According to the China Internet Information Center, a legend stated that the street Niujie was originally named "Pomegranate Street" or Liujie () because the Muslims in the community grew pomegranate trees. Wenfei Wang, Shangyi Zhou, and Cindy Fan stated the "Liu" meant "willow" (C: 柳, P: "Liǔ", W: "Liu") and that the similarity between "liu" and "niu" "might have given rise to the name change." Gladney wrote that the name may have originated from a concentration of beef butchers during the Qing Dynasty or from the homophonic similarity to the Liu River, where pomegranate and willow trees grew. The name change of the community to Niujie occurred during the Qing Dynasty. The China Internet Information Center stated that the street name changed when members of the began specializing in beef. At that time, imams had butchered both mutton and beef.