避生羊宝宝，中国年底迎生育高峰

Before the Chinese Year of the Sheep, a Bulge in Births

避生羊宝宝，中国年底迎生育高峰

The fast-approaching arrival of the Year of the Sheep has sent many young couples into a frenzy to ensure that their babies are delivered before Lunar New Year’s Day on Feb. 19 for fear that their child will end up, as the old saying has it, among the “nine out of 10 sheep who will lead an unhappy life.”

羊年马上就要到了，许多年轻夫妇开始想尽办法，确保自己的宝宝在2月19日农历新年之前出生，因为他们害怕自己的孩子会像老话说的，落得个“十羊九不全”的命运。

Their concern comes amid a spike in births in at least three provinces. Hospitals in Liaoning, Shandong and Gansu provinces have reported sharp increases in births this year, with their facilities reaching full occupancy and medical staff working around the clock.

他们生出这种担忧的同时，至少三个省份出现了生育高峰。辽宁、山东和甘肃省的医院都表示，今年的生育率大幅增长，导致医疗机构人满为患，医护人员不得不加班加点。

Several areas have seen an increase in the number of caesarean sections and abortion consultations, as parents try to take advantage of the current auspicious Year of the Horse and avoid giving birth in the less fortuitous Year of the Sheep, state news media reported. While the superstitious deem “horse babies” vigorous and healthy, as Global Times explained, “sheep babies” are considered meek and “destined for slaughter rather than success.”

据官方媒体报道，在一些地区，做剖腹产手术和咨询堕胎的人数都出现了增长，因为人们都想要抓住当前吉利的马年，避免在不那么吉利的羊年产子。正如《环球时报》解释的那样，迷信的人认为“马宝宝”健康有活力，“羊宝宝”则性格软弱，是“待宰的羔羊，难以成功”。

A jump in births has also caused a run on birth certificates in some places, essential documents for newborns to qualify for health care and legal residence.

生育率的激增也引发了一些地区出生证紧张的问题。出生证是新生儿获得医疗服务和合法居民身份的必要证明。

The state news media reported in November that the Yunnan Provincial Health and Family Planning Commission had applied for 300,000 additional birth certificates, having nearly depleted its stock of 700,000 certificates for this year. In Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou Province, several hospitals reported last month that they had to stop issuing birth certificates altogether.

官方媒体11月报道，由于今年的70万个出生证几乎用光，云南省卫生计生委又申请了额外的30万个出生证。在贵州省会贵阳，几家医院上个月表示，它们不得不暂停办理出生证。

Nevertheless, some health experts say other factors might be in play besides the zodiac. An administrator at the Beijing United Family Hospital maternity ward ventured that the rise in year-end births might also be attributed in part to the easing of China’s one-child policy this year, which allows couples to have a second child if either parent was a single child. According to a recent article in the state-run People’s Daily, more than 800,000 eligible couples across the country had applied to have another child by the end of September.

不过，一些卫生专家说，除了属相之外，可能还有其他因素在发挥作用。北京和睦家医院妇产科一名行政人员猜测，年底的生育高峰可能部分是因为中国今年放宽了计划生育政策，允许双方皆为独生子女的夫妇生二胎。官方媒体《人民日报》最近的一篇文章称，截至9月底，全国已有逾80万符合要求的夫妇申请生育二胎。

Government officials and the state news media have tried to combat efforts to time births by publicly warning that a bulge in births during the Year of the Horse could strain the country’s resources and lead to increased competition down the road among this year’s cohort for university and job acceptances.

政府官员和官方媒体都试图遏制干预生育时间的做法，明确警告说，马年生育率的大幅增长可能会令国家资源紧张，导致今年出生的宝宝未来在高考和就业时面临更大的竞争。

Last month, China Central Television, the state broadcaster, published a slide show of graphics on the microblogging service Sina Weibo attempting to dispel some of the superstitions surrounding the Year of the Sheep. The slide show drew comments from thousands of users who cited Chinese tradition as the primary reason they wanted their baby delivered earlier.

上个月，官方媒体中央电视台在新浪微博上发布了一组图片，试图破除一些与羊年有关的迷信。这组图片吸引了上千名用户的评论，他们认为，人们赶在马年产子的主要原因是中国的传统。

“Even though people say it’s just a superstition, you can see that this thinking has been passed down in all of China, and it’s hard to avoid feeling emotionally entangled in it,” a user who went by the name Ye posted.

“虽然有人说这只是迷信，但还是看得出来，这种观念在中国代代相传，很难在情感上不受影响，”一名微博用户说。

According to several Chinese media accounts, the notion of misfortune associated with the zodiac sign dates back centuries, with the mistransliteration of ancient phrases related to the word “sheep.” It is also linked to the unpopular Empress Dowager Cixi in the final decades of the Qing Dynasty, who was born in the Year of the Sheep.

根据多家中国媒体的说法，羊年不吉利的观念要追溯到几个世纪之前，涉及古代与羊有关的说法的误传。它还与清朝最后几十年那位不招人喜欢的慈禧太后有关。慈禧就出生于羊年。

But contrarians argue that the sheep is a symbol of calm and dependability. According to the CCTV graphic circulated on Weibo, Chinese historical texts portrayed the sheep as embodying patience and virtue, while the ancient “I Ching,” or “Book of Changes,” equates the animal with luck and prosperity. It also listed several famous Chinese, including the Nobel laureate Mo Yan, the actor Chow Yun-fat and the actress Liu Xiaoqing, who were all born in 1955, a Sheep Year.

不过，持不同看法的人认为，羊是温和可靠的象征。央视在微博上发布的图片显示，在中国的典籍的描述中，羊代表着耐心和美德，而古代的《易经》认为羊象征着吉祥和繁荣。它还列举了一些中国的名人，包括诺贝尔奖得主莫言、演员周润发和女星刘晓庆，他们都出生于1955年，也就是羊年。

Cultural experts say the superstition surrounding the zodiac sign lacks scientific basis, and Gu Jun, a sociology professor at Shanghai University, called it complete nonsense, according to People’s Daily.

文化专家说，关于羊年的迷信说法缺乏科学依据。《人民日报》报道，上海大学的社会学教授顾俊说，“羊命论”纯属胡扯。

Liu Kuili, director general of the Chinese Folklore Association, told CCTV that “the zodiac system is only Chinese people’s way of marking the years. It doesn’t actually endow a person with certain physical characteristics. The ancients never specifically said the Horse Year is good, and the Sheep Year is bad.”

中国民俗学会理事长刘魁立接受央视采访时说，“十二生肖这套符号系统仅仅是纪年的一种办法，并不是实际的这个时间会带来物理性的功能。古人用某种动物表示年份，显然不想把某一个年份做成坏的，而另外一个年份做成好的。”

Still, with just weeks left, academic explanations have not stopped some prospective parents from doing what they can to make sure their babies are born in time. A People’s Daily poll found that of 2,000 people surveyed, 52 percent knew couples in their social circle who were avoiding having their babies born in the Year of the Sheep.

尽管如此，距离马年结束还有几周时间，学术上的解释还是没能阻止一些准父母尽一切所能确保宝宝及时出生。《人民日报》的调查发现，在2000名被调查者中，52%的人认识避免在羊年生子的夫妇。

The phenomenon appears more prevalent in provincial areas than in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai, where a spokesman for the municipal Health and Family Planning Commission said in an interview that there was no unusual run on birth certificates this year, despite several hospitals in both cities reporting full occupancy.

这种现象在各省区似乎比在北京和上海等大城市更加普遍，尽管这两座城市的医院都表示人满为患，上海市卫生计生委的发言人接受采访时说，今年的出生证发放过程中没有出现异常情况。

At the Beijing Dongcheng No. 1 Maternal and Child Health Hospital one recent afternoon, many patients and visitors said that avoiding the Year of the Sheep was not part of their family-planning calculations. “What does this concept have to do with things today?” one woman said. “For a baby to be born healthy is already sufficient.”

最近的一个下午，北京东城第一妇幼保健院的许多产妇和探望者称，他们并没有打算避开羊年生子。“这种观点现如今还有意义吗?”一名妇女说。“孩子生下来健康就足够了。”