A phoenix (top) and dragon (left), Silk Painting of a Human Figure with Phoenix and Dragon, Silk painting unearthed from a Chu tomb.ĭuring the Spring and Autumn period (c. Several archeological artifacts of jade phoenix and jade dragons were unearthed in tombs dating from the Shang dynasty period. ĭuring the Shang dynasty, phoenix and dragon images appear to have become popular as burial objects. This ancient usage of phoenix and dragon designs are all evidence of an ancient form of totemism in China.
3000 BC) and was found at an archeological site near Xi'an in Shaanxi Province. The earliest known form of dragon-phoenix design, on the other hand, dates back to the Yangshao culture (c. The earliest known ancient phoenix design dates back to about 7000–8000 years ago and was discovered in Hongjiang, Hunan Province, at the Gaomiao Archeological Site. Origin Jade phoenix, unearthed from the tomb of Fu Hao, c. It is believed that the bird only appears in areas or places that are blessed with utmost peace and prosperity or happiness.Ĭhinese tradition cites it as living atop the Kunlun Mountains in northern China. It is sometimes depicted with a fireball.
It sometimes carries scrolls or a box with sacred books. Its body contains the five fundamental colors: black, white, red, yellow, and green. The fenghuang is said to have originated in the sun. The fenghuang's body symbolizes the celestial bodies: the head is the sky, the eyes are the sun, the back is the moon, the wings are the wind, the feet are the earth, and the tail is the planets. Today, however, it is often described as a composite of many birds including the head of a golden pheasant, the body of a mandarin duck, the tail of a peacock, the legs of a crane, the mouth of a parrot, and the wings of a swallow. According to the Erya's chapter 17 Shiniao, fenghuang is made up of the beak of a rooster, the face of a swallow, the forehead of a fowl, the neck of a snake, the breast of a goose, the back of a tortoise, the hindquarters of a stag and the tail of a fish. Appearance Image of the fenghuang opposite the dragon on the Twelve Symbols national emblem, which was the state emblem of China from 1913 to 1928Ī common depiction of fenghuang was of it attacking snakes with its talons and its wings spread. In the Western world, it is commonly called the Chinese phoenix or simply phoenix, although mythological similarities with the Western phoenix are superficial. It is known under similar names in various other languages ( Japanese: hōō Vietnamese: phượng hoàng or phụng hoàng Korean: bonghwang). The males were originally called fèng and the females huáng, but this distinction of gender is often no longer made and they are blurred into a single feminine entity so that the bird can be paired with the Chinese dragon, which is traditionally deemed male. Fenghuang sculpture, Nanning city, Guangxi, Chinaįènghuáng ( Chinese: 鳳凰 Jyutping: fung6 wong4 Cantonese Yale: fuhng wòhng, Mandarin pronunciation: ) are mythological birds found in Sinospheric mythology that reign over all other birds.
0 kommentar(er)
