No need to feel sheepish in the year of the yang

The Chinese zodiac calendar offers no clues for English-speakers about which animal it means

A boy stands on a model of a ram near a temple during celebrations to mark the first day of the Lunar New Year in Hong Kong on February 19, 2015. Philippe Lopez / AFP

We are two days into the Chinese Year of the Sheep – or of the Goat, depending on how you read the Mandarin word yang, which is the creature on the Chinese zodiac cycle.

In Mandarin, there is no distinction between goat and lamb even though each is a separate species and genus, with a different number of chromosomes, different physical characteristics and behaviour. Sheep turn into lamb chops and goat meat is much leaner. Sheep’s milk cheese includes French Roquefort and Spanish Manchego. Goat’s milk makes Italian Caprino, Maltese Gbejna, Norway’s brown Geitost and China’s Rubing, a fresh product that’s rather like India’s paneer.

In this country, we appreciate the distinctions between sheep and goat – at Eid Al Adha, some pick a Kashmiri sheep for the sacrifice, others a Somali goat. But what to do about this Chinese year? Write it off as all yin and yang, perhaps ...