避生羊寶寶，中國年底迎生育高峰

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

避生羊寶寶，中國年底迎生育高峰

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.”

羊年馬上就要到了，許多年輕夫婦開始想盡辦法，確保自己的寶寶在2月19日農歷新年之前出生，因為他們害怕自己的孩子會像老話說的，落得個“十羊九不全”的命運。

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.

他們生出這種擔憂的同時，至少三個省份出現(xiàn)了生育高峰。遼寧、山東和甘肅省的醫(yī)院都表示，今年的生育率大幅增長，導致醫(yī)療機構人滿為患，醫(yī)護人員不得不加班加點。

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.”

據(jù)官方媒體報道，在一些地區(qū)，做剖腹產手術和咨詢墮胎的人數(shù)都出現(xiàn)了增長，因為人們都想要抓住當前吉利的馬年，避免在不那么吉利的羊年產子。正如《環(huán)球時報》解釋的那樣，迷信的人認為“馬寶寶”健康有活力，“羊寶寶”則性格軟弱，是“待宰的羔羊，難以成功”。

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.

生育率的激增也引發(fā)了一些地區(qū)出生證緊張的問題。出生證是新生兒獲得醫(yī)療服務和合法居民身份的必要證明。

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.

官方媒體11月報道，由于今年的70萬個出生證幾乎用光，云南省衛(wèi)生計生委又申請了額外的30萬個出生證。在貴州省會貴陽，幾家醫(yī)院上個月表示，它們不得不暫停辦理出生證。

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.

不過，一些衛(wèi)生專家說，除了屬相之外，可能還有其他因素在發(fā)揮作用。北京和睦家醫(yī)院婦產科一名行政人員猜測，年底的生育高峰可能部分是因為中國今年放寬了計劃生育政策，允許雙方皆為獨生子女的夫婦生二胎。官方媒體《人民日報》最近的一篇文章稱，截至9月底，全國已有逾80萬符合要求的夫婦申請生育二胎。

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.

政府官員和官方媒體都試圖遏制干預生育時間的做法，明確警告說，馬年生育率的大幅增長可能會令國家資源緊張，導致今年出生的寶寶未來在高考和就業(yè)時面臨更大的競爭。

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.

上個月，官方媒體中央電視臺在新浪微博上發(fā)布了一組圖片，試圖破除一些與羊年有關的迷信。這組圖片吸引了上千名用戶的評論，他們認為，人們趕在馬年產子的主要原因是中國的傳統(tǒng)。

“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.

“雖然有人說這只是迷信，但還是看得出來，這種觀念在中國代代相傳，很難在情感上不受影響，”一名微博用戶說。

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.

根據(jù)多家中國媒體的說法，羊年不吉利的觀念要追溯到幾個世紀之前，涉及古代與羊有關的說法的誤傳。它還與清朝最后幾十年那位不招人喜歡的慈禧太后有關。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.

不過，持不同看法的人認為，羊是溫和可靠的象征。央視在微博上發(fā)布的圖片顯示，在中國的典籍的描述中，羊代表著耐心和美德，而古代的《易經》認為羊象征著吉祥和繁榮。它還列舉了一些中國的名人，包括諾貝爾獎得主莫言、演員周潤發(fā)和女星劉曉慶，他們都出生于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.

文化專家說，關于羊年的迷信說法缺乏科學依據(jù)?！度嗣袢請蟆穲蟮溃虾４髮W的社會學教授顧俊說，“羊命論”純屬胡扯。

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.”

中國民俗學會理事長劉魁立接受央視采訪時說，“十二生肖這套符號系統(tǒng)僅僅是紀年的一種辦法，并不是實際的這個時間會帶來物理性的功能。古人用某種動物表示年份，顯然不想把某一個年份做成壞的，而另外一個年份做成好的。”

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.

盡管如此，距離馬年結束還有幾周時間，學術上的解釋還是沒能阻止一些準父母盡一切所能確保寶寶及時出生?！度嗣袢請蟆返恼{查發(fā)現(xiàn)，在2000名被調查者中，52%的人認識避免在羊年生子的夫婦。

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.

這種現(xiàn)象在各省區(qū)似乎比在北京和上海等大城市更加普遍，盡管這兩座城市的醫(yī)院都表示人滿為患，上海市衛(wèi)生計生委的發(fā)言人接受采訪時說，今年的出生證發(fā)放過程中沒有出現(xiàn)異常情況。

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.”

最近的一個下午，北京東城第一婦幼保健院的許多產婦和探望者稱，他們并沒有打算避開羊年生子。“這種觀點現(xiàn)如今還有意義嗎?”一名婦女說。“孩子生下來健康就足夠了。”