Northeast Asian History Network

The Second Stone Prop of the Eastern Wall (Side - Detailed view of the Fenghuang)

This is a detailed view of the Fenghuang depicted on the side of the second stone prop of the eastern wall. Much like the dragon, extremely diverse descriptions of Fenghuang exist in historical texts. Shanhaijing or The Classics of Mountains and Seas states, "A bird exists that resembles a rooster and features the five cardinal colors. Its name is Fenghuang." Shuowen Jiezi (literally “Explaining and Analyzing Characters”, A Chinese dictionary from the Han Dynasty) states, "Fenghuang is an ethereal bird featuring the five cardinal colors. Its front resembles the Qilin (a.k.a. Kirin: chimerical creature of Chinese mythology), and the rear resembles a deer. It has the neck of a snake, tail of a fish, scales of a dragon, shell of a tortoise, chin of a swallow, and the beak of a rooster." Therefore, the Fenghuang sometimes resembles a rooster or is a composite of several auspicious animals.
The Fenghuang in the image is similar in appearance to a rooster and in the perfect pose for flight. The overall line work is very graceful and elegant. The effort for creating a colorful Fenghuang is apparent from the vivid use of red, white, brown, and black. The red and brown cloud patterns further emphasize a sense of motion. Although it's similar in appearance to the Vermilion Bird painted on the southern wall of the burial chamber, its sense of motion is more remarkable than the colorful appearance.