Vermilion Bird

The Vermilion Bird (Chinese: 朱雀 Zhūquè) is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. According to Wu Xing, the Taoist five-elemental system, it represents the fire-element, the direction south, and the season summer correspondingly. Thus it is sometimes called the Vermilion Bird of the South (Chinese: 南方朱雀, Nán Fāng Zhū Què). It is known as Zhuque in Chinese, Suzaku in Japanese, Jujak in Korean and Chu Tước in Vietnamese. It is described as a red bird that resembles a pheasant with a five-colored plumage and is perpetually covered in flames. It is often mistaken for the Fenghuang due to similarities in appearance, but the two are different creatures.[1] The Fenghuang is a legendary ruler of birds who is associated with the Chinese Empress in the same way the dragon is associated with the Emperor, while the Vermilion Bird is a mythological spirit creature of the Chinese constellations.

Vermilion Bird
Zhūquè sculpture on the eaves tile
Chinese name
Chinese朱雀
Literal meaningVermilion Peafowl
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabetChu Tước
Chữ Hán朱雀
Korean name
Hangul주작
Hanja朱雀
Japanese name
Kanji朱雀
Hiraganaすざく or しゅじゃく

Seven Mansions of the Vermilion Bird

As with the other three Symbols, there are seven astrological "Mansions" (positions of the Moon) within the Vermilion Bird. The names and determinative stars are:[2][3]

Mansion no.Name (pinyin)TranslationDeterminative star
22井 (Jǐng)Wellμ Gem
23鬼 (Guǐ)Ghostθ Cnc
24柳 (Liǔ)Willowδ Hya
25星 (Xīng)Starα Hya
26張 (Zhāng)Extended Netυ¹ Hya
27翼 (Yì)Wingsα Crt
28軫 (Zhěn)Chariotγ Crv

Nature of the symbol
The Vermilion Bird on the gates of a Han Dynasty mausoleum complex

The Vermilion Bird is elegant and noble in both appearance and behavior, with feathers in many different hues of vermilion. It is very selective about what it eats and where it perches.

Stars
  • In the mobile game Puzzle & Dragons, the Vermilion Bird is depicted as a beautiful, phoenix-like, winged woman who wields the power of flames, known as the "Incarnation of Suzaku, Leilan".
  • In the Beyblade series, the Vermilion Bird is called Dranzer.
  • In B-Daman Fireblast, the main protagonist Kamon Godai's B-daman is named Drive Garuburn, whose B-Animal is the Vermilion Bird of the South.
  • In the Digimon series, Zhuqiaomon is designed after it.
  • In the Fushigi Yugi series, Miaka Yūki's journey in the Universe of the Four Gods involves her becoming the Priestess of Suzaku. The god is shown as a bird for most of the series, with only the final few episodes showing him in a humanoid, winged form.
  • In the video game Final Fantasy Type-0 the Vermilion Bird is the name of one of the four Crystals of Orience, representing the Dominion of Rubrum.
  • In the video game Final Fantasy XI Suzaku is one of the 'Gods' in Tu'Lia, the endgame zone introduced in the 'Rise of the Zilart' expansion.
  • In the video game Final Fantasy XIV Suzaku is one of the auspices introduced in the second expansion of the game, Stormblood.
  • In the film Gamera 3: The Revenge of Iris, the monster Iris is at one point suggested to be the Vermilion Bird.
  • In the Yu Yu Hakusho series, Suzaku is portrayed in a humanoid form as leader of the Underworld group The Four Beasts.
  • In the Sunrise anime series Code Geass, a character is named Suzaku Kururugi.
  • In the video game Nioh, there is a spirit guardian phoenix named a Suzaku that will resurrect players upon death by activating their living weapon. Once the living weapon runs out, the player is brought back with one hit point.
  • In Tokyo Majin, the Vermilion Bird has a vessel who is a character known as Marie Claire.
  • In Kemono Friends, the Vermilion Bird is anthropomorphised along with the other Chinese Four Symbols.
  • In Yami no Matsuei, the Vermilion Bird, known only as Suzaku, appears as a shikigami that is summoned by Asato Tsuzuki
  • In Overwatch's 2018 Chinese New Year (Year of the Dog) event, Mercy, one of the game's support heroes, has a cosmetic skin based on the Vermilion Bird.
  • In World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, the Vermilion Bird has been used as the major inspiration to create Chi-Ji, the Red Crane.
  • In Sekiro, the upgrade to the Loaded Umbrella prosthetic tool, Suzaku's Lotus Umbrella is a red shield that protects the player from fire damage.
  • In Slash Dog light novel series, one of the heroines and lover of the protagonist, Suzaku Himejima is a powerful Shinto priestess and the host of the Vermilion Bird.

See also

References
  1. Strassberg, Richard. A Chinese Bestiary. ISBN 978-0520218444.
  2. "The Chinese Sky". International Dunhuang Project. Archived from the original on 2015-11-04. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
  3. Sun, Xiaochun (1997). Helaine Selin (ed.). Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Kluwer Academic Publishers. p. 517. ISBN 0-7923-4066-3. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
  4. (in Chinese) AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) 天文教育資訊網 2006 年 5 月 28 日
  5. (in Chinese) AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) 天文教育資訊網 2006 年 5 月 29 日
  6. (in Chinese) AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) 天文教育資訊網 2006 年 5 月 30 日
  7. (in Chinese) AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) 天文教育資訊網 2006 年 5 月 31 日
  8. (in Chinese) 夢之大地 @ 國立成功大學 WebBBS DreamLand @ National Cheng Kung University WebBBS System
  9. (in Chinese) AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) 天文教育資訊網 2006 年 7 月 22 日
  10. the star is actually located in the constellation Hydra
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