Le Fenghuang et le phénix

Résumé En

Despite the numerous similarities between the Chinese Fenghuang and the Western Phoenix, there is as yet no comparative study of these two legendary birds. Believing in their real existence in nature, specialists have long searched the fauna for their prototypes. The rich variety of descriptions in literary and iconographic sources suggests, however, that both birds are a composite product of the characteristics of numerous different birds both real and imaginary. Their size, shape and behaviour as well as their alleged hybridity are not the result of any observation in nature. They have a purely symbolic significance which is not derived from observation or description. On the contrary, the symbol precedes and determines the description. The diversity of their symbolic meaning determines their physical features. In this symbolism we can discern three themes which illuminate the essential differences between the Chinese and the Western bird. 1) Both are auspicious but the apparition of the Fenghuang has a more political meaning (inauguration of order and peace) while the Phoenix has a cosmic (cyclical) and a religious (death and resurrection) significance. 2) The exemplary heroes whose images these birds represent are very different: in China, the Confucian sage and the Taoist saint; in the West, the god who dies and is resurrected in his body. 3) Whereas the Phoenix has a fundamental relationship with the sun, the Fenghuang became a solar bird only through confusion with the Red Bird (of the South). The two birds symbolize different aspirations: the Fenghuang stands for an ideal of harmony for this world and society whereas the Phoenix represents the hope for reincarnation in another world beyond.