Page 19 - Sotheby's May 10th 2017 London Animal Menagerie, Chinese Art

Although mythological long-tailed birds are known from as early as the Shang dynasty,
where they adorned ritual bronzes and jade, it was only in the Han dynasty (206 BC – AD
220) that a clear set of beliefs surrounding them was formed. The phoenix is believed to
have originated in the East, only appearing in the world in times of peace and prosperity.
One of the Four Divine Animals, the phoenix was envisioned as a beautiful bird that
resembled a wild goose from the front with the neck of a snake, the tail of a fish and the
cheeks of a mandarin duck.

The Song dynasty scholar Lu Dian (1042-1102), in his Piya, described the physical and
symbolic qualities of phoenix in detail: “The phoenix’s head signified virtue (de); its wings,
ritual or propriety (li); its back, righteousness (yi); its chest, benevolence (ren); and its belly,
good faith (xin). It will not kill living insects nor tread upon living herbs. It does not fly
in groups, so is free from captivity. It alights only upon the wutong tree, feeds only on the
‘seeds of bamboo’ (zhushi) and drinks only from the ‘spring water from heaven’ (liquan)”
(see Decoded Messages. The Symbolic Language of Chinese Animal Painting, Cincinnati Art
Museum, Cincinnati, 2009, p. 107).

While depictions of phoenix expanded to be produced in a variety of media during the
Song dynasty, the motif did not develop into an established painting genre until the Ming
dynasty, when this mythological bird also acquired further symbolic associations. The
phoenix began to be considered the embodiment of a just ruler or the arrival of a great man,
as well as an emanation of the yang principle of brightness. Symbolic also of the Empress
and believed to encourage male progeny, depictions of phoenixes proliferated in the Qing
dynasty, often appearing together with dragons.

(Le ) Anonymous, Phoenix, ink and colour on silk, hanging scroll, Qing Dynasty, 18th century.
© Seattle Art Museum, Seattle.