What is the significance of the Dragon and Phoenix in Chinese mythology?
the dragon also represents “the spirit of the way”‘ bringing eternal change. like the phoenix, actually, who is eternally reborn from its ashes. The early Chinese believed in four magical, spiritual and benevolent animals; the Dragon, the Phoenix, the Tortoise and the Unicorn. The Dragon was the most revered of all. In it’s claws it holds an enormous magical pearl, which has the power to multiply whatever it touches. The ancients believed the “pearl” symbolized the most precious treasure; Wisdom. http://www.crystalinks.com/dragons.html The Feng-huang or Fung; the “vermilion bird,” the “substance of the flame.” The Feng has the head and comb of a pheasant and the tail of a peacock. It personifies the primordial force of the heavens. It is one of the Four Spiritually Endowed, or Sacred, Creatures and like the dragon and ky-lin, with which it is always associated, it is both yin and yang. When it is the male feng it beco