近代以後日本人為追求西化和富強轉向肉食，内地人來到臺灣，於是成了首批實踐文明開化牛肉觀的消費者。本文從符號學觀點討論牛肉的生產和消費問題，内容分三部分。首先，檢視廣告圖像如何再現美味的「神户牛」，本文發現不論内容是否屬實，廣告的圖像和文案似乎皆深具吸引力。其次，神户牛肉在臺灣大多是冒牌貨，與「神户牛」缺乏明確的定義有關，本文追溯牛的產地原鄉，解析符號與指涉物的關係。最後，探討逐年減少的臺灣黃牛，對内地人而言黃牛肉在美味的意義上是神户牛肉和内地牛肉的對比項，不過，其存在也解決了認同與需求之間落差的問題。

The aim of this article is to examine the semiotics of cattle and the beef consumption of Japanese people in colonial Taiwan. Three aspects of the symbolic world are discussed. First, how did the advertising images reproduce the Kobe beef cattle that produced delicious meat? This study finds that the cattle images and proposal of beef in advertisement were attractive to Japanese people, regardless of whether the content was true or not. Secondly, Kobe beef were mostly counterfeit goods in Taiwan. Perhaps the reason is lack of obvious definition of "Kobe beef". This article will trace the origin of the cattle's origin and explore the relationship between symbols and the reference objects. Finally, why were Taiwan Yellow cattle decreasing year on year? It was a symbolic comparison of Kobe beef and Japanese beef in the sense of deliciousness. However, the problem of the gaps between identity and market demand of Taiwan had been solved due to the mass production of Yellow cattle beef.