Page 294 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A-Z 287

Persimmon, lily and miraculous mushroom:
‘May everything proceed as you wish!’

Pheasant

ye-ji

The pheasant plays a rather prominent part in early Chinese literature. It was believed to
turn into an oyster (or a snake, according to some texts) in the first winter month.
The pheasant is one of the figures in an ancient board-game, where it is opposed by
the owl. In general, the bird was regarded as one of illomen. If pheasants did not cry
at the beginning of the 12th month, a great flood was imminent. If they had still not
started to cry by the middle of the same month, women became lascivious and seduced
men. The pheasant was also supposed to cry at the first thunder of spring, and again
when the celestial dog appeared or a comet was seen in the sky. One of the popular
romances tells how a pheasant disguised itself as a beautiful woman and seduced a
sweets-seller; however, celestial help arrives, and the pheasant is slain. In a 19th-century
text, a pheasant leads a lover to his sweetheart – but she turns out to be a spirit.
The pheasant also figures in a series of twelve insignia: here, it represents the
Empress. In Northwest China there was a celebrated place of worship – the so-called
‘Storehouse of Chen’ (Chen-cang) – which plays a very prominent role in Chinese belief.
The story goes that a boy was once chasing a pair of pheasants there. The cock pheasant
took refuge in Chen-cang and turned into a stone, while the hen settled somewhere else a
long way off. What actually happened is not very clear from the ancient texts, but today
the expression ‘to cross the storehouse of Chen’ (it was built over water) means ‘to
indulge in secret extramarital sexual intercourse’.