Particularly worth mentioning is the symbol of Yangcheng - the Wuyang sculpture. It is said that this comes from the legend of "Five sheep carrying grains and gathering in Chu Ting". It is a myth derived from the ancient Guangzhou people's yearning for a better life. For more than 40 years since its completion, the Wuyang stone sculpture has been known as the emblem of Guangzhou and has added a lot to Yuexiu Park.
Everyone knows that our Guangzhou is known as the Sheep City. There is a well-known and beautiful myth here, that is, the widely circulated legend of "Five sheep carrying grains, gathering in Chu Ting".
About the Zhou Dynasty, Guangzhou suffered from successive famines, fields were barren, agricultural harvests were lost, and the people were deprived of food and clothing. One day, a burst of melodious music suddenly came from the sky in the South China Sea, and five colorful auspicious clouds appeared. On them were five immortals, wearing five-colored clothes, riding fairy sheep of different colors with rice ears in their mouths, and arrived in Guangzhou. The immortal gave the fine ears of rice to the people of Guangzhou, and wished that there would never be famine in this area. Afterwards, the immortal flew away in the sky, and the five immortal sheep turned into stone sheep and stayed on the hillside of Guangzhou. From then on, following the wishes of immortals, the rice ears were fragrant, and the harvests were abundant every year. Guangzhou became the richest place in Lingnan. This is the origin of the names "Wuyang City", "Suicheng City" and "Yangcheng City" in Guangzhou. There are various theories about the age when the Five Immortals came. Some people say that it happened in the eighth year of King Zhou Yi (887 BC). Some people say that the arrival of the Five Immortals happened when Gao Gu, a native of Nanhai, was the Prime Minister of Chu Wei, and it was during the Warring States Period. Another theory is that when Wu Xiu was the governor of Guangzhou in the Jin Dynasty, five immortals rode five goats and carried grains to the hall of the governor of Guangzhou. Wu Xiu then painted the figures of the five immortals in the hall as auspiciousness and commemoration. It is said that the Five Immortals Temple on Huifu West Road in Guangzhou today is the place where the Five Immortals descended. Guangzhou people built the Five Immortals Temple here to commemorate the Five Immortals. There are also statues of the Five Immortals and the Five Goats in the main hall. On the east side of today's Wuxian Temple, there is also a huge red sandstone concave stone that looks like a footprint, which is called the "immortal thumb mark" (the thumb mark refers to the footprint).
On the wooden shell hill of Yuexiu Mountain in Guangzhou, there is a stone statue of the Five Rams built in 1959. This is created by the famous sculptor Yin Jichang and others based on the legend of Wuyang. The statue is 11 meters high including the base and is carved from more than 130 pieces of granite. The volume is about 53 cubic meters, and just one stone from the head of the sheep weighs more than 4,000 kilograms. The five sheep are of different sizes. The main sheep has its head raised high, holding a tassel in its mouth, mooing and smiling, and looking around. The remaining four sheep are surrounding it, either playing or eating grass, and there are lambs sucking the ewes. of milk. The five sheep have different postures, beautiful shapes, lifelike and full of interest, which make people linger and imagine. It is said that when the statue was completed, there was some discussion. Some people pointed out that since the five immortals rode the sheep, how could there be a suckling sheep? In fact, the five immortals and five goats are beautiful myths. Since they are immortal sheep, no matter how big or small, they have their own immortal wind and immortal bones. The sculptor uses his extraordinary imagination and unique ingenuity. The Wuyang stone sculpture created from historical legends has been tested for more than 40 years and is known as the city emblem of Guangzhou, adding a lot to the historical and cultural city. In July 1999, the Wuyang Stone Sculpture was listed as a cultural relic protection unit by the Guangzhou Municipal Government.
After carefully examining the name of Yangcheng, we found that it is indeed interesting. It originated from the myth of the arrival of the five sheep, but why did the legendary immortal ride a sheep instead of a horse, deer, etc.? Why are the five colorful clouds, five immortals, and five-colored immortal sheep "five" instead of "four" or "six"? Why does the sheep carry "grain" instead of "grass" and not "flower" in its mouth? What information does this beautiful fairy tale record about our ancient ancestors?
From primitive society to slave society, human beings bid farewell to the barbaric era and entered a civilized society. The Chinese nation cannot enter a civilized society without a material foundation. In my country's primitive society, the first priority was the development of animal husbandry. From the era of fishing and hunting, when wild animals were the main source of food, to the primitive accumulation of prey animals, we slowly entered the era of animal husbandry. "Animals" starts from the "accumulation" of food. The five livestocks have become the staple food of health-preserving food, among which sheep are the main ones. According to ancient documents, China has a long history of raising sheep. It is said that starting from the time of Fuxi, people were taught how to raise livestock. At that time, people's hunting tools had new developments, and nets were invented, which could be used to capture live wild sheep. In order to stock up for the winter and prevent natural disasters, it has become very natural to keep captured wild sheep and other wild animals in captivity. Raising livestock was also the beginning of early humans' transition from a nomadic life to a settled agricultural and animal husbandry life. Paleophilologists believe that the word "fu" means surrender.
"Fuxi" means subduing wild animals into docile domestic animals for enjoyment and sacrifice. The word "Xi" itself also means sheep, which means subduing wild sheep into domestic sheep. Sheep are docile and were one of the earliest domestic animals raised by humans.
China’s first dynasty, Xia, already had records of sheep raising. "Chu Ci? Tianwen" says that after Xia Qi conquered the Youhu clan, he punished the captives as "herders" and forced them to "herd cattle and sheep", that is, to become slaves of livestock. This historical data shows that Xia Qi Slaves who raised cattle and sheep appeared in the dynasty. By the Shang Dynasty, China's agriculture and animal husbandry had developed to a certain level. Animal husbandry played an important role in the economic life of the Shang Dynasty. The concept of six animals: "horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, dogs, and chickens" had been formed. The oracle bone inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty mentioned many times that sheep were used for sacrifices, and the number was large. The slave owners and nobles worshiped their ancestors, which was very extravagant and wasteful.
With the development of social economy, the sheep raising industry in the Zhou Dynasty reached a relatively developed level. The Book of Songs, produced in the Zhou Dynasty, is the earliest collection of poems in China. There are more than ten articles mentioning sheep among the 305 articles. The chapter "No Sheep" reflects that the sheep raising industry was quite prosperous during the reign of King Xuan of Zhou Dynasty. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, more emphasis was placed on the reproduction and economic value of sheep. For example, the "Book of Rites" records: "A doctor will not kill a sheep without any reason" and "A doctor will not sit on a sheep, and a scholar will not sit on a dog." Zheng Xuan notes: "In ancient times, animals were killed, their meat was eaten, their skins were sat on, and they were not used as dogs or sheep. They were not killed without reason." It can be seen that sheep were a kind of wealth at that time. Sheep were mostly used in sacrifices and celebrations. Sheep were not slaughtered casually in order to facilitate the reproduction and growth of the sheep flock.
The Qin and Han Dynasties were the peak of my country's historical development. The people actively reclaimed wasteland, cultivated fields, planted mulberry trees, and fenced for grazing. Agricultural production has developed further than before. At that time, the sheep raising industry developed rapidly, and many people appeared who raised sheep, slaughtered sheep, and sold mutton as a profession.
Therefore, "sheep" was very important in ancient China and was closely related to human life. "Shi" and "sheep" constitute "glutton"; "dine" (a good word in ancient times) means having sheep in the mouth, "moon" indicates that mutton was the main food at that time, and "dine" means using mutton to fill the stomach. It can be seen that "sheep" is the animal food most closely related to the lives of ancient ancestors. From eating fish to eating sheep is a material manifestation of the progress of Chinese food civilization.
At the same time, sheep are a symbol of nomadic culture. After experiencing a life dominated by animal husbandry, our ancestors established the material basis of food and health based on grains. Our country has experienced the creation and development of agriculture. As a major agricultural country, grains are the symbol of agricultural culture, and "grain" is also "grain" and "ear".
Yanhuang culture is the "harmony" of the integration of Qiang (nomadic) culture and agriculture. The five immortals brought "sheep" and "grain", which means they brought the foundation and essence of the Central Plains food and culture to Guangzhou. Guangzhou is the birthplace of my country's ancient Maritime Silk Road. Trade and cultural exchanges with overseas countries began during the Qin and Han Dynasties. The blue ocean has extended Guangzhou's development space infinitely. Guangzhou culture is the "harmony" of the indigenous South Vietnamese culture, Central Plains culture and Western (ocean) culture. "Five Sheep" is the fusion of the "Five" and "Yang" of the Yin-Yang and Five Elements theories with the most national characteristics in the history of ancient Chinese culture; Guangzhou's "Xian" is the fusion of the Sheep from the North and the Fish from the South.
In addition, the sheep is a traditional Chinese auspicious object that can bring luck to people. Some people think that the sheep is a totem worship object of the Guyue people in Guangzhou. The word "sheep" is ancient and auspicious, and the word "auspicious" in the inscriptions on ancient Chinese bronzes is often written as "auspicious sheep". The inscription on the Jiandao of the Han and Yuan Dynasties is "Yihou Wang, great luck to the sheep." The sheep is also a symbol of beauty and auspicious things, and has been one of the six animals since ancient times. Some people think that the Chinese character "beautiful" can be broken down to mean "sheep big", that is, fat sheep are beautiful; the Chinese character "fresh" can be broken down to mean "fish and sheep", and the beautiful white jade is white and shiny. To use sheep paste as a metaphor, it is euphemistically called mutton fat white jade. Sheep are docile and full of philanthropic spirit. Since ancient times, sheep and humans have lived in harmony and made selfless contributions to mankind. It never asks for anything from humans. What it eats is grass, but what it gives to humans is goat milk, wool, mutton and sheep skin. Even sheep dung is also a good fertilizer. In sheep, there is a spirit of dedication and sacrifice. Therefore, sheep are animals that the ancestors of Guangzhou loved and were very familiar with. Judging from the unearthed cultural relics, the Han Dynasty in Guangzhou attached great importance to animal husbandry. In the Han tombs in Guangzhou, many pottery sculptures of pigs, sheep, cows, chickens, ducks, geese, etc. were found. The shapes are vivid and lifelike, vividly reflecting the prosperity of the six livestock in Guangzhou during the Han Dynasty. situation. Many of the Han Dynasty pottery houses unearthed in Guangzhou have sheep pens.
A three-part pottery house was unearthed from a brick tomb in Mayinggang dating from the first year of the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 76). There is a sheep pen in the back corridor. A figurine is driving three sheep into the sheep pen along the side of the house. . Other pottery houses unearthed from Han tombs also have a sheep pen on one side. Several pottery sheep climbed up the steps and entered the pen in a file. This shows that people in Guangzhou during the Han Dynasty liked to raise sheep. Mutton was people's favorite meat at that time. At that time, sheep raising was popular in Guangzhou.
Because of the beautiful legend of five sheep holding the valley, our ancient city has been called "Yangcheng", "Suicheng", "Fairy City", etc., and later "Guangzhou" and the name "Flower City". These five names are the product of the integration and accumulation of Guangzhou culture in the city's history of more than two thousand years. Guangzhou is close to the South China Sea. Some people believe that the "sheep" in Guangzhou, plus three points of water, is the "yang", that is, the three sheep. Therefore, Guangzhou culture has a deep background of maritime culture. Therefore, Guangzhou is the birthplace of the ever-lasting Maritime Silk Road. The indigenous people of Guangzhou are the Yue people. The Yue culture has long been blended with Han culture and maritime culture. The three cultures merged together, and Sanyang Kaitai formed the characteristics of Guangzhou's ancient culture, that is, an inclusive and open humanistic consciousness, an enterprising business consciousness, and a pragmatic consciousness that emphasizes practical results.