Three-legged bird
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The three-legged (or "tripedal") bird is a creature found in various mythologies and arts of Asia, Asia Minor, and North Africa.[1][2] It is often thought to inhabit and represent the sun.
The creature has been featured in myths from Egypt, where it appears on wall murals.[2] It has also been found figured on ancient coins from Lycia and Pamphylia.[3]
In East Asian mythologies the three-legged bird is most often associated with the sun.
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[edit] China
In Chinese mythology and culture, the three-legged bird is called the Sanzuniao (Chinese: 三足鳥; pinyin: sānzúniǎo) and is present in many myths and is also mentioned in the Shanhaijing. The earliest depiction of a three-legged bird appears in Neolithic pottery of the Yangshao culture. [4] The Sanzuniao is also of the Twelve Medallions that is used in the decoration of formal imperial garments in ancient China.[5]
[edit] Sun Crow in Chinese Mythology
The most popular depiction and myth of a Sanzuniao is that of a sun crow called the Yangwu (Chinese: 陽烏; pinyin: yángwū) or more commonly referred to as the Jīnwū (Chinese: 金烏; pinyin: jīnwū) or "golden crow". Even though it is described as a crow or raven, it is usually colored red instead of black. [6]
According to folklore, there were originally ten sun crows which settled in 10 separate suns. They perched on a red mulberry tree called the Fusang (Chinese: 扶桑; pinyin: fúsāng), literally meaning the Leaning Mulberry Tree, in the East at the foot of the Valley of the Sun. This mulberry tree was said to have many mouths opening from its branches.[7] Each day one of the sun crows would be rostered to travel around the world on a carriage, driven by Xihe the 'mother' of the suns. As soon as one sun crow returned, another one would set forth in its journey crossing the sky. According to Shanhaijing, the sun crows loved eating two sorts of mythical grasses of immortality, one called the Diri (Chinese: 地日; pinyin: dìrì), or "ground sun", and the other the Chunsheng (Chinese: 春生; pinyin: chūnshēng), or "spring grow". The sun crows would often descend from heaven on to the earth and feast on these grasses, but Xihe did not like this thus she covered their eyes to prevent them from doing so. [8] Folklore also held that, at around 2170 BC, all ten sun crows came out on the same day, causing the world to burn; Houyi the celestial archer saved the day by shooting down all but one of the sun birds. (See Mid-Autumn Festival for variants of this legend.)
[edit] Other depictions of the Sanzuniao in Chinese Mythology
In Chinese mythology, the Fènghuáng is commonly depicted as being two legged but there are some instances in art in which it has a three legged appearance.[9][10] Xi Wangmu (Queen Mother of the West) is also said to have three green birds (Chinese: 青鳥; pinyin: qīngniǎo) that gathered food for her and in Han-period religious art they were depicted has having three-legs. [11] [12] In the Yongtai Tomb dating to the Tang Dynasty Era, when the Cult of Xi Wangu flourished, the birds are also shown as being three-legged.[13]
[edit] Japan
In Japanese mythology, this flying creature is a raven or a Jungle Crow called Yatagarasu (八咫烏, "eight-span crow");[14] and the appearance of the great bird is construed as evidence of the will of Heaven or divine intervention in human affairs.[15] Although Yatagarasu is mentioned in a number of places in the Shintō canon, there is very little explanation, and much of the material is contradictory. This great crow was sent from heaven as a guide for Emperor Jimmu on his initial journey from the region which would become Kumano to what would become Yamato. It is generally accepted that Yatagarasu is an incarnation of Taketsunimi no mikoto, but none of the early surviving documentary records are quite so specific.[16]
On many occasions, it appears in art as a three-legged bird, although there is no description stating that the Yatagarasu was three-legged in the Kojiki.[17]
[edit] Korea
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This Connection about various three-legged birds legends in Asia having something in common beyond original research does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2008) |
In Korean mythology, it is known as Samjogo (hangul: 삼족오; hanja: 三足烏). During the period of the Koguryo Kingdom, the Samjogo was a highly regarded symbol of power, thought superior to both the dragon and the Korean phoenix. The three-legged bird was one of several emblems under consideration to replace the phoenix in the Korean seal of state when its revision was considered in 2008.[18] The Samjogo is considered a symbol of Goguryeo.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Volker, T. (1975). The Animal in Far Eastern Art and Especially in the Art of the Japanese. Brill. p. 39.
- ^ a b Chosun.com.
- ^ Volker, T. (1975). The Animal in Far Eastern Art and Especially in the Art of the Japanese. Brill. p. 39.
- ^ Sarah Allan (1991). The shape of the turtle: myth, art, and cosmos in early China. SUNY Press. ISBN 0791404609, 9780791404607. http://www.google.ca/books?id=LqBHRAoO0qQC&pg=PA31&dq=three-legged+bird+sunbird#PPA31,M1.
- ^ Roy Bates. 10,000 Chinese Numbers. Lulu.com. p. 246. ISBN ISBN 055700621X, 9780557006212. http://www.google.ca/books?id=OSrrrgbS2v4C&pg=RA1-PA21&dq=three-legged+crow+sunbird#PRA1-PA246,M1.
- ^ Katherine M. Ball (2004). Animal motifs in Asian art: an illustrated guide to their meanings and aesthetics. Courier Dover Publications. p. 241. ISBN 0486433382, 9780486433387. http://www.google.ca/books?id=LqBHRAoO0qQC&pg=PA31&dq=three-legged+bird+sunbird#PPA31,M1.
- ^ Sarah Allan (1991). The shape of the turtle: myth, art, and cosmos in early China. SUNY Press. ISBN 0791404609, 9780791404607. http://www.google.ca/books?id=LqBHRAoO0qQC&pg=PA31&dq=three-legged+bird+sunbird#PPA31,M1.
- ^ Lihui Yang; Deming An; Jessica Anderson Turner (2005). Handbook of Chinese mythology. ABC-CLIO. p. 95-96. ISBN 157607806X, 9781576078068. http://www.google.ca/books?id=Wf40ofEMGzIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Handbook+Chinese+Mythology#PPA96,M1.
- ^ Feng Huang, Emperor of Birds
- ^ Ancient Spiral: The Phoenix
- ^ Richard E. Strassberg (2002). A Chinese bestiary: strange creatures from the guideways through mountains and seas. University of California Press. p. 195. ISBN 0520218442, 9780520218444. http://www.google.ca/books?id=e-NEfzqA4pUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=A+Chinese+bestiary#PPA196,M1.
- ^ Xi Wangmu Summary
- ^ China 1999 - Tang Dynasty Day
- ^ Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1962). Studies in Shinto and Shrines, pp. 143-152.
- ^ Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1963). Vicissitudes of Shinto, p. 11.
- ^ Ponsonby-Fane, p. 147.
- ^ The three-legged version of the Yatagarasu is used as the current emblem of the Japan Football Association.
- ^ "Three-Legged Bird to Replace Phoenix on State Seal," Chosun Ilbo (Soeul). January 16, 2006.
[edit] References
- Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1962). Studies in Shinto and Shrines. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 399449
- ____________. (1963). Vicissitudes of Shinto. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 36655
