Feng-huang

The phoenix has been associated by some scholars with two other sacred birds, or bird-being, the Hindu Garuda and the Chinese feng-huang.

Greek writers adopted the fabulous bird enthusiastically as early as 800 BCE, and similar birds appear in other cultures, often connected with the sun. The Chinese believed a fiery-hued creature called the feng-huang came to them from the sun.

In China, the phoenix is known as the Feng-huang; in its "feng" aspect it is a male, solar sybol, while as "huang", it is a female and lunar, making it an embodiment of the union of yin and yang.

One of them would be chosen by the ancient chimera bird, Feng-Huang, which resided atop of the mighty Kunlun mountain range of which Bayan Har Shan formed part. These mountains, which Ji Shi had reportedly sprung from, seemed to be a hotbed of supernatural activity. The legendary bird had a male aspect, Feng, and a female aspect, Huang, and presided over every other bird in the land ... it was known to have the beak of a rooster, 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. Feng-Huang would only appear in the most harmonious and joyous of situations. Its coming always heralded the beginning of a new era of imperial rule, and bestowed the perfect balance of yin and yang upon heaven’s mandate.

She is portrayed as a young beautiful woman wearing a royal gown, sometimes riding a peacock. Her favourite animal is Feng-huang, the Chinese phoenix which is the personification of the primordial force of the heavens and the symbol of immortality. Feng-huang has the head and the comb of a pheasant and the tail of a peacock.