From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Fenghuang sculpture, Nanning city, Guangxi, China
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese 凤凰
Traditional Chinese 鳳凰
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabet Phượng/Phụng Hoàng
Korean name
Hangul 봉황
Hanja 鳳凰
Japanese name
Kanji 鳳凰
Hiragana ほうおう


The fenghuang is also called the "August Rooster" (Chinese: 鶤雞; pinyin: kūnjī) since it sometimes takes the place of the Rooster in the Chinese zodiac[citation needed]. In the West, it is commonly referred to as the Chinese phoenix or simply Phoenix. Fenghuang Ancient City is an ancient community in Hunan Province.



Its body symbolizes the six 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. Its feathers contain the five fundamental colors: black, white, red, blue and yellow. It is also sometimes depicted as having three legs.[citation needed] It is believed that phoenix only appear in areas or places that are blessed with utmost peace and prosperity or happiness.




Images of an ancient bird have appeared in China for over 8000 years, as earliest as the Hongshan neolithic period[citation needed], on jade and pottery motifs, then appearing decorating bronze as well as jade figurines. Some believe they may have been a good-luck totem among eastern tribes of ancient China[citation needed].

During the Han Dynasty (2,200 years ago) two phoenixes, one a male (feng, 鳳) and the other a female (huang, 凰) were often shown together facing one other. Later, during the Yuan Dynasty the two terms were merged to become the generally translated "phoenix", but the "King of Birds" came to symbolize the empress when paired with a dragon as a dragon represented the emperor. From the period of the Jiajing Emperor (1522–66) on, a pair of phoenixes was differentiated by the tail feathers of the two birds, typically together forming a closed circle pattern—the male identified by five serrated tail feathers (five being an odd, or yang number) and the female by what appears to be one, but is in fact, two (two being an even, or yin number) curling or tendrilled tail feathers. It was also in the Ming Dynasty that phoenixes first began to appear with combs, hence comb-less phoenixes are pre-Ming, and phoenixes depicted with combs, Ming or post-Ming.[2]


  1. Ren is the virtue of benevolence, charity, and humanity;
  2. Yi: Honesty and uprightness; may be broken down into zhong, doing one's best, conscientiousness, loyalty and shù: the virtue of reciprocity, altruism, consideration for others
  3. Zhi: Knowledge
  4. Xin: Faithfulness and integrity;
  5. Li: Correct behavior, propriety, good manners, politeness, ceremony, worship.[3]

The phoenix represented power sent from the heavens to the Empress. If a phoenix was used to decorate a house it symbolized that loyalty and honesty were in the people that lived there. Or alternatively, phoenix only stays when the ruler is without darkness and corruption (政治清明).


A fenghuang on the roof of Longshan Temple in Taipei

The fenghuang has very positive connotations. It is a symbol of high virtue and grace. The fenghuang also symbolizes the union of yin and yang. Shan Hai Jing's 1st chapter “Nanshang Jing” records each part of fenghuang's body symbolizes a word, the head represents virtue (), the wing represents duty (), the back represents propriety (), the abdomen says belief () and the chest represents mercy ().[4]



Modern usage[edit]

  • In Korea, it has been used for the royal emblem (especially for queens) and the current presidential emblem.[citation needed] North Jeolla's football club uses it as its symbol.
  • The Vermilion Bird of the South, one of the Four Symbols of Chinese myth, sometimes confused with the fenghuang, is a distinct entity.[citation needed]

See also[edit]


  2. ^ Welch, Patricia Bjaaland. Chinese Art: A Guide to Motifs and Visual Imagery. Tuttle, 2008. Pp. 80 ff.
  3. ^ http://www.analects-ink.com/mission/Confucius_Five_Virtues.html
  5. ^ a b Sources:

External links[edit]