Fenghuang

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Fenghuang
Fenghuang.JPG
Fenghuang in the Summer Palace , Beijing
Chinese name
Long characters 鳳凰
Abbreviation 凤凰
Pinyin fènghuáng
Jyutping fung 6 wong 4
Japanese name
Kanji 鳳凰
Kana ほ う お う
Hepburn hō-ō
Korean name
Hangeul 봉황
Hanja 鳳凰
MR ponghwang
RR bonghwang
Vietnamese name
Quốc Ngữ phụng hoàng
Hán tự 鳳凰

The Fenghuang ( Chinese  鳳凰  /  凤凰 , Pinyin fènghuáng , W.-G. fêng⁴-huang² ) is a mythological bird and a symbol of good luck in Chinese culture that protects the southern part of the emperor's palace. Feng denotes the male and huang the female.

Similar to the phoenix in Greek and Egyptian mythology , it is associated with fire . The mythical creature Fenghuang is also known as the "Chinese phoenix", but is basically a different mythical creature and should not be confused with it. In addition, it is not identical to the red bird , also the red bird of the south (Japanese suzaku ), which is a symbol of Chinese astrology alongside the white tiger, the blue dragon and the black turtle .

The Fenghuang has a long head with large, elongated eyes and a pointed, slightly curved beak, reminiscent of a pheasant or a peacock. Its long, colorful plumage shows the "five holy colors". So the head is green (for goodness), the neck white (for justice), the back red (for decency), the chest black (for wisdom) and the feet are yellow (for loyalty and credibility). The noble bird preferred the branches of the Wutong tree ( Firmiana simplex , syn. Sterculia platanifolia ) and is said to have only drunk from the best mountain springs. The age should have been around 1000 years. Like the Chinese unicorn ( qilin ), the fenghuang was a symbol of mercy . Unlike the Greek phoenix, the Fenghuang did not go up in flames to renew itself. Its reproduction was similar to that of normal birds.

Furthermore , the animal, together with the Chinese dragon ( Long ), symbolized the imperial couple. The dragon stood for the emperor, while the empress was symbolized accordingly by the Fenghuang. This was also one of the four mythical miracle animals (also magical beings) that helped the Chinese world creator Pangu .

gallery

literature

  • Wolfram Eberhard: Lexicon of Chinese symbols. The imagery of the Chinese. Heinrich Hugendubel, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-89631-428-9 , pp. 227-229.
  • Josef Guter: Lexicon of the gods and symbols of the ancient Chinese. Marix, Wiesbaden 2004, ISBN 3-937715-04-5 , p. 260.
  • Wolfgang Münke: Mythology of the Chinese antiquity. With an outlook on future developments. Peter Lang, European Science Publishing House, Frankfurt am Main 1998, ISBN 3-631-32776-5 , pp. 265-269.

Web links

Commons : Fenghuang  - Collection of Images