With the mechanical replacement of ox-power and the mechanization of agricultural work, however, the ox's fate has undergone a great transformation. Anyone riding a train going through the flatlands of southwestern Taiwan, looking out into the distance, will no longer see the water buffaloes plowing or wallowing in the ponds. Watching the buffaloes butt heads, riding the backs of water buffaloes, and burning ox dung, have gradually become historically distant experiences. "When the guest calls the ox, the master too replies/ The cow, or me, on which do you rely?"-this was the way the people of times past empathized with their oxen. In today's world, the ox as a living creature is in decline, and the Taiwanese farmer who doesn't eat beef is in decline as well.
Chi-an Rural Township, Hualien County.
