颐和园东堤岸边有只与真牛大小相仿的镀金铜牛，它铸造于清乾隆二十年，铸造精良、形象逼真，牛背上刻有乾隆皇帝特意用篆体字镌刻的一首四言铭文，铭文阐述了建造铜牛的意义，希望它能永镇水患，给百姓造福。
On the Bank of the East Bank of the summer palace is a gilded bronze bull the size of a real bull. It was cast in the 20th year of Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty. It has a fine and lifelike image. On the back of the bull, there is a four character inscription specially engraved by Emperor Qianlong in seal script. The inscription expounds the significance of building a bronze bull, hoping that it can keep the flood in check and bring benefits to the people.
我国古代雕塑多为写意，这只铜牛却才采用了写实的手法，它造型逼真，神情生动，目光炯炯似有所见，丰富细腻的艺术表现手法代表了当时高超的铸造水平。颐和园东堤之上这只镇水的铜牛代表风调雨顺，昆明湖西堤对应的有耕织图表示男耕女织，两者遥遥相对象征着中华几千年的农耕文化。铜牛是颐和园昆明湖东岸边一道独特的人文景观和艺术珍品，多少年来吸引了千千万万游人到此驻足观赏。
The ancient sculptures in China are mostly freehand, but this bronze bull only adopted the realistic technique. It has lifelike shape, vivid expression, bright eyes, and rich and delicate artistic expression techniques, which represent the superb casting level at that time. On the East Bank of the summer palace, the bronze cow stands for the smooth weather. The farming map corresponding to the West Bank of Kunming Lake represents the men's farming and women's weaving. The two represent the farming culture of China for thousands of years. Tongniu is a unique cultural landscape and art treasure on the East Bank of Kunming Lake in the summer palace. It has attracted tens of thousands of visitors for many years.