Ox-Head and Horse-Face

Ox-Head (simplified Chinese: 牛头; traditional Chinese: 牛頭; pinyin: Niútóu; Wade–Giles: niu²-t'ou²) and Horse-Face (simplified Chinese: 马面; traditional Chinese: 馬面; pinyin: Mǎmiàn; Wade–Giles: ma³-mien⁴) are two guardians or types of guardians of the underworld in Chinese mythology. As indicated by their names, both have the bodies of men, but Ox-Head has the head of an ox while Horse-Face has the face of a horse. They are the first beings a dead soul encounters upon entering the underworld; in many stories they directly escort the newly dead to the underworld.^[1]