by Xinhua writer Yuan Quan
BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese obstetricians always expecta lighter workload during the Year of Sheep, which began on Feb. 19this lunar year.
"Not many people want to give birth in the Year of Sheep," saidDuan Tao, director of the Shanghai First Maternity and InfantHospital.
He has already seen a fall in deliveries. "In January, 2,330women gave birth at my hospital, about 200 fewer than in December,and the number is still dropping."
The last two months of 2014 were strikingly different, he said.More than 2,600 children were born each month, which means about 80women gave birth each day on average, and the busiest day saw 140babies born.
SUPERSTITION
Obstetrician Su Xiaoman, who has worked for three decades at theTaiyuan Maternity and Infant Hospital in Shanxi Province, said asimilar "year-end baby boom" happened 12 years ago. She was notsurprised when some expectant mothers request C-sections before theYear of Sheep, which is traditionally viewed as inauspicious.
Su recalled a case many years ago, when a woman in her 30s wasasked to abort her pregnancy by her mother-in-law, who thought ababy born in the Year of Sheep would suffer misfortune. Theabortion left her sterile for three years, she chose todivorce.
Such superstition also affects marriages. Some parents aredisapproving if they learn their son's girlfriend was born in theYear of Sheep, believing a "sheep girl" is easily widowed.
In ancient China, marriages were arranged by parents. The customhas largely died out, but most young Chinese still feel obliged torespect their families' opinions. Some lie to their prospectivein-laws about their year of birth.
AUSPICIOUS OMENS
Few people can explain why the Year of Sheep is considered anunlucky birth year. One common story is that the sheep is a timidanimal, very weak and vulnerable to bullying. Another is thatcritics of the Empress Dowager Cixi and her traitorous ministerYuan Shikai in the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) insisted theirzodiac signs were sheep and a danger to the country.
The lunar calendar has a 12-year cycle, with each year assignedan animal symbol: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse,sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.
Baby booms often come in the Year of Dragon, as Chinese believethey are descendants of the dragon. The horse, in Chinese culture,symbolizes success, resulting in another baby boom.
Folklorists say the sheep used to represent good luck before theQing Dynasty. Many Chinese idioms comprising the character "yang,"referring to sheep, imply auspicious omens. "Three sheep bringbliss" is a typical example.
The eighth zodiac animal is no fragile lamb, argued ZhangCongjun, a historian in Shandong Province. The sheep played a veryimportant role in both the farming and nomadic civilizations."Three thousand years ago, ancient people would engrave events onsheep bones."
In 2012, a researcher on the role of sheep in Chinese cultureclaimed the earliest people on the land actually worshippedsheep.
REVERSAL OF FORTUNES
Better-educated young Chinese are less inclined to superstitiontoday. Zhang Xingyue, 28, is four months pregnant and her baby willbe born in this Year of Sheep. Unlike earlier generations, she sawthis as a blessing: "Fewer people born this year means moreopportunities in schooling and employment in the future."
It sounds reasonable. Official data showed that 200,000 childrenin Beijing entered primary schools in 2014, double the number of2009. As Chinese children usually start school at age six, most ofthe 2009 intake were born in 2003, a Year of Sheep.
Lyu Fangfang was born in 1990, a Year of Horse, but hasstruggled to find success.
She took gaokao, the national college entrance exam, in 2008,along with a record 10.5 million other students. The pressureincreased after her graduation. She delivered her resume to 40companies over three months, looking for an ideal job, beforeeventually lowering her sights and accepting a position in abank.
BABY BOOM?
Nevertheless, demographers say the influence of the zodiacanimals on birthrates is diminishing. Data from the last 36 yearsshowed sheep years were not the lowest.
"The birthrate of this Year of Sheep may be higher than that ofthe Year of Horse," said Prof. Yuan Xin of the Institute ofPopulation and Development at the Tianjin-based NankaiUniversity.
Last year, 16.87 million babies were born in China. This year,Yuan forecast, the number could reach 17 million due to moreprovinces allowing couples to have a second child if either parentis an only child.
More than 1.069 million couples have applied to have a secondchild since the one-child policy was relaxed last year.
There might be a large flock of sheep this year, Yuan said.Enditem
