When Lao Tzu passed through Hangu Pass and walked westward, why did he ride an ox instead of a horse?

The cow has left many interesting stories, idioms and allusions to future generations in history. For example, the story of Laozi riding a green ox out of the pass: Laozi, the founder of the Taoist sect, rode a green ox through Hangu Pass. He was discovered by Yin Xi, the guard at the pass, and he performed discipleship and worshiped him as his teacher. Later, Laozi left Hangu Pass and entered the Qin Dynasty. He traveled around the famous mountains and rivers of the Qin State, and finally lived in seclusion in Fufeng to give lectures and spread Taoist ideas. The Tao Te Ching he wrote became a Taoist classic. Although this story is well-known to every household, in an era when horses were mostly used for transportation, why did I ride a green ox out of seclusion?

At the intersection of S202 and S307 provincial roads in the west of Woyang County, there is a bronze statue of Laozi forged from red copper, weighing 15 tons and 7.4 meters high. It is based on the portrait of Laozi painted by the great painter Wu Daozi of the Tang Dynasty. The image of Laozi created based on the foundation. In terms of expression, Lao Tzu is staring at the sky, pointing to the sky with his left hand and pointing to the ground with his right hand, sitting cross-legged on the back of a green bull, with an elegant expression, giving people an otherworldly impression. It implies that Lao Tzu is a great sage who rides a green bull in the nine heavens and spreads the seeds of wisdom everywhere. As we all know, horses were the main means of transportation in ancient times, but why did I only ride a green ox instead of a horse when I left the customs?

Bronze Statue of Laozi

According to legend, the Emperor of Heaven sent the Green Bull God down to the mortal world to observe the sufferings of the people. After receiving the order, Qingniu God began to investigate openly and covertly among the people. One day, the Green Ox God saw a group of people working in the fields. Some were turning the soil, some were digging, and some were carrying burdens. They were working hard while humming the labor chant: "Hey, hey, hey." ——Hi yo, hi yo!” They felt very happy.

Another day, the Green Ox God came to a wine shop and saw some people in rich clothes, frowning while drinking wine, so he felt that they were the most painful. The Green Ox God reported the people's sentiments he observed among the people to the Emperor of Heaven, and the Emperor of Heaven ordered the mortals: those who worked to drink porridge and vegetables, and those who drank to eat big fish and meat.

Later, the Emperor of Heaven issued an order: People on earth should eat one meal every three days. The Green Ox God came to the mortal world and couldn't bear the hunger of the mortals, so he pretended to pass the imperial decree and let the mortals eat three meals a day. The Emperor of Heaven was furious when he heard this and demoted the Green Bull God to the mortal world as a cow! Later, Qing Niu was kind to people in the mortal world and lived in harmony with humans.

When I was fourteen or fifteen years old, on a large mountain northeast of Guoyang Taiqing Palace, there was a middle-aged Qing Niu with a group of wives and concubines, and a house full of children and grandchildren. But at this time, Qing Niu relied on his hard work and contribution to people, but he did not get the rewards he deserved. He gradually became bad-tempered, biting everything and eating people in sight, and even lions and tigers had no place to hide. Not long after, the area around the mountain was so devastated that there was almost no road left.

One day, I and a classmate went to the lower reaches of Beishan Mountain to play together without telling the adults. Suddenly there was a cry of "moo", and a green bull rushed down from the mountain and rushed towards them. When I saw the cow, I was so angry that I thought: I have heard for a long time that this beast does no good, disturbs the neighbors, and hurts the people. Today, I must give it a show of strength. So, he shouted to his classmates: "Go, catch it!" He said and walked towards the cow.

As long as the animals that the cow encountered on a daily basis were alive, they would all run away with their lives. Today, when it saw two children not only not running away, but running towards it, it felt that something was wrong. But it had to eat the fat meat that reached its mouth. It glared and ran even more fiercely. The cow jumped up and down, came close, lowered its head, and jumped up, trying to kill me and his classmates. The two of them hurriedly squatted down, and the cow jumped over their heads. When I saw the bull's momentum, I thought: Give it some power first, and kill its majesty. Then he bent down to pick up a stone, stood up suddenly, and threw it hard at the cow's butt. The cow jumped up in pain, and its tail immediately drooped. The green cow didn't care about eating them either, so it spread its hooves and ran up the mountain.

When the two of them saw that the cow was about to run away, they got even more excited. They shouted and followed the cow up the mountain. The cow ran halfway up the hillside in one breath, got into a big hole and disappeared. I was about to go to the cave to catch a safe one when suddenly there was a roar that made the hillside tremble. Following the cry, a green cow jumped out of the hole. I saw that it was twice as big as the cow just now, with a big head, a big mouth, and big hooves. It looked like it was carrying a tiger in its belly. The two horns on its head stretched forward, which was as long as an arm. Apparently, it is the leading cow in this cave.

It jumped out of the cave entrance and stopped halfway up the hillside. When it saw two children, it flew into a rage and showed off its power to them. It was really fierce! But I saw it lowered its head, stretched out its tongue and licked the ground full of weeds. With a "chi-la" sound, the place where the tongue had passed was all bare, and even the ground was licked up by it, which was more than half a foot thick. It said in its heart: "Since I became the king of the mountain, I have never suffered any loss. Today, these two children took advantage of me. It is really undignified. Let's see how I deal with you!" It yelled, and a hungry tiger pounced on the food. He rushed towards them both. When I saw the big green cow rushing towards him like crazy, I thought: If I don't subdue the big green cow, the people in this area will never have a good life in the future. I must subdue the big green cow today. Before he could think of a way to subdue the big green bull, the big green bull had already jumped up to his classmate and bowed his head towards him. The classmate didn't panic and hugged one of the big green bull's front legs. When the big green bull saw his leg being held by someone, he opened his mouth to bite him in a hurry.

When I saw this, I jumped up and pointed the stone in my hand at the upper teeth of the big green cow. With a "click", the upper teeth of the big green cow were smashed off. The big green bull was so angry that he swung his body violently and knocked me to the ground. It lowered its head and pushed against him, knocking his classmate to the ground again. When I saw my classmate being knocked down by an old cow, I was so angry that anger arose in my heart and strength came from my bones. At this time, the big green bull was rushing forward with his head bowed. He stood up suddenly, grabbed the horns, and rode on the bull's back. He clamped the cow's back tightly with his legs, held the two horns with both hands and moved it backwards. He moved the horns over at once. The big green cow was jumping around in pain, trying to throw me off its back.

I took off the ribbon from my waist and threaded the cow's nose firmly. Now the big green cow is much more honest. I jumped off the cow's back, picked up a stone and smashed the cow's hoof in half. The big green cow became completely honest. I and my classmates rode on the big green ox and went home happily. After not walking far, I found a herd of large and small cattle following behind me. It turned out that these cows all followed me obediently when they saw the cow being subdued by me. When I got home, I drove them to a meadow on the east side of the village. From then on, he specialized in taming the cattle there. He trained the cattle that followed him one by one in the same way as the big green cattle. They were only allowed to eat green grass, and he also taught them to pull plows and carts. He gave all the tamed cattle to the villagers for use. That big green bull has become my mount since then.

When I finally saw that the Zhou dynasty was getting weaker and weaker, and was in such a state of decline, I decided to leave and fly far away. If I want to go to Qin State or the Western Regions, I have to pass through Hangu Pass.

Two mountains face each other here in Hangu Pass, with a small road in the middle. Because the road is in the valley, it is deep and dangerous, as if it is in a functor. The officer guarding the gate at that time was Yin Xi.

On this day, Yin Xi was standing at the gate of the city and looking out, when he saw a group of purple air drifting slowly from the east in the valley. Yin Xi is a man of extremely high cultivation and knowledge. When he saw this scene, he was heartbroken: This is a saint coming! Only when a saint comes, there will be such clouds. I don't know which saint is going to pass through my city gate.

After a while, I saw a man of extraordinary character and immortal spirit, riding a green bull slowly towards the pass. It’s me! Yin Xi knew that he was going to fly away, and thought to himself that he must let this most famous contemporary thinker leave his wisdom, so he pestered him and asked him to write some books as a condition for his release.

Of course I am not willing, but if Yin Xi does not agree, he will not let me pass, and he will not give his "passport visa"! I had no choice but to agree to the conditions.

I thought deeply and wrote down his wisdom on the slips word by word. He wrote the first part first, then the next part, and wrote for several days in a row. After finishing the writing, I found that it has about 5,000 words, and I named it "Tao Te Ching". The first part is called "Tao Te Ching", and the second part is called "De Jing", which is divided into eighty-one chapters. Thus, a great work of five thousand words was born!

Yin Xi was deeply intoxicated after reading such a wonderful book, and was attracted by those words. He said to Lao Tzu: "After reading your works, I no longer want to be a small border official. I want to run away with you." Lao Tzu smiled and agreed.

Yin Xi ran away with me. The two of them passed through the quicksands of the Western Regions and encountered a large canyon. After a lot of trouble, they could not get around it.

When Laozi and Yin Xi were in trouble, suddenly, the green bull raised its head and roared toward the sky, raised its four hooves, rode up the auspicious clouds, flew across the canyon like an arrow, and carried Laozi and his disciples to the other side. Since then, I and Yin Xi have settled down and lived a long, long life!

Later on, Lao Tzu’s release from seclusion has been talked about and performed by people. The "purple energy coming from the east" when Lao Tzu came out of isolation has also become a gene in Chinese culture. The emperor's family regards "purple energy" as auspicious and auspicious. If a child is born and the house is full of purple energy, it is believed that the child will have good luck in the future. Have great potential. Ordinary people's homes also regard "purple air" as a symbol of good luck, so they write the words "purple air comes from the east" on their doors. The ancestors also believed that wherever there was a treasure, purple gas would appear in the sky.

Interestingly, the green ox that Lao Tzu rode on became a famous image in Taoist culture, and the green ox later became the mount of the immortal Taoist priests. Later, "Qingniu" also became synonymous with Laozi, and Laozi was also called "Qingniu Master", "Qingniu Weng" and so on. Today, this green cow is still regarded as a sacred cow by the people in Laozi's hometown, and is worshiped as a god.