Sheep or goat?
山羊還是綿羊？

China's coming lunar new year has stirred a debate over which zodiac creature is the correct one.
即將到來的中國農(nóng)歷新年引起了網(wǎng)絡(luò)熱議：中國羊年到底哪個(gè)“羊”。

Traditional?astrology?in China attaches different animal signs to each lunar year in a cycle of 12 years.
中國傳統(tǒng)占星學(xué)按照12生肖把農(nóng)歷年分為12年一輪回。

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.
2015年2月19日開始的新一年是羊年，其中的“羊”可能是羊亞科的任何一種分支，具體是哪一種羊要看中國傳統(tǒng)把各個(gè)種類的羊都賦予了什么性格和特點(diǎn)。

For example, a goat is a "mountain yang", a sheep is a "soft yang" and a Mongolian [en]gazelle
is a "yellow yang".[/en]
比如說，“goat”是山羊，“sheep”是綿羊，“Mongolian gazelle”是黃羊。

Both goats and sheep appear in Chinese new year paintings, paper-cuts and other festival decorations.
在中國的傳統(tǒng)年畫、剪紙和其他節(jié)日裝飾品上，山羊和綿羊都有出現(xiàn)。

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.
民俗學(xué)家說是哪種羊并不重要，代表吉祥的是“羊”這個(gè)漢字，而不是具體的哪一種動物。

"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.
北京歷史文化研究所的趙樹告訴法新社記者：“我們所說的‘羊’是虛構(gòu)的，不指代任何一種羊、既不是綿羊也不是山羊。”

"Yang" is a component of the written Chinese character "xiang", which means auspiciousness, and the two were interchangeable in ancient Chinese, experts say.
“羊"是漢字“祥”的組成部分，“祥”代表著吉祥。專家稱，這兩個(gè)漢字在古代是通用的。

It is also a part of the character "shan", which counts kindness and benevolence as among its meanings.
“羊”也是漢字“善”的組成部分，“善”代表著善良、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.
中國社會科學(xué)院研究院尹虎彬說，“所以‘羊’代表著祝福和財(cái)富、代表著祥瑞。”

A Google search suggests that in English, "year of the sheep" is the most common phrasing.
谷歌搜索的調(diào)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.
趙樹說：“綿羊、山羊、黃羊，哪個(gè)都行。這就是漢字的有趣之處。”