山羊or绵羊？哭晕的“歪果仁”终于明白了！

Sheep or goat?

山羊还是绵羊？

China's coming lunar new year has stirred a debate over which zodiac creature is the correct one.

即将到来的中国农历新年引起了网络热议：中国羊年到底哪个“羊”。

Traditional astrology in China attaches different animal signs to each lunar year in a cycle of 12 years.

中国传统占星学按照12生肖把农历年分为12年一轮回。

The symbol for the new year starting on February 19 is the "yang", which can refer to any member of the caprinae subfamily depending on what additional Chinese character it is paired up with.

2017年2月19日开始的新一年是羊年，其中的“羊”可能是羊亚科的任何一种分支，具体是哪一种羊要看中国传统把各个种类的羊都赋予了什么性格和特点。

For example, a goat is a "mountain yang", a sheep is a "soft yang" and a Mongolian [en]gazelle

is a "yellow yang".[/en]

比如说，“goat”是山羊，“sheep”是绵羊，“Mongolian gazelle”是黄羊。

Both goats and sheep appear in Chinese new year paintings, paper-cuts and other festival decorations.

在中国的传统年画、剪纸和其他节日装饰品上，山羊和绵羊都有出现。

Folklorists say it does not matter which one is used since the zodiac sign was chosen for the Chinese character's auspicious connotation rather than the specific animal.

民俗学家说是哪种羊并不重要，代表吉祥的是“羊”这个汉字，而不是具体的哪一种动物。

"This 'yang' is fictional. It does not refer to any specific kind (of sheep or goat)," Zhao Shu, a researcher with the Beijing Research Institute of Culture and History, told AFP.

北京历史文化研究所的赵树告诉法新社记者：“我们所说的‘羊’是虚构的，不指代任何一种羊、既不是绵羊也不是山羊。”

"Yang" is a component of the written Chinese character "xiang", which means auspiciousness, and the two were interchangeable in ancient Chinese, experts say.

“羊"是汉字“祥”的组成部分，“祥”代表着吉祥。专家称，这两个汉字在古代是通用的。

It is also a part of the character "shan", which counts kindness and benevolence as among its meanings.

“羊”也是汉字“善”的组成部分，“善”代表着善良、仁慈。

"Therefore 'yang' is a symbol of... blessing and fortune and represents good things," said Yin Hubin, an ethnology researcher with the China Academy of Social Sciences, a government think-tank.

中国社会科学院研究院尹虎彬说，“所以‘羊’代表着祝福和财富、代表着祥瑞。”

A Google search suggests that in English, "year of the sheep" is the most common phrasing.

谷歌搜索的调查表明，在英文中“year of the sheep”是最常用的搭配。

"Sheep, goat, Mongolian gazelle -- whatever is fine. This is the fun of Chinese characters," zhao said.

赵树说：“绵羊、山羊、黄羊，哪个都行。这就是汉字的有趣之处。”