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".
This stone statue of the Five Rams was built in 1959. This was 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. In July 1999, the Wuyang Stone Sculpture was listed as a cultural relic protection unit by the Guangzhou Municipal Government.
Now I will tell you about this beautiful myth, which is the widely circulated legend of "five sheep carrying grains and gathering them 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 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 immortal's wish, the rice ears were fragrant, and the harvest was 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. 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 wooden shell hill of Yuexiu Mountain in Guangzhou, there is a stone statue of the Five Rams built in 1959. This was 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 were some discussions. Some people pointed out that since it was a sheep ridden by the five immortals, 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?