Like the dragon, the Phoenix is the traditional totem of the Chinese nation, and its image has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Has the Phoenix really existed in history? For those interested in this, today’s China story.com Xiaobian will bring you a detailed article for your reference.
Many people have the illusion that the Phoenix must be female. In fact, the word “phoenix” is similar to “chicken”. It is the general name of a class of creatures. The male is called “Feng”; The female is called “Huang”, generally called “phoenix”, also known as danniao, huoniao, Baoji, Weifeng, etc. If the “dragon” stands for dignity, then the “phoenix” must stand for auspiciousness. In fact, in ancient times, people usually compared the “phoenix” to a person with holy virtue. This has been recorded in many ancient books. For example, in the Shanhaijing tuzan, it is said that the Phoenix has five image character lines: “the first text says virtue, the wing text says Shun, the back text says righteousness, the belly text says faith, and the imitation text says yueren.” From this we can see the noble virtue of Phoenix.
The origin of the phoenix culture may also start from the period of the Yellow Emperor. It is said that when SHAOHAO was born, there were five Phoenix in the sky with different colors. They were formed according to the five colors of red, yellow, green, white and Xuan. They flew and landed in the courtyard of SHAOHAO. Therefore, he was also called Fengniao. SHAOHAO began to use Xuanniao, the swallow, as the totem of his headquarters. Later, when qiongsang was the leader of the league, Fengniao flew in and was overjoyed. So he took Fengniao as the family God to worship the Fengniao totem. However, there are different records about SHAOHAO in various books. Some say he was the son of the Yellow Emperor, and some just the opposite. We will not discuss it here. We just talked about the origin of Phoenix. What about Phoenix? In fact, the word “Huang” can be written as “Huang”. That is to say, at the beginning, people didn’t care whether he was a male or a female. Feng Huang means the king of birds. Of course, there are different explanations. The book of mountains and seas records a special bird called “Huang bird”. Of course, this is just a totem culture. There is no right or wrong. Even in the same period, there are different names and perceptions, and there is no need to be too tangled.
There must be cause and effect when things happen. There is a Chinese idiom called “dragon and Phoenix bring auspiciousness”. Since the Phoenix and the Phoenix are a pair, why do the Chinese have to pull the Dragon over? This is about Qinshihuang. After he became emperor, in addition to calling himself Emperor, he also called himself “ZuLong”, and the queen of nature was called Phoenix. Well, in fact, this practice of Qinshihuang was only personal, and the influence was not obvious. For example, Sima Xiangru’s famous “Phoenix seeks its mate” in the Han Dynasty (I put it here because the poems are too wonderful.)
A phoenix seeks its mate
Sima Xiangru
The Phoenix comes back to its hometown and travels all over the world to seek its mate.
I have never met a general before. How can I realize that I have risen to the hall today!
There are beautiful ladies in the boudoir, and people in the room poison my intestines.
Why do you cross your neck to become a mandarin duck? Hu opposes and soars together!
Huang Xi, Huang Xi, from my habitat, has entrusted the breeding tail to be the imperial concubine forever.
Who knows how to make friends, how to communicate with others, and how to be harmonious?
Both wings rise and soar, and I think I am sad without feeling.
Where is the peak of dragon and Phoenix match? It was Empress Wu of the Tang Dynasty. Wu Zetian compared herself to a phoenix and the emperor to a dragon. At this time, the match between the dragon and the Phoenix became common. Of course, the Phoenix match has not declined, and it still exists today. After the Tang Dynasty, there were poems about Phoenix matching, such as the Song Dynasty he Zhu’s “Phoenix seeking a mate”. A song popular from the Han Dynasty in ancient times to today is also called “Phoenix courtship”, and with the passage of time, the versions of Phoenix courtship are constantly changing.
The appearance of the Phoenix is also briefly described in many books. The first chapter of the Nanshan classic of mountains and seas: it looks like a chicken and is called Phoenix. In ShuoWenJieZi, Xu Shen of the Han Dynasty said that the Phoenix “comes from the country of the Oriental gentleman, flies all over the world, crosses the Kunlun Mountains, drinks the mainstay, washes the weak water, and sleeps in the wind (Dan) cave at dusk. When you see it, the world will be peaceful.” In the book, Tianlao, the Minister of the Yellow Emperor, was quoted as saying: “the image of the Phoenix is also like a dragon with a front and a rear, a snake neck and a fish tail, a cheeky catfish and Mandarin thoughts (gills), a dragon with a tiger back, a swallow Chin and a chicken beak, and five colors are ready to be lifted.” As for the Phoenix, which gathers the beauty of animals, relevant scholars believe that the Phoenix is a kind of bird totem worship of ancient ancestors. From the image of the Phoenix, it is the integration of the characteristics of natural objects worshipped by different clans in ancient times, resulting in the emergence of the beautiful totem of “phoenix”. Because there is no Phoenix in nature, we can only appreciate the image beauty of the Phoenix from the ancient books. For example, Guo Pu’s note in Erya: “chicken head, snake neck, swallow chin, turtle back, fish tail, five colors, about six feet high.” Disclaimer: the above content originates from the Internet, and the copyright belongs to the original author. Please inform us if your original copyright is infringed, and we will delete the relevant content as soon as possible.