August 09, 2023
The summer harvest season of the Kuimao year. At the gate of the Zhang family’s house, which is only a hundred steps away from the crouching oxen, Zhang Qi’an (91 years old), Zhang Qibao (73 years old), Fang Changsheng (67 years old) and other rural elders who are enjoying the cool air chatted with us about the past lives of the crouching oxen tomb. this life.
According to legend, Qiangnan Village in the south of Gushanyang City, Jiaozuo City, was once the capital of a certain vassal state. In 496 BC, the king wanted to choose a son-in-law from among the minister's children. The only daughter was unwilling to obey "the orders of her parents and the words of the matchmaker", so she decided to throw a hydrangea ball to choose her husband. In desperation, the king had no choice but to obey the princess and build a tall colorful building, set an auspicious day, announced the news of throwing a hydrangea ball to choose a son-in-law, and invited all the nobles' children to compete for the hydrangea ball. It was an auspicious time, when the unmarried children of the rich family were about to swarm around and snatch it madly, a flower steer came out from nowhere and rushed into the crowd. hanging on the horns of the bull.
"Since we have promised to throw the hydrangea ball to get married, then the chicken will marry the chicken, and the dog will marry the dog. The hydrangea has already fallen on the horns of the bull, so I will marry the flower cow." The princess advised the king, "As a princess, I can speak well, How can I go back on my word? If I disregard my faith and go back on my word, I will definitely make a joke and damage my father's prestige. Since I have something to say first, I will keep my word and keep my promise." So she bid farewell to her parents and the palace, rode on the flower cow, and left the capital city.
Hua Niu carried the princess all the way to the west, and then went south to Xiaoxinzhuang, Xiaodong Township, Wuzhi County, 25 kilometers away. They stopped to drink water by a clear water pool in the southwest of the village, and rested on the ground. Early the next morning, people found that Hua Niu was dead and the princess was gone. There are rumors in the village that Hua Niu has turned into a handsome young man, leading the princess to ascend to heaven and become a god. Then the cattle carcass was buried on the spot, and the name was called the lying cattle farm. Afterwards, it was strengthened by earth-building by pilgrims, and a huge earth mound gradually formed. From then on, Xiaoxinzhuang was renamed Woniuzhuang. Today, there are only tens of square meters of ruins in the Crouching Oxen, but the incense is still burning. Every year on the ninth day of the third lunar month, pilgrims flock here in droves. People are grateful for the Princess Yide who kept her promise and did not regret the marriage contract, and also regard her honesty and creed as the law of business and trade, the ethics of dealing with people, and the cornerstone of morality. Words of gold and promises of gold embody the code of integrity and the law of contract.
The little-known Woniu Village may just be a vulgar rural sample.
The Crouching Bull Mound may be just a beautiful legend passed down by word of mouth, but it entrusts people's yearning for beautiful love and hope for honesty and trustworthiness. Or it can be named as "the first village of Jinkou Yuyan in China", "the first village of Zhongyuan Yinuoqianjin" and "the first village of Jiaozuo's promise and nine tripods", adding a bit of mystery to it...
