A legend unfolds before us here at \u9e92\u9f99\u76d8\u4e91. It connects this land to a past where gods and goats brought prosperity. This is the Legend of the Five Goats. It is an ancient tale that echoes through Guangzhou’s history.
This story explains Guangzhou’s nicknames like “City of Five Goats” and “City of the Goat”. The legend’s roots reach back to the Jin Dynasty. It gained a unified form after the Ming Dynasty. The Legend of Five Goats reflects the history that Lingnan people was colonized by Zhongyuan ancestors.
Imagine ancient Guangzhou. A long drought grips the land. Food is scarce. People struggle to survive. Then a melody fills the air. Five-colored clouds appear from the South China Sea. Five gods descend. They wear different colored clothes. Each rides a goat of a different color. Each god carries a sheaf of wheat with six stalks.
The gods give the wheat to the people. They leave behind the five goats and depart on the clouds. The people sow the grains. Soon Guangzhou enjoys regular rains and harvests. The five goats transform into stone. They stand forever on a hill.
The earliest records of this legend date back to the Jin Dynasty. Pei Yuan wrote about it in his essay Guangzhou Ji. Later texts like Taiping Yulan also mention the five goats. These accounts describe images of the goats in Guangzhou’s court hall. According to Junguo Zhi of Tang Dynasty, Five gods rode five different-color goats came and picked him and went away. Now people drew the pictures of the five gods and five goats for luck.
Initially, the legend only featured goats. The gods appeared later. This change reflects the rise of Taoism during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. After the Tang Dynasty, “Five Goats” became a nickname for Guangzhou. People sacrificed goats in temples. They built “Five Gods Taoist temples” to honor the gods.
Zhang Li, a military commissioner during the Northern Song Dynasty, detailed the legend. He described the gods arriving with wheat. Their clothes and goats were all different colors. After giving the wheat, the gods flew away. The goats became stone statues. Guangzhou people built a temple where the gods arrived.
Versions of the legend differ on the specific time it occurred. Some place it during the Chu period. Others say it was during the Three Kingdoms period. Qu Dajun, writing in the late Ming Dynasty, said it happened during the reign of King Yi of Zhou. This version closely resembles modern tellings. It includes all the key elements of the legendary.
In the 20th century, scholars began to study the mythic meaning of the legend. Ceng Zhongmian suggested it was a pre-historical colonial myth. Goats were livestock of Northwestern China. Wheat was a staple crop of Zhongyuan. This suggests a historical event. The Ji people migrated south to Lingnan bringing goats and wheat. This is how the Yue people accepted the advanced culture of Zhongyuan.
Modern studies see the legend as containing historical truths. It tells of Chu people bringing rice to Lingnan. The surname of Chu’s royal family is “Mi” which sounds like the bleating of goats. It also reflects the Ji people immigrating to Guangzhou with goats and grains.
However, some scholars believe “Yang” meaning goats actually means “Quan” dogs in the Chu dialect. The legend might be adapted from a Zhuang and Dong minority story “The Dogs Get Rice”. This Lingnan tale was brought to Chu revised and then returned to Lingnan. The “five colors goats” might actually be five “five-colored dogs” Panhu.
The Five Gods Taoism Temple is an early physical link to the legend. A temple existed in the Northern Song Dynasty. It moved locations several times. It was destroyed by fire and rebuilt. Today the temple houses statues of the five gods with their goats. The gods are revered as “Gods for Grains”. A red sandstone with a footprint-like concave is called “The Traces of God”.
Other places in Guangzhou bear names related to the legend. “God’s Neighbor Alley” is near the temple. Zhuhai Mid Road was once called “Holy Goats street”. The Southern gate of Guangzhou’s outer city was named “Five Goats Gate”.
In Yuexiu Park, a five-goat statue stands as a landmark of Guangzhou. Modern places like Five Goats New City and Five-Goats station also echo the tale. The holy dance of five goats existed during the Song Dynasty. It was preserved in Korea’s classical book Jinzhuan Yigui.
Many Guangzhou companies and brands use the name “five goats”. The Guangzhou Five Goats Machine Constructing Co. Ltd. and Five Goat Ice-cream are examples. Emblems of Guangzhou have featured the five goats and wheat. The Guangzhou Metro logo resembles a ram’s horn. The 2010 Asian Games emblem and mascot also incorporated five goats.
The Legend of Five Goats remains a vibrant part of Guangzhou’s identity. It is a story of gods goats and the gift of prosperity.