Why was the ear of the Village God screwed off？
There is a rather large stone ear by the ancient post road in Niujie，Eryuan County.It is said that it is the ear of the Village God of Nandaiping.How did the ear of the Village God of Nandaiping come to Niujie？
According to the legend，these two village gods made meritorious military service for the local people before their death，and they became the village gods after they died.The two were good friends before they died，and they had a good relationship after they became the village gods.Each time they celebrated their birthdays，they congratulated and held a banquet to treat each other.
The Village God of Niujie celebrated his birthday on the 23rd day of the first month，and he invited the Village God of Nandaiping to attend the feast.On that day，the villagers of Niujie all came to celebrate his birthday and held a sumptuous banquet.When the Village God of Nandaiping saw this grand occasion，he thought to himself：On my birthday，I should also treat my friend well.
Soon，the Village God of Nandaiping celebrated his birthday on February 15th.The villagers came to congratulate him with performing the dragon and lion dance，horse and crane dance，and walking in stilts.It was very lively.In the afternoon，the Village God of Nandaiping hosted a big banquet to entertain guests.He wanted his guests to have a fresh meal，so he killed a donkey and made a plate of donkey meat，which was one more dish than the dishes in the banquet of the Village God of Niujie.The Village God of Niujie was surprised to see it and asked the Village God of Nandaiping，“What kind of meat is this？”the Village God of Nandaiping said，“It's donkey meat.”The Village God of Niujie thought to himself，“It's outrageous to kill farm animals indiscriminately.He has violated our taboos and forgotten the people's sufferings！”
It turned out that there were many wars which had caused many deaths of people and animals.After the wars were subsided，in order to resume production，the two village gods jointly formulated ten taboos.The prohibition of killing farm animals is one of the ten taboos.
The Village God of Niujie was very indignant at the Village God of Nandaiping violating the ban.In addition，he drank two cups of wine and became a little drunk.He grabbed the left ear of the Village God of Nandaiping with one hand and twisted it off.
The Village God of Nandaiping realized his mistake and knelt down to beg for mercy，promising not to violate the ban.Looking at the embarrassed look of the Village God of Nandaiping，the Village God of Niujie threw the ear out of the wall and strode back to Niujie.To everyone's surprise，after the ear flew to the ancient post road of Niujie，it became a stone ear.
Since then，the statue of the Village God of Nandaiping had no left ear.Later，the villagers felt that he was not good-looking with a missing ear.Besides，he had realized his mistake，so they made a dough ear for him.
It is for this reason that the villagers in Niujie don't eat beef，donkey and horse meats when celebrating the birthday of the Village God.