羊 (yáng): sheep; goat

Measure Word

一只羊 zhī

A pictograph of a sheep's face with horns — itself a radical appearing in characters like 美 (beautiful) and 鲜 (fresh).

Shān shang yǒu hěn duō yáng.

There are many sheep on the mountain.

Yángròu hěn hǎochī.

Lamb is delicious.

Tāmen zài fàng yáng.

They are herding sheep.

culture

羊 is one of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals. The character 羊 also appears in 美 (beautiful) and 善 (good) — sheep symbolized goodness in ancient China.

usage

Chinese doesn't distinguish sheep from goats — both are 羊. To be specific: 绵羊 (miányáng, sheep) vs 山羊 (shānyáng, goat).

羊 yáng