英文摘要 |
The phoenix is a kind of gigantic, magnificent and mythic bird in oriental cultures. Despite its fictional nature, the phoenix has been adored, and even worshiped, by the Chinese people since the ancient time. The bird's majestic beauty, as embodied by the colorful and rich patterns on its wings, has captivated the creative imaginations of artists of many generations, and a multitude of phoenix patterns have appeared oh daily utensils and art works throughout the Chinese history. This paper is intended, on the one hand, to delineate the bird's mythic origin, the etymological development of the written forms of the bird, and the changes in the phoenix curves in different periods of times, and, on the other, to relate the above with the social, cultural and religious realities of the Shang and Chou dynasties. |