NIU TOU & MA MIAN

Niu Tou (牛头) OX Head and Ma Mian (马面) Horse Face are two fearsome guardians of Underworld in Chinese mythology, where the dead face judgement (and punishment) prior to reincarnation. As indicated by their names, one has the head of an ox, and the other has the head of horse. They are the first people a dead soul meets upon arriving in the Underworld; in many stories they directly escort the newly dead to the Underworld (apparently some try to run away). Usually, the two are mentioned together (牛头马面).