凰

By extension: empress, queen, noble woman; symbol of grace, virtue, and harmony.

When paired with 鳳 as 鳳凰, it signifies the union of heaven and earth, emperor and empress, yin and yang.

Phono-semantic compound consisting of:

几 (안석 궤) — semantic component, depicting a small table or stand, suggesting rest, stability, and seat of nobility.

皇 (임금 황) — phonetic component, giving the sound huáng / hwang and connoting majesty, brilliance, and rulership.

Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字) defines:

「凰，神鳥也，雌曰凰。」

“凰 is a divine bird; the female is called 凰.”

Hence, 鳳 and 凰 were originally two complementary characters, representing the male and female forms of the celestial bird — together forming 鳳凰, the sacred emblem of cosmic harmony.

While 鳳 was associated with heaven, yang, and kingship, 凰 was linked to earth, yin, and queenship — thus mirroring the Confucian and cosmological ideal of balance between masculine and feminine principles.

In imperial symbolism, 凰 represented the empress or female sovereign virtue (陰德).

Thus, imperial crowns (鳳冠) and robes (鳳袍) were adorned with phoenix motifs, each referencing the celestial pair 鳳凰.

凰 (황) — female phoenix

鳳凰 (봉황) — the paired phoenix (male and female)

凰后 (황후) — empress; queen consort

凰儀 (황의) — dignity or bearing of an empress

凰鳴 (황명) — the cry of the phoenix; symbol of auspicious omen

龍凰 (용황) — dragon and phoenix; imperial couple

鳳凰臺 (봉황대) — Phoenix Terrace; famous palace terrace name

鳳凰樓 (봉황루) — Phoenix Pavilion; name of palatial or poetic structures

鳳凰于飛 (봉황우비) — “The phoenixes fly together” — idiom for marital harmony

The Kangxi Dictionary (康熙字典) glosses:

「凰，雌鳳也。」

“凰 is the female of the phoenix.”

In the Book of Songs (詩經·大雅·卷阿) appears the earliest literary mention of 鳳凰:

「鳳凰于飛，翽翽其羽。」

“The phoenixes fly together, their wings glistening and rustling.”

This verse became a classical metaphor for harmonious marriage or the union of noble spirits.

In the Huainanzi (淮南子·本經訓), the phoenix pair symbolizes the balance of the natural order:

「鳳凰不至，天下無正音。」

“When the phoenixes do not appear, there is no true harmony under Heaven.”

Thus, 凰 — as the feminine half — represents grace, nurturing harmony, and the receptive aspect of virtue (陰德), complementing the active, creative force of 鳳.

In later dynastic art and literature, the phoenix couple became a constant motif:

- The dragon (龍) represents the emperor (陽).

- The phoenix (凰) represents the empress (陰).

Together they embody the cosmic unity of ruler and consort, Heaven and Earth.

In East Asian symbology, 鳳 and 凰 together (鳳凰) form the supreme emblem of virtue, prosperity, and conjugal harmony.

While 鳳 is associated with yang and action, 凰 embodies yin and reflection — thus the pair is often described as:

“鳳飛九天以布德，凰儀萬里以應化。”

“The male phoenix spreads virtue through the heavens; the female responds with grace across the earth.”

In Confucian virtue ethics, this complementarity mirrors 君子與淑女 — the moral gentleman and the virtuous lady, harmonized under Heaven’s order.

In later imperial China, 鳳凰 motifs adorned empress crowns, palaces, and the roofs of temples dedicated to feminine divinities — signifying benevolence, peace, and renewal.

凰, the female counterpart of 鳳, represents graceful majesty and harmonious receptivity.

Originally a phono-semantic compound combining 几 (“resting seat”) and 皇 (“radiant sovereign”), it came to denote the female phoenix, symbolizing yin energy, the Earth, and the Empress.

Paired as 鳳凰, it embodies the supreme balance of the cosmos — the eternal dance of Heaven and Earth, Dragon and Phoenix, Emperor and Empress, joined in auspicious union.