish Wildcat design is of the Cat Sìth, aka Cait Sidhe or Celtic Fairy Cat. More details of this cat’s tale on my close up post. I've only done one other animal mythology piece (my Chinese Zodiac Rat for 2020) but the descriptions for the Instagram #UndyingTalesProject inspired me to consider creating more!
This is my Qilin with the deer parts of the body based off of Eld's Deer. Below is the description and if you are interested in the project check out this website: www.undyingtales.com I’m probably going to do many more of these. Do you like my version of a qilin? Do you think I should do more animal folklore?
The year of the Rat
https://chinesenewyear.net/zodiac/rat/ https://wehavekids.com/parenting/Chinese-Zodiac-Story https://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/social_customs/zodiac/story.htm https://depts.washington.edu/triolive/quest/2007/TTQ07030/mythology.html More Fun and Interesting Chinese Myths about Chinese New Year https://chinesenewyear.net/myths/ Who is the Jade Emperor? https://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/ChineseNewYear/ChineseNewYearDay9.asp https://mythopedia.com/chinese-mythology/gods/jade-emperor/ 2020 is the year of the Rat so here is my first finished doodle of 2020: Chinese Zodiac Rat! 🐀
I don’t usually incorporate myths or legends into my animals nor other colors but with a new year comes new possibilities. Hope you enjoy! |
Artist and Blogger
I'm just a doodling artist. My current style started in a lecture class at MCLA where I began doodling in my notebooks. Now I've started a new series focusing on animals. Archives
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