The Feng-Huang English 1

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The Feng-HuangEnglish 1 McGehee school 2004
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What is Mythology?

• Mythology is a tradition in which stories are
  orally passed down.
• Myths have been used since the time of Aeschylus.
  
• Roman, ancient Greek and Jewish myths are the
  best known myths throughout all mythologies.

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Description

• The Feng-Huang is the phoenix of Chinese
  Mythology, often called the Chinese phoenix,
  the August Rooster, and the Fire Bird
  (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).
• Nesting in the Kuniun mountains in wu tung
  trees, the Feng-Huang has the head of a pheasant
  and the tail of a peacock and has three legs.
• It is a very colorful bird and its tail is
  colored in the five sacred colors red, blue,
  yellow, white and black.

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Continued

• The Feng-Huang actually stands for two birds-
  Feng is the male bird, the yang, representing the
  solar cycle and summer, and Huang is the female
  bird, the yin, representing the lunar cycle and
  the Chinese empresses.
• The distinct genders of the Feng-Huang are often
  referred to as a single female entity, together
  symbolizing everlasting love.

(Feng Huang, Emperor of the Birds.)
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Special Powers

• The Feng-Huang is the ruler of all birds and
  represents the elements of fire and drought.
• Unlike the Western phoenix, the Feng-Huang is
  immortal and cannot grow old or die.
• It blesses those who play musical instruments
  under its wu tung tree with its own song.

(Feng Huang, Emperor of the Birds.)
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Origin

• It originated from the phoenix who, unlike the
  immortal Feng-Huang, burst into flames at the end
  of its life and in its ashes a new phoenix would
  appear. The new phoenix would then make an egg
  out of its predecessors ashes and fly it to
  Heliopolis and deposit it on the sun gods altar.

(Feng Huang, Emperor of the Birds)
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How the Chinese regard the Feng-Huang

• To the Chinese the Feng-Huang is the emperor of
  birds, whom all other birds would follow in
  flight.
• The Feng-Huang rules over the southern part of
  heaven, representing summer and the sun.
• This bird only appears in time of peace and
  prosperity, usually when a new benign emperor
  ascends the throne (Feng Huang, Emperor of the
  Birds).
• In ancient China, the Feng-Huang and the dragon
  were usually found in the decorations of weddings
  or royalty. Together the dragon and the
  Feng-Huang symbolize relationships between
  husband and wife.

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Continued . . .

• Once in the Phoenix Tower the phoenix made
  her nest. Now the
  phoenix has gone the tower empty,
  only the river flowing on (Daffydil)
• Li Bai wrote this peom a thousand years ago about
  the Feng-Huang leaving his city.

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The General Myth and the Feng-Huang in the Modern
World

• According to legends, there was once a forsaken
  village that the Feng-Huang visited and blessed.
  In honor of the phoenix the city was renamed
  FengHuang in commemoration of the bird that
  saved their city.
• The Feng-Huang invented the 5 Chinese harmonic
  notes, which are still used in China today and
  are the basis for the Chinese musical scale.

(Shengnan, Hu)
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Work Citied
Daffydil. Feng Huang or the Boarder of the
Town. A Phoenix in the Land of the Dragon. 1993.
The Mandarinv. lthttp//sg.geocities.com/
daffydil_33/travel/fengh.html gt. Feng Huang,
Emperor of the Birds. Avians.net. 2000.
Avians.net. 13 January 2004 lthttp//www.avians.
net/paragon/fenghuang.htmgt. From Wikipedia, the
free encyclopedia. WikipediaFeng Huang. 13
January 2004. lthttp//en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fe
nghuanggt. Hu Shengnan. A beautiful Chinese
City---Feng Huang.  Worldisround.com. 2002.
World is Round. 12 January 2004.
lthttp//www.worldisround.com/articles/16489/
gt. Wang, Kevin. Phoenix. Pictures. 1998. 13
January 2004. lthttp//monsters.monstrous.com/p
hoenix.htmgt.