Within a 60-year zodiac cycle, the Year of the Sheep repeats in the order of "Earth Sheep (己未)," "Metal Sheep (辛未)," "Water Sheep (癸未)," "Wood Sheep (乙未)," and "Fire Sheep (丁未)." The Sheep is the eighth animal of the twelve zodiac animals. Sheep Hours are from 1 o’clock to 3 o’clock in the afternoon. Sheep Month corresponds to June of the lunar calendar. The Sheep guards the direction south-southwest. Like naturally gentle and meek sheep, people born in the Year of the Sheep are warm and mild. Referring to such temperament, Koreans are used to popular proverbs like "Even if a daughter-in-law gave birth to a daughter in the Year of the Sheep, she is not ill-treated." Often associated with peace upon mention of sheep, people born in the Year of the Sheep have a naturally gentle and mild personality, so they are rarely involved in disputes. Like sheep, they have a tendency to go around in groups and rarely get into a fight for domination over a position or over gender among peers or colleagues. They also tend to be hardheaded, always taking the same path on the way back. Naturally gentle, they are not belligerent; they can be hot-blooded, however. Once they get angry, they cannot control themselves.

The Chinese character "sheep (羊)" is a pictogram (象形文字) associated with meanings like beautiful (美), auspicious (祥), and good (善). In other words, the combination of two characters, or "big sheep (大羊)," becomes the character "beautiful (美)." The merits (羊) of one’s self (我) become the character "righteous (義)." Likewise, from the animal’s nature and characteristics, Koreans basically understood the Sheep as an animal that was good, righteous, and beautiful. The Sheep is viewed as mild, virtuous, good-natured, and patient. A sheep kneeling to graze was understood as grateful.

In religion, sheep was always the symbol of sacrifice. Perhaps the greatest symbolic meaning known to humans is scapegoat (贖罪羊). In the West, sheep, or goat, was an offering to gods punishing humans; in Asia such as China and Korea, the animal was frequently used for ceremonial rites. Sheep symbolizes honesty and justice. Sheep is viewed as hardheaded and righteous because it always takes the same path on the way back. According to an old Korean saying, "People born in the Year of the Sheep will never get rich." Like sheep, people born in the Year of the Sheep tend to be "too honest" to cheat others and "too clear" to amass fortune. Due to its good nature, the Sheep does not how to harm but sacrifices for others that it was sometimes compared to Koreans. Comparing Korean history with the sad destiny of the sheep, patriotic scholar Kim Jong-hak in the late Korean Empire era once cried out: "Our ancestors who liked to dress in white bore such resemblance to a flock of sheep that they did not know how to defy their given destiny but chose to be patient and obedient only. Having been chased to the very edge, they had nowhere else to go, whereas predators from the East and West are sharpening their fangs again. Alas, my sheep! How much more suffering must you endure and unbearable humiliation must you burn away? Let us sharpen our horns. And let us stop our procession -- now that we have reached the end, we cannot go any further. We must not just follow the leader showing our back but make a strong fence with our sharp horns by encircling our leader. That way, even the most ferocious pack of wolves won’t dare underestimate our strength!" The statement expressed people’s pent-up anger and indignant bitterness caused by the country’s weakness aggravated by excessive interference by the Great Powers of the world, but it serves as a good example of how the sheep was used as a metaphor to describe an aspect of Korean history.