Cast in 1755, the bronze ox of the same size of a real ox lies on the bluestone-carved pedestal at the bank close to the 17-arch Bridge, keenly watching the water.

There are various explanations to the placement of the bronze ox here .Some said that the ancient hero Dayu of over4,000 years ago put an iron ox down at the bottom of the river when he finished dredging one place ,in case of future flood. The iron ox was placed at the riverside in Tang Dynasy. When enlarging the Kunming Lake in Qing Dynasty, The Emperor Qianlong, who was inspired by the story of Dayu Taming Flood, attempeted to conquer flood by casting the bronze ox here on the eastern dike.

Some held that the placement originated from the legend of Cowherd and the Girlweaver. The bronze ox represe-nted the cowherd, the vast Kunming Lake the Heavenly River blocking the couple and the faraway Binfeng Bridge the rural scenery described in the legend.

However, the first explanation sound more reasonable, according to the seal-script inscriptions on the back of the ox, written by the Emperor Qianlong. The inscriptions began with the significance the iron ox to Dayu's taming flood. It i s obvious that the emperor intended to use the bronze ox to conque flood.

In addition, the bronze ox can also tell the water level of Kunming Lake. The eastern dike proved to be apporxim-ately 10 meters higher than that of the Forbidden City. In the past, on occasion of heavy downpour, the area of Kunming Lake suffered much from the flood. For fear of the burst of the eastern dike incurring disaster to the Forbidden City, the bronze ox was installed here to check the water level.

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