Some people think that the prototype of the phoenix is a giant bird, but the giant bird is an extinct creature, which lacks sufficient evidence to prove; Some people think that the bird of paradise is the prototype of the phoenix, but the bird of paradise is located in Hiran Island and southeast Australia between Asia and Oceania, and is abundant in the mountainous areas of Papua New Guinea. If they are the prototype of the phoenix, they are just guessed out of thin air according to their beautiful appearance, and there is not enough evidence to prove it; Others think that the prototype of Phoenix is ostrich. However, according to time speculation, it is not difficult to find that the Phoenix was created by human beings in primitive society, and the ostrich was introduced to China only in the Eastern Han Dynasty, so it can be ruled out that the ostrich is not the prototype of the Phoenix.
So what is the prototype of Phoenix? At present, there are two widely held opinions. The first one thinks that the prototype of phoenix is peacock. But in fact, peacocks only pay tribute to China in the Western Regions, so judging from the time when the Phoenix came into being, peacocks can also be excluded. There is a second argument, which is also my preferred answer, that is, the prototype of the phoenix belongs to a combination of many creatures, mainly pheasants, and at the same time it combines the typical images of many birds such as Yan, eagle and mandarin duck. Because from the outside, the pheasant bird has gorgeous feathers and is a symbol of beauty; At the same time, from the internal quality point of view, pheasant is a delicious food, which is one of the delicacies used to entertain distinguished guests, so it is also a symbol of good luck and accords with the symbol of phoenix.
But in academia, what is the prototype of Phoenix? At present, there is no clear answer, which is still an unsolved mystery.