#sheep year

[googlesheepview]

Happy Chinese New Year!  Welcome the year of the monkey and say farewell to the year of the sheep.  That does not mean it is farewell from us at google sheep view though!  Thanks to all of you fans, we appreciate the continued enthusiasm!  Keep those submissions coming along, we know there are more sheep out there to find out in the world, especially in Eastern Europe, Mexico, and S. America. To those few of you that submitted the “one tree hill” sheep view in Auckland, we’ve already got that in our archive of posts from the early stages of the blog, so sorry we didn’t post it as we try our best to not post any repeats! Picture info: Here is Riet, our Ouessant sheep friend at our neighborhood petting zoo.  It took her over a year to warm up to us as Ouessants are naturally a very skittish breed.  Here she is coming to the fence to greet us as we win her over with some fresh lettuce.  This is the first time she has come all the way up to the fence!  Usually she is shy and hides behind all the other goats.

[cudoziemkawszangraju]

Mr. Zhao also scoffed at the widespread notion that to be born in the Year of the Sheep, or Goat, is bad news. Sheep are seen by some as meek, doltish beasts. But Mr. Zhao said the unfortunate reputation of births in those years took hold in the late Qing dynasty, toward the end of the 19th century, when opponents of the dynasty vilified the Empress Dowager Cixi and several other high officials as schemers and traitors. They all happened to be born in the Year of the Sheep, or Goat, reinforcing the belief that people born in that year were not to be trusted. “The people’s personal hatred of them was transferred to views about the 12 signs,” Mr. Zhao said. “But for Chinese people going back further in history, the sheep is really extremely auspicious. Our ancestors could never have put an inauspicious animal in the 12 signs.”

Chris Buckley, A Lunar New Year With a Name That’s a Matter of Opinion, “New York Times”, 18.02. 2015

[cudoziemkawszangraju]

In Western culture, things are subdivided into more and more detailed categories, and that’s why Europe has still not been unified after so many years (...). If you want to say whether it’s goat or sheep, then why not also ask whether it’s a ewe or a ram? But Chinese culture has an inclusive spirit and stresses harmony.

Zhao Shu, a folklore expert at the Beijing Institute of Culture and History

(from: Chris Buckley, A Lunar New Year With a Name That’s a Matter of Opinion, "New York Times", 18.02. 2015)

[cudoziemkawszangraju]

- What do they say about Goat Year? - Chinese will avoid having children, but it will be a great year for people with creative jobs.

[kaleidoscopepaper-blog]

[iamadreameater]

office doodles #7 year of the sheep