There’s an old saying: “Domestic chickens, once killed, will run in circles; wild pheasants, if left unhunted, will fly freely.” The wild pheasant here refers to the common pheasant (Pheasant officinalis).
Pheasants, also called common pheasants, are very widespread in my country, with over 30 species. Historically, they were so numerous they became a pest.
In Northeast China, there was a saying: “You can beat a roe deer with a stick and scoop fish with a ladle; wild pheasants will fly into your cooking pot.” This shows how abundant the pheasant family was at that time.
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Zhu Bingren’s work, “Auspicious Heavenly Chicken”
The image of the pheasant is not unfamiliar in our lives. I remember reading comic books as a child, and characters like Mu Guiying and Lü Bu,
had two pheasant feathers on their heads; generals and heroines on the stage also wore pheasant feathers;
Liu Lanfang, in her storytelling of “The Legend of Yue Fei,” described Jin Wuzhu as having: “Two fox tails draped over his chest, and pheasant feathers fluttering behind his head.”
I wonder if the soldiers of that time actually wore pheasant feathers?
However, some tribes in Africa and Native Americans in the Americas do have a tradition of wearing pheasant feathers.
Zhu Junmin’s work, “Good Fortune Arrives”
Because of their beauty, pheasants have always been a subject of art. Pheasants appear frequently in classical poetry.
“The rabbit enters through the dog hole, the pheasant flies from the beam”—Anonymous, Han Dynasty
“Newly pressed millet wine, plump pheasants; in the thatched inn, joyful songs accompany the setting sun”—Lu You, Song Dynasty
“Across the stream, barbarian cavalry passes; pheasants fly beside the grass”—Wen Tianxiang, Southern Song Dynasty
Zhu Bingren’s bronze work, “Good Fortune for Every Family”
The pheasant’s vibrant colors make it an excellent subject for painting. Historically, many famous paintings have featured pheasants.
Emperor Huizong of Song’s Hibiscus and Golden Pheasant, Li Di of the Southern Song Dynasty’s Maple, Eagle, and Young Chicken, and Lü Ji of the Ming Dynasty’s Plum Blossom and Pheasant are all famous pheasant paintings.
The French Impressionist painter Claude Monet was also a master of pheasant painting.
However, the most valuable is still Emperor Huizong’s Hibiscus and Golden Pheasant, which reportedly sold for over 100 million yuan at auction; its authenticity is unknown.
Northern Song Dynasty, Emperor Huizong, Hibiscus and Golden Pheasant, housed in the Palace Museum.
The pheasant’s most glorious moment was marked by the appearance of a human representative: Empress Lü Zhi.
Empress Lü Zhi was the first wife of Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang. This Empress Lü was no ordinary woman;
Using her position as Empress Dowager, she was adept at political maneuvering and decisive in ruthless battles, a truly formidable figure.
Things related to pheasants include “pheasant ramparts,” also known as battlements, crenellations, or war walls. It is a city wall with serrated crenellations,
which could be used as cover when defending the city. The ancient unit for measuring the area of a city wall was:
“A square zhang (丈) is called a ‘du’ (堵), three ‘du’ are called a ‘zhi’ (雉). A wall of one ‘zhi’ is three zhang long and one zhang high.”
Zhu Junmin’s work, “Welcoming Auspiciousness”
The idiom “domestic chicken and wild pheasant” refers to the Eastern Jin general Yu Yi, who compared his own calligraphy to a domestic chicken,
and Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy to a wild pheasant. Volume 7 of the Jin Zhongxing Shu states: “My sons despise domestic chickens and love wild pheasants; they all present Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy. When I return, I will compare them.”
Yu Yi, like Wang Xizhi, was a skilled calligrapher. He was very dissatisfied that his sons and nephews did not learn his calligraphy,
but instead studied Wang Xizhi’s. He said his sons and nephews preferred wild pheasants to domestic chickens and wanted to compete with Wang Xizhi.
Later, after seeing a calligraphy work by Wang Xizhi, he was completely convinced.
Zhu Junmin’s work, Auspicious Three Treasures
Pheasants, according to the animal kingdom (kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species), are closely related to chickens.
Their evolutionary divergence point is at the “order” stage. In the twelve zodiac animals, the chicken is associated with the earthly branch “酉” (you), hence the name “酉鸡” (you ji).
Although pheasants are distant relatives of chickens, they are widely accepted and loved in folk culture, imbued with auspicious meanings.
Zhu Bingren’s bronze work, May All Things Go Well
Pheasants represent wealth. The golden pheasant, a breed of pheasant, is exceptionally beautiful,
and is frequently chosen as an artistic subject. The golden pheasant is also called the golden chicken, and gold symbolizes wealth.
Pheasants represent good fortune. In folk tradition, pheasants are considered auspicious birds, symbolizing good luck.
Pheasants represent diligence. Pheasants are incredibly hardworking, possessing a strong will to survive.
They are symbols of diligence, bravery, ambition, and the pursuit of happiness.
Zhu Bingren, Bronze Work: The Gospel of Huasheng Jinping
Pheasants represent beauty. The golden pheasant’s plumage is a tapestry of colors,
red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple, dazzling and admired by the people as a phoenix.
Pheasants represent courage. Pheasants are combative, willing to risk their lives, and will bravely confront eagles in crucial moments, embodying the image of a courageous individual.
Zhu Bingren, Bronze Work: Smiling Face Bronze Kettle
Zhu Bingren, Bronze Work: Smiling Face Bronze Plate
May pheasants and humans grow ever closer; I truly yearn for the day when “six domestic animals prosper,” and even “seven domestic animals prosper.”
