Year of the Ox Cantonese Resources 牛年粵語教材

2021 is the Year of the Ox （牛年）, specifically the Golden Ox, which is why you might hear about 金牛.

Some things to note about 牛年

The Ox is the second Zodiac sign. The 12 Zodiac animals are Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig
Every 12 years, it will be the Year of the Ox
Each animal has five elements – Fire (火 ), Water (水), Wood (木), Metal (金), and Earth (土).
Every 60 years, it will be the Year of the Golden Ox – 1961, 2021
牛 is often translated to Ox when referring to Zodiac animals, but 牛 can refer to either a bull or cow
金 actually refers to metal, but Gold sounds so much better.

1. Year of the Cow Auspicious Sayings 牛年吉祥話

While many Chinese New year greetings as well as specific auspicious phrases on banners can be used every year, there are some specific phrases for each animal. they are often a play on the words based based on the pronunciation (some only work in Mandarin and not Cantonese), as well as symbolism or animal characteristics.

牛年大吉 ngau4 nin4 daai6 gat1 is one of the more common sayings, and it means good fortune in the year of the Ox. This can be changed to any animal. e.g 豬年大吉.

There are more variations that start with 牛年 Year of the Ox or Golden Ox 金牛, followed by an auspicious phrase. Phrases with 牛年 can be adapted for any Zodiac animal or 新年 (new year). 金牛 also refers to A $1000 HK note, and some below are a play on the double meaning.

牛年大吉	ngau4 nin4 daai6 gat1	Good fortune in the Year of the Ox
牛年行大運	ngau4 nin4 hang4 daai6 wan6	Good fortune in the Year of the Ox
牛年如意	ngau4 nin4 jyu4 ji3	Everything goes well in the Year of the Ox
牛年好運	ngau4 nin4 hou2 wan6	Good fortune in the Year of the Ox
牛年進步	ngau4 nin4 zeon3 bou6	Progress in the Year of the Ox
牛年安康	ngau4 nin4 ngon1 hong1	Good Health in the Year of the Ox
牛年吉祥	ngau4 nin4 gat1 coeng4	Auspicious Year of the Ox
牛年順利	ngau4 nin4 seon6 lei6	Smooth-sailing Year of the Ox
金牛迎春	gam1 ngau4 jing4 ceon1	Golden Ox Welcome spring
金牛滿屋	gam1 ngau4 mun5 nguk1	Golden Ox / money fills the house
金牛報喜	gam1 ngau4 bou3 hei2	Golden Ox brings good news
金牛賀歲	gam1 ngau4 ho6 seoi3	Golden Ox New year greetings
金牛納福	gam1 ngau4 naap6 fuk1	Gold Ox Comfortable Life
金牛獻吉	gam1 ngau4 hin3 gat1	Golden Ox offers Luck
金牛賀春	gam1 ngau4 ho6 ceon1	Golden Ox New year greetings
金牛送福	gam1 ngau4 sung3 fuk1	Golden Ox Brings Blessings

Also based on the Year of the Ox

牛來運轉	ngau4 loi4 wan6 zyun2	Ox arrives and fortunes reverse (to be used after a bad year)
牛運當頭	ngau4 wan6 dong1 tau4	Ox brings good fortune

These play on the characteristics of an Ox being strong

力大如牛	lik6 daai6 jyu4 ngau4	As strong as a cow
健壯如牛	gin6 zong3 jyu4 ngau4	As strong as a cow
牛高馬大	ngau4 gou1 maa5 daai6	Big and strong

This plays on the phrase 牛市 which means bull market

牛市再現

ngau4 si5 zoi3 jin6

Bull market reappears

These use the word 犇 (ban1). This is a rare word, and a variation of 奔 which means running/ charging/ galloping/ rushing. It is also made up of three 牛, which makes it so apt for the Year of the Ox.

犇

錢往我犇	cin2 wong5 ngo5 ban1	Money rushes to me
犇向幸福	ban1 hoeng3 hang6 fuk1	Rush towards happiness
好運犇放	hou2 wan6 ban1 fong3	Good fortune unrestrained
財運犇騰	coi4 wan6 ban1 tang4	Wealth rolling in waves
幸福犇馳	hang6 fuk1 ban1 ci4	Happiness galloping

Most of these phrases are not spoken but rather used in Chinese New Year banners, or in written/ typed messages.

You might also have seen some phrases which that I have not included here. Some phrases only work in Mandarin:

牛 has the same Mandarin pronunciation as 扭 in 扭轉 which means reverse. But they are not pronounced the same way in Cantonese 牛 ngau4 and 扭轉nau2 zyun2. 牛轉乾坤 is play on the words 扭轉乾坤. 牛轉新運, 牛轉新機 are other examples that work in Mandarin, although the Cantonese pronunciation is close enough
Happy 牛 year is another play on the Mandarin pronunciation niu (sounds like new)
牛 is also a slang in China in Mandarin for awesome. Hence some cutesy colloquial Mandarin sayings might include those 数你最牛 (數你最牛)，就是这么牛 (就是這麼牛) . I used Simplified Chinese here, as I have only seen this usage in China.

2. Year of the Ox Crafts 牛年手工

The videos are in Cantonese, But for printed material, I have included craft that are in Traditional Chinese though not Cantonese. Most of them are by Taiwanese, who also use Traditional Chinese.

Paper Craft Toys 立體紙玩具

Various Ox paper cuttings 牛年剪紙

Year of the Ox Hanging decorations

Paper cutting of Peace & Ox 平安牛剪紙

Firecrackers, red packets with Pop out Ox.

The templates are in the download link within the post and there is a comment in the post that shows pictures of the process.

Paper Cutting and Craft

The videos are in Mandarin, but look for the google drive download link in the post below for the template of the paper cutting and craft. (The booklet is not available for download.)

2021 Year of the Ox Frames

PNG and EPS files for download. You can also make a digital version with the files.

Texas Long Horn Lantern

Make a Chinese New Year Print

3. Year of the Ox Chinese New Year Banners 牛年揮春

Cantonese Mommy has made these really gorgeous banners and also red packets. She has lots of other resources available for download on her new website, which I highly recommend. Just head there, set up an account, and you can download the banners, red packets and more.

Her blog is also full of tips and tricks and activities for teaching Cantonese, and of course lots of read-aloud videos on her YouTube and on her website. Definitely one to bookmark, for sure.

These from Michigan Cantonese Storytime come in two versions available – one in full-colour, the other in Black and white.

These from Ma Ma Wu Workshop are really cute banners that you can also insert a photo. You have to like the page and the post, and make a greeting that also involves cow e.g. 牛年大吉！牛年行好運！

9 designs available from 兔包. Both PJG and PSD files are available for download.

ilovemama also has Chinese New Year banners that you can insert photos into, to personalize them. Click here for the blogpost which shows you what to do, and has the download link.

Cutesy banner for colouring by 媽咪老師聯絡簿

Palindrome for the New Year. (A palindrome is a word, phrase, or sequence that reads the same backwards as forwards, e.g. madam or nurses run.- Source: Oxford dictionary)

4. DIY Red Packets 牛年利是封DIY

(Mint Purple Studio has put up more Chinese New Year resources. Click around the webpage for more. )

6. Other Resources

Year of the Ox printables

including Year of the Ox Happy Chinese New Year Cards, Chinese New Year Bookmarks, Happy Chinese New Year Poster by Baker Ross Craft for Kids.