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(Source: GAGOC)
"Le Yangyang" is the combined name of our five Goats, each of them sporty and cute, and each serving as an Official Mascot of the 16th Asian Games. The Mascots embody a part of Guangzhou's unique history and culture. Each Goat has an individual name that is distinctly Cantonese in style: A Xiang, A He, A Ru, A Yi and Le Yangyang. When you put their names together鈥擷iang He Ru Yi Le Yangyang鈥攖hey fully express the people of Guangzhou's hope that the 16th Asian Games bring peace, prosperity, success and happiness to the people of Asia and fulfill their and our Vision of a "Thrilling Games and Harmonious Asia".
The designs of the Mascots are strongly inspired by a legend about the City of Guangzhou. As the legend goes: A long time ago, the farm lands in Guangzhou ran dry, food could not be grown and the people experienced a famine. They could do nothing but pray to the heaven for luck. Moved by their piety, Five Immortals descended from the heavens, riding on goats with coats of different colors, each holding rice ears in their hands. The Immortals gave the rice ears to the people of Guangzhou and promised that the land would be "free from famine". Afterwards, the Immortals disappeared into the sky. The Five Goats that were left behind turned into stone. From that time onwards, Guangzhou reaped a bumper harvest of grain every year and developed into the most prosperous city in the south of China. The Five Goats of this thousand-year-old legend have gone on become the most well-known symbol of Guangzhou.
The goat also has a strong association with Chinese culture and tradition, particularly in the fields of Chinese characters, catering, etiquette and aesthetics. For instance, in the ancient Chinese language, the character "yang"聽(goat) is identical to the character "xiang" (luck). The character聽"mei" (beautiful) is a combination of the characters "yang"聽(goat) and "da" (big), in keeping with the traditional Chinese belief that a "big goat" is "beautiful". The goat is also considered as an auspicious animal that brings luck in many Asian cultures. Through our choice of a goat, we sincerely believe our Mascots will appeal to, and resonate with, people of different cultures and religions throughout Asia, who we hope will grow to love them as much as we do.
Editor: 寮犺幑
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