The Chinese characters 洋 meaning is ocean; foreign.

Although 羊 is a phonetic, it also serves to emphasize the meaning of this Chinese character for ocean: 洋. Sheep, being inland animals, graze on land away from the ocean; so water (氵) far away from the sheep (羊) came to mean ocean. By extension, 洋 also means “foreign”, i.e., far away beyond the ocean.

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