This is not the same thing at all
Phoenix in China should be the totem of Chu State.
Shan Hai Jing San records a kind of bird, which looks like a chicken and has colorful patterns on its body. It's called Phoenix (you can check it). Shan Hai Jing Ye Xi Jing is also recorded.
A foreign phoenix is a phoenix. 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 legendary Phoenix in foreign countries is somewhat different from that 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. There is no mention of phoenix self-immolation in ancient myths and legends in China.
This is my discovery. Take a look.
China Phoenix, also known as Zhu Bird, Dan Bird, Flamingo, etc. Also known as flamingos and immortal birds in western mythology. The image is generally a flamingo with a long tail and a whole body on fire. It is estimated that flamingos have undergone mythical processing and evolution. According to the myth, every time a phoenix dies, it will light a fire all over its body, and then it will be reborn in the fire, gaining more vitality than before, which is called "phoenix nirvana". In this way, Phoenix won eternal life, so it is known as the "immortal bird". It is a legendary bird, one of the four spirits, and the king of birds. "The Core Monument of Great Dai Li's Life" says: "The feather worm is 360 and the phoenix is long." "Shi Mao Lu Shu Eta Ursae Majoris" says: "The dragon rides the cloud, the phoenix rides the wind, ... all the birds swallow their clothes." Together with dragons, it constitutes the dragon and phoenix culture, which is an extremely important part of China traditional culture.
Phoenix, like Kirin, is a general term for male and female. The male is a phoenix and the female is a phoenix, which is always called a phoenix. Phoenix Qi Fei is a symbol of good luck and harmony. The image of a dragon is becoming more and more complex, with a red head, a hip, a snake neck, a fish tail, a dragon pattern, a turtle body, a swallow chin and a chicken mouth. Phoenix has been an important part of China culture since ancient times.
Phoenix appearance
According to Guo Pu's note in Er Ya Shi Bird, the Phoenix is characterized by "the fishtail with the head of a dog's head and the jaw of a tortoiseshell is five colors, and it is six feet high". "Out of the country of the oriental gentleman, flying over the four seas, crossing the Kunlun Mountains, drinking the mainstay, breaking feathers and weak water, seeing Mosufeng Cave, the world is at peace. There are five kinds of pictographs in Shan Hai Jing Tu Zan: "The first word is virtuous, the wing is smooth, the back is righteous, the abdomen is pleasing, and it is like Ren Yue. " 」
Ming Feng
According to the existing literature, Feng Ming is like a flute and his voice is like a bell and drum. Phoenix men call it Man, Fung Wong-Nui calls it Man, and men and women call it Tang Qiang.
Overview of the Origin of Phoenix
The origin of Phoenix is in the Neolithic Age. Many bird patterns on painted pottery in primitive society are the embryonic form of phoenix. About 6700 years ago, Hemudu culture in Yuyao, Zhejiang Province was unearthed, and there were two bird-carved images on the ivory bones. These bird patterns should be the earliest records of ancient phoenixes.
According to myths and legends, the phoenix evolved from the bird totem of the Yin people in the East.
Shan Hai Jing and Xi Jing mentioned a colorful bird with three names, namely Imperial Bird, Phoenix Bird and Phoenix Bird.
Shan Hai Jing Nan Ci San Jing records a kind of bird, which is shaped like a chicken and has colorful patterns. It is called Phoenix, which means that the image of Phoenix is beautiful from the beginning.
"Book of Songs, Elegant Style, Volume I": "Indus does not live, and bamboo does not eat."
"Dai Li Yi Yisheng Core Monument": "The feather worm is 360, and the phoenix is long."
Shi Mao Lu Shu Eta Ursae Majoris: "The dragon rides the clouds, the phoenix rides the wind ... the birds swallow their clothes."
The symbol of phoenix
Phoenix is an auspicious bird in people's minds and a symbol of world peace. The ancients believed that when there was peace and prosperity, there was a phoenix flying. Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Fengqi and Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Fengfeng are the same, which means that the wind and spiritual power are everywhere; Burning is the word of the emperor, which means supreme and great.
Phoenix is also a symbol of China's imperial power and is often used with dragons. The wind belongs to the dragon and is used for the queen's concubines. Dragon and phoenix are the totems with the most China characteristics. There are a lot of similar shapes in folk art, and phoenix also represents yin. Although phoenix is divided into male and female, it is more generally considered as feminine. "Phoenix" and "Phoenix" are common in women's names.
Phoenix is considered to be the noblest bird and the king of birds (although she is fictional), and there is a saying that "a hundred birds fly at the phoenix".
According to the theory of yin-yang and five elements, the phoenix is red and the five elements belong to fire, which is the image of the southern seven-night Zhu bird. It is also one of the four gods (Li Yun, Dragon, Phoenix, Kirin and Turtle) that China people call.
In the minds of China people, "Phoenix" has been the most important auspicious and magical thing in legend since ancient times. It is said that the phoenix can be reborn in the fire, symbolizing beauty, wisdom and good luck.
● Phoenix appeared in totem very early, which is a symbol of Yin nationality. In the Book of Songs, it is said: "The mysterious bird was born by destiny." Yin Zuqi's mother, Judy, once took a bath in the river. Suddenly a mysterious bird flew by and dropped an egg, which was swallowed by Judy, so she became pregnant and gave birth to Qi. When Qi grew up, he helped Yu to control the water, was granted a commercial land, and was given a surname. From then on, there was a Shang clan, and the Yin people later took the mysterious bird as the totem of their clan. The image of a blackbird is similar to that of a swallow. Later, with the continuous development and integration of clans and tribes, blackbirds gradually evolved into a phoenix with a comb, crane feet and peacock tail.
The image of the Phoenix displayed in front of people today is the crystallization of gradual evolution over thousands of years. It highly summarizes the history of the formation, integration and development of the Chinese nation and plays an important role in shaping and cultivating national character. It itself condenses and embodies the great spirit of self-improvement and perseverance of the Chinese nation.
When Confucius, the ancestor of Confucianism, traveled south to Chu, the hermit of Chu met Confucius on the road. He once compared the unfashionable world with "Fengde", leaving a sigh of "Fengxi Fengxi, the decline of He De"; In the poems of Qu Yuan, a poet of Chu State, the phoenix, as a commonly used symbolic image, is used to refer to talented people. The mode of thinking of "competing with the phoenix" and "competing with the phoenix with talents" also reflects the Chinese nation's emphasis on and cultivation of moral integrity. Among the cultural relics unearthed in Chu State, whether it is a phoenix embroidered on silk, painted on lacquer wood or carved, its basic characteristics are pulling its neck and flying high, which embodies an upward dynamic and positive value orientation.
● There is a myth of phoenix nirvana in the west, and there is also a legend of fire phoenix in China. Both China and western myths and legends have a common feature, that is, the Phoenix symbolizes life, vitality and passion.
Phoenix Legend
1, 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. There seems to be no mention of phoenix self-immolation in ancient myths and legends in China.
2, to talk about the origin of the phoenix can not be separated from the dragon, from all kinds of animal fossils unearthed, never found a fossil specimen of the dragon and the phoenix. 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.
Fenghuang archaeology
Phoenix is a mythical bird in China, and later it became a symbol of China national spirit together with "Dragon". But its appearance has always been a mystery. In recent years, a white clay pot with the oldest phoenix pattern in China, which has a history of 7800 years, was unearthed from the Gaomiao Cultural Site in hongjiang city, Hunan Province. This discovery provided extremely precious materials for uncovering the mystery of the birth of the Phoenix, which shocked the archaeological community.
It is no accident that the oldest phoenix pattern in China was discovered in Hunan. Hunan is the hometown of rice culture in China, and the birth of Phoenix is closely related to ancient rice culture. It can be said that it is the product of rice culture. The 7,000-year-old Feng Huangwen unearthed from the Datang site in Changsha has a seedling in its mouth.
A large number of documents show that in primitive times, the rice-growing people in southern China took "bird" as their totem. This point has been recognized by the academic community. Last year, a 44-year-old Wanli map of Ming Dynasty was found in central Hunan. Five naked cabins with Thor as the head and a bird in his hand. This image of the unity of man and bird is a typical product of bird totem worship, which shows that the concept of bird totem worship was still very prominent among Hunan people 390 years ago. Birds are still carved on the wind and rain bridge in Hunan minority areas, which can be regarded as the cultural heritage of bird totem worship.
This kind of bird regarded as a totem by primitive humans was called "Danque" in ancient times, also known as "Yang Bird" and "Luan Bird", which is closely related to the origin of rice culture. Volume one of the Notes on Memories says: "When Emperor Yan (Emperor Yan) held nine ears of grain, the emperor picked it up in the field, and the eater was old and never died." The so-called "Danque", "Yang Bird" and "Luan Bird" are all prototypes of phoenix birds. "Guangya" says: "Phoenix belongs to the phoenix emperor."
Because Phoenix culture is deeply rooted in rice culture, "harmony" has become the basic feature of Phoenix image. "Shan Hai Jing Nan Shan Jing" says: "It's a bird, eating naturally, singing and dancing, and the world is peaceful when you see it." Therefore, since ancient times, Phoenix has represented beauty, harmony and auspiciousness among the people.
The image of "Phoenix" itself is the product of the concept of harmony. On the one hand, it is the unity of opposites of "two in one", in which the male is a phoenix and the female is a phoenix, indicating harmony, harmony and auspiciousness of Yin and Yang; On the other hand, it is multi-element, multi-combination, based on bird totem, which combines the characteristics of natural objects worshipped by many different clans in primitive times and the beauty of Dacheng. For example, Shuowen describes the diverse and harmonious characteristics of the phoenix image: "The phoenix image is also rainbow, the stork spends its honeymoon cheeks, the turtle has a long back, and the swallow pecks at the chicken."
In China culture, the image of Phoenix not only represents the "harmony" of natural objects, but also represents the "harmony" of human society. Phoenix's "five colors" were later regarded as the symbol of "morality, righteousness, courtesy, benevolence and faith" to maintain the harmony and stability of ancient society. For example, "Shan Hai Jing Nan Shan Jing" said: "(Phoenix) has a literary talent, wing literary talent, back literary talent, imitation literary talent, belly literary talent." "Shan Hai Jing Hai Nei Jing" also said: "A phoenix sings and a phoenix dances." The phoenix bird's first words are more virtuous, its wings are smoother, its words are more benevolent and its words are more righteous. When it sees it, the world will be at peace. "
In ancient times, the phoenix was also used to refer to people with high moral character. Confucius, a great sage who advocated "harmony is precious", was the first person to be honored as "Phoenix" in the history of China. Laozi, an ancient thinker, once compared Phoenix to Confucius. According to Zhuangzi, "I saw Confucius following five disciples and asked,' Who was it before?' Yes:' Luz is very brave. Secondly, Zi Gong was wise, Ceng Zi was filial, Yan Hui was kind, and Zhang Zi was martial. "I sighed:' I heard that there is a bird in the south, which is called Phoenix ...' The phoenix bird, wearing a sacred baby, is right and wise. ""It can be said that the harmonious concept of Phoenix culture covers all aspects of nature and society. This "harmonious" feature of phoenix image is often used in idioms about phoenix. For example:
1, Couple and Singing. "Husband and wife sing together" not only means that the phoenix in nature sings with the phoenix, and its voice is pleasant; It is also often used to express the harmony between husband and wife.
2. "A hundred birds fly at the phoenix". "A hundred birds fly at the phoenix" not only symbolizes the harmonious order of nature; In ancient times, it also meant that the monarch was sacred and wise, and the world was attached to him. This also means that respected people are expected to return, symbolizing the harmony of the whole society.
3. "Feng Dan Chaoyang". Feng Dan Chaoyang not only vividly reflects the harmonious relationship between sunny birds and the sun in the primitive agricultural era; In ancient times, it was also used to express the harmonious state between monarch and minister. For example, Wang Shizhen's "Feng Mingchuan" says: "Before and after, eight minds are United, and the phoenix in the sunrise resonates."
The ancient rice culture in Huxiang gave birth to a perfect symbol of a harmonious culture like China people, which is the third harmonious charm of Huxiang culture.
Chu culture totem
Chu people's respect for the phoenix stems from their primitive belief that their distant ancestors worshipped the sun and respected the phoenix. It has a history of more than 7000 years. Zhu Rong, the ancestor of Chu people, was Vulcan and Thor. White Tiger Tong in the Han Dynasty said that Zhu Rong was "a bird and he was a phoenix." "Birds in the Yajiang River" Note: "Phoenix is also". It can be seen that Zhu Rong is also the embodiment of Phoenix. There are a large number of patterns of heads, snakes and birds in Chu cultural relics, which shows that the ancestors of Chu experienced bird worship in the image of human heart, thus opening the cultural origin of "dragon and phoenix become auspicious" in China legendary culture. Judging from the prominent characteristics of totem worship in the clan system, Feng is the ancestor of Chu people, and it is inevitable that he will be worshipped and respected by Chu people as a totem of his clan.
Phoenix is not only a divine bird, but also a symbol of Chu nationality and dignity. The influence of Chu people's worship of phoenix has penetrated into all fields. For example, among the cultural relics of Chu State, there are countless images of phoenix, Xiu Xiang and statues, and the embroidery patterns on Chu people's clothes also take phoenix as the main content. In addition, there are "phoenix-bird series", "tiger stands phoenix drum" and "phoenix, dragon and tiger embroidered Luo Zen clothes". The phoenix-patterned paintings in Chu are varied and strange.