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The feng phoenix, or feng huang 凤凰, which is often portrayed to resemble a peacock or golden <a data-internal-link="true" href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/motifs-symbols/pheasant/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pheasant</a>, is the second of China’s Four Sacred Creatures (the others being the long <a data-internal-link="true" href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/motifs-symbols/dragon/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dragon </a>龙, the qilin 麒麟 and the <a data-internal-link="true" href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/motifs-symbols/tortoise/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tortoise</a>). Except in its mythic status, this creature is not related to the fabulous fire-born bird of Mediterranean and Near Eastern mythology. However, the feng phoenix is linked with heat, since it is the guardian of the south, and therefore a symbol of the sun, summer warmth and harvest.
The Chinese phoenix is sometimes interpreted as a male (yang) animal, but when accompanying the (male) dragon it represents a wife, and pictures of a dragon and phoenix together symbolise marital bliss. As the imperial dragon was a symbol for the emperor, the phoenix was the particular emblem of the empress, and a woman on her wedding day might wear a dress adorned with the phoenix to show that she was ‘empress for the day’.
In Chinese literature, the body of the phoenix is sometimes said to represent the Five Good Qualities: virtue (the bird’s head); humanity (the breast); reliability (the stomach); duty (the wings); and proper ritual conduct (the back). Like the dragon, the phoenix has important imperial associations. It was said to appear only during the reign of good, just emperors; and, unsurprisingly, artists and poets commonly flattered their imperial masters by declaring that a phoenix had been spotted on their land. Confucius, on the other hand, in his day bemoaned the absence of the phoenix and other auspicious celestial signs.
literature research by Dr <a data-internal-link="true" href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/about-us/dr-yibin-ni/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yibin Ni</a>

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