A fenguang
Fenghuang are mythological birds found in Sinospheric mythology that reign over all other birds. The males were originally called feng and the females huang but such a 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.
Description[]
A common depiction of fenghuang was of it attacking snakes with its talons and its wings spread. 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. 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.
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. The fenghuang is said to have originated in the sun. Its body contains the five fundamental colors: black, white, red, yellow, and green. It sometimes carries scrolls or a box with sacred books. It is sometimes depicted with a fireball. It is believed that the bird only appears in areas or places that are blessed with utmost peace and prosperity or happiness.
Overview[]
The fenghuang has positive connotations. It is a symbol of virtue and grace. The fenghuang also symbolizes the union of yin and yang. The first chapter of the Classic of Mountains and Seas , the "Nanshang-jing", states that each part of fenghuang's body symbolizes a word. The head represents virtue, the wing represents duty, the back represents propriety, the abdomen represents credibility and the chest represents mercy.
The fenghuang originally consisted of a separate male feng and a female huang as symbols of yin and yang. The male feng represented the yang aspect while the huang represented the yin aspect; and together, the feng and huang image was symbolic of love between husband and wife. However, since the Qin dynasty, the fenghuang progressively went through a feminization process as the dragon became a symbol of masculinity. Eventually the feng and the huang merged into a single female entity.