Note 15 — X.—SERPENTS, DRAGONS, FABULOUS ANIMALS AND MONSTERS.

Phœnixes also act as harbingers of the birth of great men,15 but it is somewhat difficult to define their shape and colour. Popular native proverbs allege that “The Phœnix will only alight where there is something precious.” Another saying declares that “when the phœnix comes there is prosperity.” The following account of this universally-believed-in bird, given by Mr. Mayers in his Readers’ Manual, embodies an admirable résumé of Chinese legend on the subject. The feng or phœnix is, he says, “a fabulous bird of wondrous form and mystic nature, the second amongst the four supernatural creatures. Very early legends narrated that this bird made its appearance as a presage of the advent of virtuous rulers, whose presence it also graced as an emblem of their auspicious government. One writer describes it as having the head of a pheasant, the beak of a swallow, the neck of a tortoise and the outward semblance of a dragon; to which another version adds the tail of a fish; but in pictorial representations it is usually delineated as a compound between the peacock and the pheasant, with the addition of many gorgeous colours. It sate in the court of Hwang-ti while that sovereign observed the ceremonial fasts; and according to the Shu King it came with measured gambollings to add splendour to the musical performances conducted by the great Shun. The female is called Hwang, and this name, combined with that of the male, forms the compound Feng Hwang which is usually employed as the generic designation for the wondrous bird. It is translated phœnix by many writers. Among the marvels related respecting this creature, it is said that each of the five colours which embellish the Fêng-hwang’s plumage is typical of one of the cardinal virtues; and a name is given to each of the many intonations ascribed to its voice.”