Fenghuang is a divine bird of Chinese mythology whose imagery reaches back as far as the 7th millennium BCE in Hunan Province and spreads across the Sinosphere. Originally the male was called feng (鳳) and the female huang (凰), distinct beings symbolizing yin and yang, but over time the two merged into a single bird.
It symbolizes virtue and grace, fire and the sun, justice, obedience, and fidelity, and is said to appear only where peace and prosperity reign. Though often called the "Chinese phoenix," its resemblance to the Western phoenix is only superficial.