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Vermilion Bird
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Vermilion Bird (Chinese: 朱雀; pinyin: Zhū Què) is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. According to Wu Xing, the Taoist five-elemental system, it represents the fire-elemental, the direction of south, and the season summer correspondingly. Thus it is sometimes called the Vermilion Bird of the South (南方朱雀). It is often mistaken for Fenghuang, but they are two different creatures. Fenghuang is the king of birds, while the Vermilion Bird is a mythological spirit creature of the Chinese constellations.
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Like the other Four Symbols, the Vermilion Bird corresponds to seven "mansions", or positions, of the moon.
- Well (Chinese: 井; pinyin: Jǐng)
- Ghost (Chinese: 鬼; pinyin: Guǐ)
- Willow (Chinese: 柳; pinyin: Liǔ)
- Star (Chinese: 星; pinyin: Xīng)
- Extended Net (Chinese: 張; pinyin: Zhāng)
- Wings (Chinese: 翼; pinyin: Yì)
- Chariot (Chinese: 軫; pinyin: Zhěn)
The Vermilion Bird is an elegant and noble bird in both appearance and behavior, it is very selective in what it eats and where it perches, with its feathers in many different hues of reddish orange.
The Chinese constellations were not only used by Chinese cartographers, they were also used by Korean and Japanese cartographers as well.
- Standard Mandarin: Zhū Què / 朱雀 (the character 雀 is not allowed to pronounced by "qiao" here)
- Japanese: Suzaku / スザク
- Korean: Ju-jak / 주작
- Vietnam by Sino-Vietnamese: Chu Tước (Pronounced by "Tsu Terk")
| Chinese constellations |
|---|
| Three enclosures (三垣): |
| Purple Forbidden enclosure (紫微垣) | Supreme Palace enclosure (太微垣) | Heavenly Market enclosure (天市垣) |
| Four Symbols (四象) and Twenty-eight mansions (二十八宿): |
| East: Azure Dragon (青龍): Horn (角) | Neck (亢) | Root (氐) | Room (房) | Heart (心) | Tail (尾) | Winnowing Basket (箕) |
| South: Vermilion Bird (朱雀): Well (井) | Ghost (鬼) | Willow (柳) | Star (星) | Extended Net (張) | Wings (翼) | Chariot (軫) |
| West: White Tiger (白虎): Legs (奎) | Bond (婁) | Stomach (胃) | Hairy Head (昴) | Net (畢) | Turtle Beak (觜) | Three Stars (參) |
| North: Black Tortoise (玄武): Dipper (斗) | Ox (牛) | Girl (女) | Emptiness (虛) | Rooftop (危) | Encampment (室) | Wall (壁) |
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