The legend of the copper cattle in the Summer Palace

The legend of the copper cattle in the Summer Palace is a Chinese story.
The Summer Palace is built in 1750, and is one of the World Heritages Sites which have been listed by the UNESCO, and also a famous site in most people’s China trip. The original scenery of the Summer Palace is as beautiful as a painting. One of the reasons is that during period of the reign of Qing Emperor Guangxu, Empress Dowager Cixi ordered to build the Summer Palace into immeasurably vast difference. That is where the legend of the copper cattle came from.
In the Summer Palace, the Tower of Buddhist Incense stands for the heavenly palace, and the Kunming Lake stands for the Milky Way. Since the Milky Way should certainly be accompanied with the Cowherd and the Weaving Maid. So a copper cattle was placed beside the lake to stand for the Cowherd, and a Pavilion was built on the other side of the lake to stand for the Weaving Maid. So that the scene is just like the legend that the Cowherd and the Weaving Maid are separated and can only look out over the Milky Way to miss each other.
It is said that on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month (The Double Seven Festival) of a year the copper cattle became alive, leave the place where it was, went into the lake, and swim towards the Weaving Maid Pavilion. But the lake is too wide for the copper cattle to swim across, so it sank near a bridge in the center of the lake. People reported this situation to Empress Dowager Cixi, but she doesn’t believe until she came to the Seventeen Arches Bridge and took a look. It is not proper that there is no “Cowherd” beside the “Milky Way”, so she ordered craftsman to produce a copper cattle as same as the last one and put it on the same place. And she also commanded to lock this cattle with iron chain to prevent it escape again.
But on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month of the next year, this copper cattle moved again, and the iron chain didn’t work this time. So Empress Dowager Cixi sent several strong men to pull it back. They caught the tail of the copper cattle to pull it backwards, but the strength is too high, then the tail broke. At this time, other people brought thicker iron chain and locked the copper cattle back.
So, that is why there is a copper cattle with a half tail beside the Kunming Lake.

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