The Good Luck Phoenix

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The Phoenix Means Good Luck

It seemed auspicious to have just left City Hall and discover this ancient painting depicting a solitary flute player and the magical phoenix-bird.

I had just checked the hours of the nearby Asian Museum, but it wasn’t going to open for at least an hour. Since it was staying open late – being a Thursday – I decided I might try to catch it at the end of my day of wandering around San Francisco.

There is nothing like being in a city for the first time. I find the whole process of anticipation really quite extraordinary, especially as one moves from ‘guide book mode’ into actually getting ones bearings and trying to make sense of the place. The most insightful book I have read about this is Alain de Botton’s ‘The Art of Travel’.

Within blocks of City Hall I was struck by the number of homeless individuals, hanging around in the morning sun, just minding their own business as I wandered along. I had a couple of maps on the go, and a vague sense of how I was going to string together a number of historic spots in the general area. However I didn’t get too far before I saw vendors setting up an open-air market.

A stack of antique scrolls caught my eye, and the vendor was not only good enough to unroll this bigger one that I had pointed to at the top of the pile, he gave me a brief description of the story and meaning of the Chinese text.

Listening to his words, along with the text provided below, really should fill you in on what the image is all about. Hey, $50 sounded like a pretty good deal, but, like the elusive phoenix-bird itself, I afforded myself only a fleeting glimpse!

The following text courtesy of The Darling Harbour’s Chinese Garden of Friendship located in Sydney, Australia:

In Chinese mythology the phoenix is a creature whose rare appearance is said to
indicate some great event or bear testimony to the greatness of a ruler. Tradition
tells of the appearance of the Fenghuang before the death of the legendary Yellow
Emperor (Huang-ti) who ruled China in the 27th century BC. Its most recent
appearance is said to have taken place in 1368 at Anhwei province by the grave of
the father of Hung-wu, founder of the Ming Dynasty. It is said that the song of the
phoenix is both exceptionally beautiful and meaningful and that it is has a special
appreciation of human music.
The Shuo-wen Dictionary, prepared in the 1st or 2nd century AD, describes the
phoenix as having the breast of a goose, the hind down of a duck, the marks of a
dragon, the back of a tortoise, the face of a swallow, and the beak of a rooster.
It was said to be 9 ft or 2.7 m tall and in mythology is considered the female
counterpart of the male dragon.
There are a number of excellent web sites, which provide further information on
Chinese tales and mythology including those listed below:
• Chinese Astrology Site: www.chinese.astrology.com/signs.html
• Dragon Site: www.chinapage.com/dragon1.html
• Chinese Folk Tales: www.chineseculture.miningco.com/msub9l l2.html
• Mythical Creatures: www.virtualteacher.com.au/mythical.html