Iron Oxen of Hongze Lake

Iron Oxen of Hongze Lake

During the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty, when the Hongze Lake Dyke was completed, nine iron oxen, two iron tigers, and one iron chicken were cast to suppress the waters. Drawing on the ancient philosophical concept of the Five Elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—and their mutual restraint, the “nine oxen, two tigers, and one chicken” were erected on the dyke to tame the floods. Today, the tigers have returned to the forest, the bird has flown away, and only the honest iron oxen remain, keeping daily company with Hongze Lake... Unfortunately, only five (some say just two) of them survive. Two are housed at the Sanhe Sluice Management Office in Jiangba, two are located in a park and by the Gaoliangjian Inlet Sluice, and one is in Gaonian, Huaiyin. The iron oxen were cast from pig iron. Aside from their horns, which are mostly damaged, and some inscriptions that have rusted away, the rest are relatively well preserved. Each iron ox is 1.70 meters long, 0.57 meters wide, and 0.68 meters tall, with a 0.07-meter-thick iron plate cast as one piece with the body, and they weigh approximately 2,250 kilograms in total (some sources say 4,000 kilograms).

Cast into the shoulders and ribs of the oxen are raised relief inscriptions in regular script that read: “It is metal that subdues wood, causing dragons and serpents to hide; it is earth that controls water, making turtles and snakes yield. The rhinoceros is cast to guard the Huai and Yang regions, to forever eliminate disasters and report to our Emperor.” From these inscriptions, we learn that the iron oxen were created to suppress the waters. Historical records indicate that the Hongze Lake Dyke collapsed many times throughout history. Between 1575 and 1855 alone—a span of 280 years—there were over 140 breaches. At that time, in addition to mobilizing large numbers of laborers for repairs, the Qing court decided to cast iron oxen in hopes of taming the waters and eliminating flood disasters. In the 40th year of Kangxi’s reign (1701 AD), during the Dragon Boat Festival at noon, Grand Secretary Zhang Suining and others began casting the oxen at Gaoliangjian. Originally planning for nine, there was leftover material, so 16 were ultimately cast. After completion, the iron oxen were placed at various critical and dangerous sections along the Hongze Lake Dyke.

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units