Ewe might not believe it but there has been a recent rush to book caesarean sections in China and Hong Kong as women flock to give birth to their babies before the start of the Chinese New Year. It’s not that they fear missing out on the New Year festivities which will occur on February 19th. It’s rather that they don’t want their babies born in the Year of the Sheep: the reason why people prefer to avoid giving birth to ‘sheep babies’ is that people born under this sign are said to lack leadership skills and be naïve. Furthermore, people born in The Year of the Sheep are considered to be less lucky than those born in The Year of the Horse and so are less likely to attract money as a gift (perhaps someone should have told Bill Gates as he was born during a Sheep year). On the other hand, Sheep folks have some lovely qualities such as being kind, attractive, hard working and persistent. Not that all Chinese mums are eager to avoid giving birth at this time, some feel that as less babies are likely to be born during this year, those that are will face less competition.
In fact such children may not be Sheep at all but Goats, as the Chinese character Yang can refer to either animal. Traditionally, the zodiac symbol is more likely to be a Goat which is the norm amongst Han People. Today, however, many Chinese accept the goat as the zodiac symbol but prefer to buy sheep related because sheep are seen as cuter.
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