[One Thousand Characters a Day] The Mysterious Animal Dictionary Hidden in Cultural Heritage <4>

Editor's NoteIs there any soul as free as a bird flying in the sky? Even for us living in the present, birds remain objects of admiration, and one can only imagine how much our ancestors envied these creatures that freely soared through the air. When it comes to birds symbolizing our traditional culture, the 'Bonghwang (鳳凰)'?the phoenix?comes to mind first. Although a mythical bird that does not exist in reality, it has been a familiar image alongside us for a very long time. In the Joseon royal court, the beautiful appearance of the Bonghwang was used as a symbol for royal women such as the 'Hwanghu (皇后)'?the queen?and the 'Daewangdaebi (大王大妃)'?the queen dowager. The text contains 1,108 characters.

The Bonghwang (鳳凰) first appeared in records during the Warring States period, but the image we recognize today was established during the Han dynasty. Countless auspicious birds that appeared in ancient civilizations were unified into a single image called the 'Bonghwang' during the Han era. In this process, various norms regarding the iconography of the Bonghwang were gradually added. The Shuowen Jiezi, compiled by the scholar Xu Shen in the Later Han period, records ten physical characteristics of the Bonghwang, revealing a combination of body parts from various animals such as mandarin ducks, swallows, storks, as well as the neck of a snake, scales of a dragon, and the shell of a turtle.

As this record shows, the combination of different animal body parts in the Bonghwang was not merely for decorative purposes. It symbolically emphasized the auspicious nature of the creature by integrating the ideal traits of all animals in the world. Related to this, the Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shanhaijing) states, "The patterns on the head of the Bonghwang symbolize virtue (德), the wing patterns represent propriety (禮), the back patterns signify righteousness (義), the chest patterns denote benevolence (仁), and the belly patterns indicate faithfulness (信)."

The Bonghwang is a so-called 'hybrid' creature born from the combination of various animals. It is similar to the chimera in Greek mythology, which has the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a serpent that breathes fire, or the griffin, which has the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle.

However, the essence remains unchanged. As previously noted, the Bonghwang originated from the image of a freely flying bird. Early depictions of the Bonghwang found in Han dynasty painted stones and tomb murals faithfully reflect the descriptions in the Shuowen Jiezi. Later, the Bonghwang began to be portrayed as a bird commonly seen around us. Representative examples include the body of a mandarin duck or pheasant shining in five colors, the head of a chicken with a comb, and the splendidly spread tail feathers of a peacock.

(Omitted)

The Bonghwang appears in Confucian literature as the leader of feathered flying creatures and a mysterious omen heralding the arrival of a sage. This concept has been passed down to the present day, as can be glimpsed in the Bonghwang face cloth. The symbol of the President of the Republic of Korea and the national seal (Guksa) both feature two Bonghwang. The Bonghwang becoming the symbol of the President likely carries a hidden meaning of bringing forth the sacred Bonghwang through righteous governance.

－Kim Yongdeok, The Mysterious Animal Dictionary Hidden in Cultural Heritage, Dam & Books, 16,800 KRW