The phoenix is a sacred bird in ancient Chinese legends, which means auspiciousness.
For thousands of years, "dragon and phoenix" have been regarded by the Chinese as gods of peace and prosperity and good luck, and as symbols of the birth of the Chinese nation and the beginning of culture.
But in terms of specific language use, the gender of "phoenix" is really confusing: in Sima Xiangru's story of "Phoenix Seeking Phoenix", phoenix obviously refers to men; the emperors and empresses of the Ming and Qing dynasties often compared themselves with dragons and phoenixes.
Even when modern people refer to "dragon and phoenix", it is generally accepted that they are a boy and a girl, and the phoenix obviously refers to the female.
When did Feng have a gender?
And why do you repeatedly jump between the two genders?
How did the auspicious dragon and phoenix become a favorite pattern and cultural symbol of the Chinese nation?
This article helps you figure out this age-old mystery.
Check "household registration": Feng's "appearance", "occupation" and "family members"
"The Classic of Mountains and Seas Nanshan Jing" says that there is a bird on the mountain of Danxue "It looks like a chicken, it is colorful and its name is Phoenix".
"Shuowen Jiezi" says, "Phoenix is a divine bird." "Erya Shiniao" says that the shape of a phoenix is "a chicken's head, a snake's neck, a swallow's jaw, a turtle's back, a fish's tail, and five colors."
It can be seen that the shape of the phoenix is based on the characteristics of all living things, and is an artistic and abstract image.
▲In Volume 4 of "Shuowen Jiezi" written by Xu Shen of the Eastern Han Dynasty, it is recorded in the bird section that "the phoenix is a divine bird" and "the image of the phoenix is also a phoenix in front and a deer behind, a snake's neck and a fish's tail, a stork and a mandarin duck (gills), and a dragon in the text. Tiger's back, swallow's chin and chicken's beak, five colors are available." China Bookstore, published in 1989.
The prototype of the phoenix is complex and diverse. It was invented by the Chinese ancestors by integrating and gathering animals such as chickens, eagles, swallows, crows, cranes, quails, swans, peacocks, and ostriches in nature, as well as celestial phenomena such as the sun and wind. They have sharp beaks, wings, and most of them have crests, feathers, claws, and tails.
The ancestors of Chu used the phoenix as their totem, and many scholars currently hold this view.
The ancestors of Chu, like the ancestors of all parts of our country, had great reverence and devout worship for natural phenomena such as the sun, moon, stars, thunder and lightning, wind and rain.
Ancient myths and legends say that there is a three-legged crow in the sun, so it is regarded as the representative name of the sun.
Therefore, the three-legged crow is the fire bird in the sun.
In this way, the phoenix is connected with the sun again.
The phoenix is therefore endowed with qualities such as sun-facing, fire-loving, virtuous, auspicious, noble, clean, and self-reinforcing. Its essence is the Chinese people's perception, recognition and deification of the natural forces of the universe.
At the same time, it also reflects the Chinese people’s desire and efforts to consciously, intelligently and creatively deal with the relationship between man and nature.
Qu Yuan, a poet of Chu State during the Warring States Period, wrote in "Li Sao", "The Emperor Luan came to warn me first, and Master Lei told me that I was not ready. I ordered the phoenix to fly, and then day and night." The phoenix fulfilled its duty, spread its wings and soared. , brave and loyal.
The phoenix and dragon originated from 6000 BC to 3000 BC, that is, the early to middle Neolithic Age.
The earliest phoenix discovered by archeology so far is a pottery phoenix pattern unearthed from the Gaomiao site in Hongjiang, Hunan, about 7,800 years ago.
The phoenix pattern is stamped on the white pottery pot, with front and side lines, and the side lines are more obvious.
The phoenix is in the shape of looking back, with a high crown, round eyes, a protruding beak, a long neck, a long flower-like tail, and sun patterns superimposed on the wings and abdomen.
The reason why the pattern is called phoenix pattern is because although the pattern is taken from natural birds, it is different from natural birds. It is a geometric and artistic version of "bird pattern + sun pattern", which follows and conforms to the invention and display rules of phoenix. .
▲The stamped bird pattern on the white pottery jar was unearthed from the Gaomiao Neolithic site in Hongjiang City, Hunan Province, which was about 7,800 years old.
Feng's family can be divided in many ways.
According to male and female, nicknames, and subgenus, there are phoenix, phoenix, phoenix, phoenix, luan, phoenix, eagle, phoenix, eagle, Chinese insect, sacred bird, human bird, auspicious bird, auspicious bird, Big bird, colorful bird, five-color bird, red bird, red bird, red bird, red bird, red bird, fire bird, fire bird, spiritual bird, divine bird, etc.
According to the location, there are Fafa (living in the east), Quai Quan (living in the west), Jiao Ming (living in the south), Youchang (also called retreat, living in the north), and Yuque (also called Phoenix, living in the center).
According to feather color, there are red phoenix (red phoenix, red phoenix, red phoenix, red bird), green phoenix (feather flying), white phoenix (transformed wings), black phoenix (xuanfeng, yinzhu), yellow phoenix (earth phoenix) Fu), purple phoenix, colorful phoenix, etc.
According to the sound, there are Guixi (walking call), Tifu (stopping call), Shanzai (night call), Heshi (morning call), and Langdu (flying call).
Confusing gender
The gender of the phoenix changes and it has a close relationship with the dragon.
Dragon and Phoenix each have two systems, one is a self-consistent system, and the other is the corresponding system for Dragon and Phoenix.
The self-consistent system has yang and yin, male and female, so-called male dragon (yang), female dragon (yin), phoenix male (yang), and phoenix female (yin).
But in the corresponding system of dragon and phoenix, a transformation has occurred, that is, the dragon has transformed from being yang and yin as a whole to being yang as a whole, and the phoenix has transformed from being yang and yin as a whole to being yin as a whole.
This transformation began approximately in the Qin and Han dynasties and went through a process of gradual improvement that lasted for more than a thousand years.
▲Stone sculpture of two phoenixes from the Yuan Dynasty with a unicorn pattern. The lower phoenix has a ganoderma-like crown, bundle-like neck feathers, and five wavy grass-patterned tail feathers. The upper phoenix has curly grass-patterned tail feathers, showing a male and female phoenix. The appearance of playing with beads.
Now in the National Museum of China.
(Photo source: National Museum Qiangguohao)
▲The rice field painting "Phoenix Seeking Phoenix" is located in the Red Beach National Scenic Corridor in Panjin, Liaoning. It is based on the story of Sima Xiangru, a writer during the Emperor Wu period of the Han Dynasty, pursuing Zhuo Wenjun. The phoenix and phoenix here represent the relationship between male and female.
Photo by Liu Xianguo (Photo source: China News Service)
During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the dragon began to symbolize and compare with the emperor.
As the emperors used dragons, compared to dragons, and called dragons, as a response, the emperors and concubines began to use phoenixes, compared to phoenixes, and called phoenixes.
At the end of the Tang Dynasty, Ma Jin's "Notes on Ancient and Modern China" recorded that Qin Shihuang ordered his concubines to wear phoenix hairpins and phoenix-head shoes.
The second volume of biographies of "History of the Song Dynasty", "Concubine·Part Two", records that Empress Ciyi Li of Emperor Guangzong of Song Dynasty (1147-1200) was known as the "Black Phoenix" and "Feng Niang".
The reason why the phoenix tends to be feminine as a whole is because most of the emperors are men and hold supreme power in their hands, while the dragon has collected and possessed many "yang" characteristics, and its power to call for wind and rain, The changing energy of Fei Li is consistent with the image of men pursuing strength in traditional concepts; while Feng, with its beautiful appearance and melodious singing voice, is closer to the ideal female image in traditional concepts.
From "descendants of the dragon" to "dragon and phoenix present auspiciousness"
I once summarized the "dragon spirit" as "accommodation, happiness, harmoniousness, and endeavor."
Ronghe is the general term for compatibility, tolerance, synthesis and combination.
This is actually the "spirit of the phoenix", because the dragon has accommodated the phoenix both functionally and image-wise.
For example, scholars in the Song Dynasty said that dragons have "nine similarities", one of which is "claws like an eagle". The eagle belongs to the phoenix family, so it can also be called "claws like a phoenix".
In other words, the dragon already has elements of the phoenix, which can include and represent the phoenix.
▲Ming Dynasty Yongle flat porcelain vase with blue and white sea water and cloud and dragon pattern. Both sides of the bottle belly are decorated with blue and white sea water. There is a white dragon on each side with its claws raised, as if it is haunting the stormy waves. Its dragon claws are similar to those of an eagle.
Now in the National Museum of China.
(Photo source: National Museum Qiangguohao)
The humanistic ancestors of the Chinese nation have a close relationship with the dragon. People compare Fuxi, Yandi, and Huangdi to dragons and call them dragons. People who can inherit and carry forward the spirit, morality, and style of the Chinese humanistic ancestors are "dragons" "successor".
Hundreds of millions of Chinese people at home and abroad are or should be the inheritors and successors of the spirit, morality, style, etc. of the Chinese humanistic ancestors symbolized by the dragon.
In particular, the song "Descendants of the Dragon" became popular. In the past forty years, "Descendants of the Dragon" has been widely accepted, recognized and used by Chinese people at home and abroad as a concept and fixed vocabulary.
The theory of "descendants of the dragon" has been "agreed" and "common".
Whether the dragon is the water conservancy god who controls water and brings rain, the phoenix is the wind god who controls wind, and is a metaphor for the sun god representing the sun, or the dragon and phoenix join forces as the ancestral gods of auspiciousness and prosperity, the dragon and phoenix all have the fundamental mission of benefiting all living beings.
Whether swimming in the water, walking on the ground, or flying in the sky, dragons and phoenixes mostly show people the image of holding their heads high, fluttering their wings, full of energy, going all out, and moving forward indomitably.
Therefore, throughout the ages, outstanding figures of the Chinese nation have been called dragons and phoenixes because of their hard work and their creative and pioneering contributions to the development, progress and prosperity of the nation. They are the so-called "dragon and phoenix among people". People often say "hope that their children will become dragons". "Looking forward to a daughter becoming a phoenix" means also hoping that the next generation will become promising and capable talents who will contribute to the family, society and the country.
Dragon and phoenix are both spiritual symbols, cultural symbols, carriers of beliefs and emotional bonds of the Chinese nation, and "dragon and phoenix in auspiciousness" have become a universally recognized sign of wealth and auspiciousness.
(The pictures in this article are provided by the author if the source is not indicated)
About the author:
Pang Jin, chairman of the Dragon and Phoenix International Federation, senior editor of Xi'an Daily, and member of the Chinese Writers Association.
(Daozhonghua WeChat public account)