eastern Asia. Yet it is older than Confucius or the book-religions, and
its conception shows one of the nobler sides of Animism.

The Feng-hwang or Phoenix, Japanese H[=o]-w[=o], the second of the
incarnations of the spirits, is of wondrous form and mystic nature. The
rare advent of this bird upon the earth is, like that of the kirin or
unicorn, a presage of the advent of virtuous rulers and good government.
It has the head of a pheasant, the beak of a swallow, the neck of a
tortoise, and the features of the dragon and fish. Its colors and
streaming feathers are gorgeous with iridian sheen, combining the
splendors of the pheasant and the peacock. Its five colors symbolize the
cardinal virtues of uprightness of mind, obedience, justice, fidelity
and benevolence. The male bird _H[=o]_, and female _w[=o]_, by their
inseparable fellowship furnish the artist, poet and literary writer with
the originals of the ten thousand references which are found in Chinese
and its derived literatures. Of this mystic Phoenix a Chinese dictionary
thus gives description:

The Phoenix is of the essence of water; it was born in the
vermilion cave; it perches not but on the most beautiful of all
trees; it eats not but of the seed of the bamboo; its body is
adorned with the five colors; its song contains the five notes;
as it walks it looks around; as it flies hosts of birds follow
it.

Older than the elaborate descriptions of it and its representations in
art, the H[=o]-w[=o] is one of the creations of primitive Chinese
Animism.

The Kwei or Tortoise is not the actual horny reptile known to