Related myths and legends first spread in the East, so they are called "Oriental God Birds" and "Longevity Birds".
There are also narratives about god birds in western myths and legends. The phoenix in Guo Moruo's poem "Phoenix Nirvana" refers to the legendary phoenix in the west.
According to ancient Egyptian legend, the phoenix is as big as an eagle, with golden feathers, shining wings, gorgeous appearance and pleasant singing, which can give people happiness and longevity; At the same time, it is believed that there is only one phoenix in the world with a life span of 500 years. When the phoenix dies, it will collect branches of aromatic plants and herbs to build a nest and then set itself on fire. In the blazing flame, a young phoenix was born. The newborn little phoenix put the ashes of the old phoenix into a medicine egg, coated it with antiseptic essential oil, and flew to the sun god, who put it on the altar of the Sun Temple.
The "Phoenix" mentioned above is somewhat different from the legendary Phoenix in China. The legendary phoenix in the west looks like an eagle, while the legendary phoenix in China is more similar to the image of a peacock.
If we want to talk about the origin of the phoenix, we can't do without the dragon. Judging from the unearthed animal fossils, no fossil specimens of dragons and phoenixes have ever been found. So, how did the dragon and phoenix come from? According to legend, Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan unified three tribes and seventy-two small tribes, and established the world's first country with a * * * Lord. The Yellow Emperor intends to formulate a unified totem (similar to the current national flag or a national symbol). On the basis of totems used by various tribes, a new totem-dragon was created.
So how did the Phoenix come from? After the dragon totem is formed, there are still some tribal totems that are useless. What shall we do? Lei Zu, the first wife of the Yellow Emperor, is an extremely clever woman. She invented sericulture, made clothes for the Yellow Emperor and invented many things. Inspired by the new totem formulated by the Yellow Emperor, Lei Zu carefully selected and studied the remaining totems of various tribes, and imitated the dragon totem method formulated by the Yellow Emperor: peacock head, swan body, golden chicken wings, golden pheasant feathers and golden finch color ... to form a beautiful and gorgeous big bird. Lei Zu called the other three wives of the Yellow Emperor to ask for their advice. Fang is a calculating woman. She said to Lei Zu: Words remind Lei Zu. At that time, Tongyu and Mo Mu also cheered in chorus, saying that Lei Fang's words made sense. Together, the four sisters put the rest of the useless little totem on the' dragon' totem and soon formed another gorgeous big bird. It's just a pair of big birds made up of mothers. However, what are their names? This stumped the four wives of the Yellow Emperor. Finally, they invited Cang Xie, the wily wind queen and lyricist. Ask them to give these two big birds a name. After watching the wind, he laughed and said, "The Yellow Emperor built a dragon, which is unique to all kinds of birds and animals in the world. The four of you made two big birds, which you can't find among the birds flying in the air. This has become the most precious mascot in the world. " Cang Xie was absorbed and observed the two birds carefully without saying a word. It was not until Lei Zu asked him that Cang Xie blurted out the names that had come to his mind long ago: I think they should be called' Phoenix' and' Phoenix'. Phoenix represents men, phoenixes and women, which are collectively called phoenixes. "
"good! I agree. Let's call it Phoenix.
It turned out that no one noticed that the Yellow Emperor had already stood behind them, listening to their various comments. Now the Yellow Emperor agreed to call it Phoenix, so he asked the Yellow Emperor to make the final decision. The Yellow Emperor pondered for a long time and said, "Without them, no one can find the dragons and phoenixes in the world. This is its nobility. In my opinion, Hou Feng is right: no one will forge these two totems, which will set a standard for future generations. I agree that' Dragon and Phoenix' was officially decided as a new totem after the new tribal unity alliance. " This is the origin of "Phoenix".
For 5,000 years, the Chinese nation has accepted the myth that dragons and phoenixes become auspicious, which has become the great symbol of the Chinese nation and the spiritual pillar of everyone in China. The broad masses of people also regard the dragon and phoenix as mascots. So people in China take dragons and phoenixes everywhere they go. As long as there are dragons and phoenixes all over the world, there are people in China.