Taiwan Today

The Year of the Sheep - a "fiery ewe" in this case - walks onto the Chinese lunar calendar February 9. Despite the supposedly peaceful nature of the animal and the identification of lambs with sacrifice, the free Chinese look forward to the Year of the Sheep as a period of promise and prosperity. By any animal's name, a new year is always a time of hope. Furthermore, with the animal a female, who can tell what might happen?

Sheep have slight historical association with life in the warm south. The ruminants are native to cold, upland regions. In sub-tropical Taiwan, for example, goats are raised but sheep exist only in picture books and zoos, and get close to the people only as wool and fur.

Oddly, however, the most popular Chinese legend about the animal is of southern origin. The story tells how Five Gods of five different grains rode into what is now Canton mounted on rams. This gave the place its name: City of Rams. The gods were dressed in white, yellow, azure, black, and red. Each bore in his hand an ear of corn as an earnest of promise that famine would never again visit the place. As they passed the market place, the rams - whether sheep or goats is not clear - were turned to stone and have remained there as evidence of the gods' visitation.

In pre-Communist days, the people of Canton used to invoke the five stones and the Five Gods for protection. Festivals took place in the summer. Effigies were removed from shrines and paraded through the streets. If the deities approved, paper models of junks, known as "disease boats", were carried to bear away pestilence. The boats were taken to the shore and set afloat. If they drifted toward the sea with their fearsome burden, this was regarded as a good omen.

Plagued by recurrent pestilence and famine, the Chinese Communists apparently have had more than enough of the Five Gods and their rams. Just recently, the Red Guards eradicated all Canton names suggesting the legend of the rams.

Another popular Chinese fable of mainland origin involves a sheep and its greedy owners. The sheep might have brought fortune to a farmer and his wife, had they been less grasping.

A passing stranger spotted the sheep in the farmer's yard. He could tell this was no ordinary animal and offered to buy it. "I see no reason why not," the farmer said. "But tell me what you want with this miserable animal."

Source of Riches

The stranger said the sheep had in its stomach a pair of white candles that would bring forth gold and silver when lighted out of doors in the evening.

"I don't believe a word of it," said the farmer. But the stranger offered him 500 pieces of silver, and the farmer began to believe the story. "I won't sell the sheep for even ten times that much," he said. The stranger gave up and departed.

The farmer and his wife killed the sheep, found the candles in the stomach, then waited impatiently for the sun to go down. As soon as they lighted the candles, countless pieces of silver and gold materialized from nowhere and hovered high above the farmyard. But none fell to the ground. The candles finally burned out and the glittering pieces disappeared in the darkness.

The poor couple were out the 500 pieces of silver the stranger would have paid, and they also had lost their sheep.

A fable of Taiwan concerns a fox that falls into a well and gets out by deceiving a goat.

The thirsty fox tried to reach the water, lost his balance, and fell in. The water was shallow but the walls were slippery and had no footholds. Just then the fox heard a goat passing by.

"Hey, Mr. Goat!" he shouted. When the goat looked down the well, the fox said:

"The water down here is cool and sweet. Why don't you join me?"

Gullible Goat

"How do I get out?" asked the goat. The fox replied: "It won't be a problem. I wouldn't have come down if I couldn't get out."

The gullible goat jumped down, drank to his heart's satisfaction, then found he couldn't get out. The fox said: "Let's do it this way. You stand on your hind legs and let me use you as a ladder. When I get out, I'll pull you up."
The goat was fooled again. Once the fox was out, he showed no sign of helping the goat. "Help me out," pleaded the goat. The fox replied: "Beards are supposed to be signs of old age and wisdom. Why are you so stupid despite your long beard? If you had any sense, you wouldn't have jumped into the well in the first place."

Another story concerns Huang Chu-ping, who lived near Hangchow in present-day Che-kiang. While tending his sheep, Huang was taken by a hermit to Mt. Chin-hua. After living in a cave for a long time, he was found by his elder brother Chu-chi, who asked what had become of the sheep. Pointing at some white stones, Chu-ping said: "There they are." The stones immediately changed into sheep. The elder brother decided to become a hermit and eventually attained immortality.

Huang Chu-ping, the younger brother, also known as Chih Sung-tzu, is worshipped by shepherds as the god of sheep. The elder brother is also known as Lu Pan.

A Chinese day is divided into 12 watches of two hours, each presided over by a beast that may be mythical, wild or domestic. The system is very old. Astrologers attribute it to the Yellow Emperor in 2637 B.C. In order, the 12 animals are rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, fowl, dog, and pig.

Legend has it that in selecting animals for the 12 Earthly Branches, the Jade Emperor set a date on which volunteers were to report. The first 12 arrivals were to be registered in the order they reached his office. The rat and the cat had been good friends before the race to the Jade Emperor's office. The shrewd rat wanted to be first and double-crossed his friend with a wrong date. The cat reached the Jade Emperor early in the morning and was jubilant at the prospect of ruling the "animal branches", only to be told the race had been run the day before. Cats have chasing rats ever since.

It is also said the rat reached the emperor's office on the ox's back. The ox, diligent but slow moving, had walked all night long. The rat helped himself to a free ride, then jumped down at the last moment and rushed into the emperor's office first.

Five Elements

How the other animals behaved in the great race is not recorded. The sheep finished eighth and was assigned the two-hour spot between 1 and 3 p.m. His position on the compass is SSW 3/4 W. His zodiacal sign is Scorpio.
Chinese lunar years run in cycles of 60 - combinations of the 12 animals and the five elements: wood, fire, earth, gold, and water. Each of the five elements is expressed in two Chinese characters called the 10 Celestial Stems. These combine with the signs of the zodiac in such a way as to add up to 60. When the series has run its course, the whole thing begins all over again. The coming lunar year presents the combination of ting-wei, or fiery sheep, following the Year of the Fiery Horse.

For the purposes of astrology, the 12 Earthly Branches also are accorded male or female attributes. The odd numbers are masculine and the even numbers feminine. There is a sort of aide-memoire by which sex can be determined. The ox has a cloven hoof, and so do the sheep and the boar, producing an even number as opposed to the solid hoof of the horse or paw of the tiger. The hare has a split lip and the snake has a forked tongue. The dragon, symbol of the emperor in olden times, has five claws. Rats, tigers, monkeys, and the dog have an odd number of digits.

Fire Burns Wood

The ancient Chinese paid close attention to the effects of various astrological combinations. A girl born in a year of fire is sure to consume a husband from a year of wood. However, the wood-year man or woman derives sustenance from a water-year mate. Similarly, some signs of the zodiac may have affinity or antagonism for each other.

As is the case in the West, sheep are highly valued in China. Wool has been widely used to keep humans warm. Writing brushes made of sheep's hair are considered by calligraphers to be among the best. Chinese cooks can make an infinite variety of tasty dishes from sheep. Mutton is considered highly nutritious and is eaten for warmth in winter. Many restaurants in Taipei are known for their mutton dishes.

Mutton shops on the mainland used to hang out the head of a sheep in place of a signboard. Some, however, sold dog meat instead. Hence the saying: "Hanging out a sheep's head but selling dog meat."

The Chinese also like the way lambs kneel down to be fed by their mothers. This makes people think of sheep as "filial". Attacked by stronger animals, sheep usually yield without a struggle. This may be bad for the sheep and not a worthy example for humans. But that does not prevent the Chinese from admiring the sheep's quiet courage in facing the inevitable.

Editor's Note: In Chinese, the year 1967 is called yang nien, literally, Sheep or Goat Year. The word yang is a general term for the two genera of Ovis and Capra. It may mean either "sheep" by prefixing mien which means floss silk, or "goat" by prefixing shan , meaning mountain. So this presumably is either the Year of the Sheep or of the Goat, as preferred. Sometimes the translation is Year of the Ram, although sex is not designated in the Chinese yang.