The Goat of the Chinese Zodiac
Eighth of the twelve: sheep, goat or ram
- Earliest record
- the 210s BCEThe Shuihudi daybook (tomb 11, late third century BCE) has an 'old yang' at xu and the horse at wei; the Fangmatan daybook of the same era and Wang Chong's Lunheng (later first century CE) put the yang at wei.
The oldest list puts no yang at wei. The Shuihudi daybook of the late third century BCE gives wei to the horse, and its only yang is an 'old yang' at xu, the dog's later place. The Fangmatan daybook sets the yang at wei.
Chen Lianshan, 从“日肖”到“生肖”, Zhongguo feiwuzhi wenhua yichan (2025), reporting Yu Haoliang's reading of the Shuihudi daybook and the Fangmatan list
The eighth animal of the Chinese twelve-year cycle, yang (羊), paired with the earthly branch wei (未).
More context
The eighth animal is the yang, at the earthly branch wei. Yang covers sheep, goat and ram. Alfred Forke's Lunheng of 1907 gives wei 'the sheep', as James Legge's Yi King of 1882 renders the Shuogua's yang; American news in February 2015 set out all three. The oldest list, the Shuihudi daybook of the late third century BCE, gives wei to the horse; its only yang is an old yang at xu, the dog's place. The Fangmatan daybook reads wei as yang. Xu Shen glossed yang as auspicious. Chen Lianshan reports a saying that yang-born people have bitter lives. Recent yang years: 1991, 2003, 2015 and 2027.
Light
Xu Shen read yang as xiang, auspicious, and the Shuogua gives it to Dui, the joyous lake: a sign of good fortune by its very name.
Shadow
A popular saying holds that those born in a yang year meet a bitter fate, and Chen Lianshan reports families avoiding yang-year births because of it.