羊 from HSK Level 3 Vocabulary List

The Chinese character 羊 (yáng) for "sheep" is a pictograph that depicts a ram's head with its horns. The earliest known form of the character appears in oracle bone script from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600-1046 BC), where it is depicted as a head with two horns. In later forms of the character, the horns become more stylized and the head becomes more rounded.The character 羊 is also used as a radical in other Chinese characters, such as 美 (měi) for "beautiful" and 善 (shàn) for "good". In these characters, the radical 羊 represents the idea of "auspiciousness" or "good fortune". This is because sheep were traditionally seen as symbols of wealth and prosperity in Chinese culture.The character 羊 is also used in a number of Chinese idioms and proverbs. For example, the idiom 羊入虎口 (yáng rù hǔ kǒu) means "to put oneself in danger" and the proverb 亡羊补牢 (wáng yáng bǔ láo) means "to take precautions after something has happened".Overall, the character 羊 is a rich and complex character with a long history in Chinese culture. It is a pictograph that depicts a ram's head, and it is also used as a radical in other Chinese characters and in a number of Chinese idioms and proverbs.