. The mythology of all races. two unicorns took up theirabode in Ping-yang, the capital city of the Emperor Yao. Stilllater one appeared to the mother of Confucius before his birth,whereupon she vomited up a jade tablet on which was an in-scription in praise of the future sage. Just before the death ofConfucius a charioteer injured a unicorn, thus foretelling theimminence of his death. The male is called ch^i and the female,lin, the combination of the two characters being used as a genericterm. The phoenix is a mysterious but most beautiful bird. Itsplumage is a blending of the five colours, a
. The mythology of all races. two unicorns took up theirabode in Ping-yang, the capital city of the Emperor Yao. Stilllater one appeared to the mother of Confucius before his birth,whereupon she vomited up a jade tablet on which was an in-scription in praise of the future sage. Just before the death ofConfucius a charioteer injured a unicorn, thus foretelling theimminence of his death. The male is called ch^i and the female,lin, the combination of the two characters being used as a genericterm. The phoenix is a mysterious but most beautiful bird. Itsplumage is a blending of the five colours, and its call is a sweet THE ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE WORLDS 99 harmony of the five notes. It had its origin in the sun and rep-resents the active principle, Yang, or nature j or according toanother account it was created in the land of the sages. Itbathes only in the purest of water which flows from the Kun-lun Mountains, and it passes the night in the cave of Tan. Itcan raise its beautiful tail to the height of six feet. Wherever. Fig. 34. The Phoenix it goes all the other three hundred and sixty varieties of birdsassemble to pay it homage. Like the unicorn it is said to haveappeared at the time of Huang Ti, and also during the reignof the Emperors Shao Hao and Yao, 2597-2514 Its ap-pearance is an omen of prosperity, and when it goes away thecountry is visited with calamities. There are many accounts ofits appearance to fortunate monarchs, the last of these being atthe grave of the father of Hung Wu, founder of the Ming dy- 100 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY nasty, 1368-99 , at Feng-yang in the Province of was considered a favourable sign for this monarch that thename of his birthplace contained the character jeng, one of thetwo characters which make the name of the phoenix. The tortoise was associated with divination from the dawn ofChinese history. Its carapace was heated in a strong fire andfrom the resultant lines or crackles the fates were custom was already
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