The Buffalo in Vietnamese eyes

The buffalo is an emblem of my country, Vietnam. A long time ago, agriculture, particularly the rice business, used to make up the main portion of the economy. Buffalos at that time were the tool and engine for the farmers to plough and transport heavy stuff, farmers utilized the pulling power of strong animals like buffalos, cows, and horses to make their work easier, faster, and more productive. In Vietnam, we have the idiom "The buffalo is a career investment", this means having a water buffalo allows one to start a business, this idiom also indicates the vital role of buffalos in the past. At present, in some provinces of the North of Vietnam, there are some festivals related to the buffalo such as the Buffalo Fighting Festival, Tịch Điền festival (the festival marks the beginning of a new harvest). With the aim of helping the young generation to remember the culture of Vietnam, and also the important role of the buffalo, the government decided to choose it as the emblem of Vietnam.

Second, the buffalo is one of the 12 zodiac animals, also mine, therefore I feel strongly connected with them. The buffalo symbolizes strength, hard work, resilience, and kindness. Sometimes, I find myself as a buffalo who always works hard and tries to focus on the goal, but sometimes I'm still distracted by external factors. That is why I think the zodiac animal just represents a small aspect of Vietnamese people, the important thing is realizing what characteristics are good to follow and train ourselves to be better.

Last but not least, the buffalo is also an impressive ingredient of Vietnamese cuisine. In the North, especially the minority communities, when a buffalo is old and can not work with a high workload, the locals will kill the buffalo and divide its meat into small portions, they will marinate the meat with spices, and hang it above the stove or fire, day by day the meat will dry out due to the impact of the temperature. After several days they can eat that meat, it has a beautiful flavour with the salty and spiciness of the spices and the smell of the smoke. With this process, buffalo meat can be preserved for several months.

In conclusion, the buffalo is a beautiful symbol of Vietnamese culture from the ancient times until now. It's more than an animal, it's the soul of a nation, a place reserving a nation's history.