Fenghuang

Chinese Phoenix sculpture, Nanning city, Guangxi province.

Fenghuang (鳳凰 pinyin: feng4 huang2; Japanese: Hoo-Oo) are mythological Chinese birds that reign over all other birds. The males are called Feng and the females the Huang; in modern times, however, such a distinction of gender is sometimes blurred into a single female entity, as the bird is often paired with the Chinese dragon which has male connotations. Fenghuang is also called August Rooster (鶤雞 hun4 ji1), and sometimes referred to as the Chinese Phoenix in English.

The fenghuang is said to be made up of the beak of a cock, the face of a swallow, the forehead of a fowl, the neck of a snake, the breast of a goose, the back of a tortoise, the hindquarters of a stag and the tail of a fish.

In ancient China, they can often be found in the decorations for weddings or royalty, along with dragons. This is because the Chinese considered the dragon and phoenix symbolic of blissful relations between husband and wife.

See also: Chinese mythology, phoenix