In former times, there was an annual folk custom of sheep presenting among the Han people, popular in southern Hebei. In every June or July of the lunar calendar, maternal grandfathers and uncles would traditionally present sheep to their grandchildren or nephews and nieces. They used to send living sheep as a gift and later changed to flour ones. The custom is said to have something to do with the legend of Chen Xiang saving his mother. In the legend, the little hero Chen Xiang chopped open the mountain to save his mother and decided to kill his uncle Yang Erlang that had been mistreating his mother. In order to mend fences with his sister, Yang Erlang gave two living sheep to Chen Xiang as a gift every year. That was how the custom of sheep presenting came into being.