Chinese character for ox: 牛 (niú)
The Chinese character for ox is 牛 (niú). It means ox, cow or bull and is the second animal of the Chinese zodiac. It appears in 牛奶 (niúnǎi, milk) and 牛年 (niú nián, Year of the Ox).
How 牛 is built
牛 is a pictograph of an ox's head seen from the front: the short slanted stroke and the upper line are the horns, and the vertical stroke is the face. As a part of other characters it often appears on the left as 牜, as in 特 (special) and 物 (thing), since cattle were central to farm life. In modern slang 牛 also means 'awesome'. It is identical in both scripts.
牛 niú · cow
牛 is not built from smaller parts; it is written with 4 strokes.
Origin hint: An ox's horned head (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
How 牛 is used
Before you use it as a tattoo or design: 牛 is identical in both scripts; be aware that in modern slang it also means 'awesome', which many readers will notice.
Questions
What is the Chinese character for ox?
牛 (niú) means “ox”.
How do you pronounce 牛?
牛 is pronounced niú.