View source for Feilian

{{Short description|Chinese wind spirit and mythical beast}}
[[File:Gilt hexagonal silver plate with a feilian beast pattern.jpg|thumb|Gilt hexagonal silver plate with a feilian beast pattern]]
'''Feilian''' ({{lang-zh|t=飛廉|s=飞廉|first=t|p=fēilián}}) or ({{zhi|c=蜚廉}}) is a [[Chinese mythology|Chinese wind spirit]] from a southern tradition, later identified with and subsumed under the primary wind deity [[Fengbo (deity)|Fengbo]]. Feilian has also been identified with a late [[Shang dynasty]] minister as well as with the mythical [[Fenghuang|phoenix]] bird, and retained a separate identity as a mythical creature after losing its status as master of the wind.

==Concept==
===Southern origin===
Feilian is first attested in the influential poem ''[[Li sao]]'' by [[Qu Yuan]], wherein Feilian assists the poet in part of his mystical journey. This work comes from [[Chu (state)|Chu]], a [[Ancient Chinese states|Zhou dynasty state]] which was on the periphery of the [[Zhou dynasty|Zhou]] cultural sphere, and is typically dated to the 300s or 200s {{sc|bce}}.{{sfnp|Hawkes|1985|p=17}} [[Wang Yi (librarian)|Wang Yi]], who collated and annotated the transmitted ''[[Chu ci]]'' collection centuries later, annotates this mention of Feilian with the text "Feilian is Fengbo", which demonstrates that the various wind spirits were already being systematised under a single identity.{{sfnp|Chen|2017|p=71}} Wang Yi goes on to explain that in order to ride a dragon through the clouds as the ''Li sao'' narrator does, one must borrow the strength of "jifeng" ({{zhi|c=疾風|p=jífēng|l=an ill wind}}). This term ''jifeng'' acts as a gloss for Feilian in the ''[[Shiji]]''. According to Deng Xiaohua ({{lang|zh|鄧曉花}}), {{Transliteration|zh|fēilián}} ([[Old Chinese]]: '''[[Reconstructions of Old Chinese#Zhengzhang (1981–1995)|ZS]]''' ''*pɯl-ɡ·rem''; '''[[Reconstructions of Old Chinese#Baxter–Sagart (2014)|B&S]]''' ''*Cə.pə[r]*(k-)[r]em''), might be a dialectal variant of {{linktext|lang=zh|風}} (OC: '''ZS''' ''*plum''; '''B&S''' ''*prəm'') "wind".<ref name=Axel /> This same relationship was explored by Tôdô in 1959.<ref name=Todo /> Sun Zuoyun's ({{nowrap|{{lang|zh|孫作雲}}}}) influential 1943 study of Feilian argues that the term ''feilian'' was an alternative written representation of the sound in Old Chinese that was the pronunciation of {{zhi|first=t|t=風|s=风|p=fēng|l=wind}}.{{sfnp|Sun|1943|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=nAqBAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA14&q=%E5%BB%89 14]}} Feilian appears twice more in the ''Chu ci'' collection: once in ''[[Nine Changes|Jiu bian]]'' and once in ''[[Yuan You|Yuan you]]'', each time as a helpful spirit assisting the narrator.{{sfnp|Lin|2010}}{{sfnp|Hawkes|1985|pp=73, 197, 217}}<ref name=msc />

===Evolution===
Early Chinese wind spirits were many. The Shang had the masters of the four directions,<ref name=Hu /> an eastern tradition had the naturalistic "Great Wind" ({{lang|zh|大風}}), another tradition considered the winnowing basket constellation ([[:zh:箕宿|箕星]],<ref name=He /> comprising four stars in [[Sagittarius (constellation)|Sagittarius]]) as the controller of the winds, the south had Feilian, and theorists have speculated that a number of named mythical birds from early Chinese culture – including the phoenix and the great ''peng'' bird ({{lang|zh|鵬}}) of the ''[[Zhuangzi (book)|Zhuangzi]]'' – should be considered originally to have been wind spirits.<ref name=Zhang /> The Zhou culture had two competing wind spirits: Fengshi and [[Fengbo (deity)|Fengbo]], the latter of whom would end up subsuming all these traditions,{{sfnp|Chen|2017|pp=71, 122–123}} and lives on in the [[Taoist]] pantheon as Fang Daozhang ({{lang|zh|方道彰}}).{{sfnp|Chen|2017|p=88}}

In Feilian's identity as Fengbo, he carries wind with him in a bag<ref name=Air /> and stirs up trouble. Feilian is kept in check by [[Hou Yi|Houyi]], the heavenly archer and Shang legendary culture hero.<ref name="routledge"/> Feilian has become attached to the later mythology of the [[Yellow Emperor]], against whom he contended under the leadership of [[Chiyou]].<ref name="Mythology" />

Before consolidation into the Fengbo entity, Feilian was also thought to be able to grant immortality. [[Emperor Wu of Han]] ({{reign}}{{nbsp}}141–87 {{sc|bce}}) believed this sufficiently to order the construction of several buildings dedicated to Feilian worship in pursuit of this gift of eternal life.<ref>{{harvnb|''Shiji''|loc= vol. 28, pp. 478–479}}. Cited in {{harvnb|Chen|2017|p=67}}</ref> In the ''[[Huainanzi]]'', Feilian is mentioned as a creature one can ride astride into the world of spirits where nothing perishes.{{sfnp|Lin|2010}}

===As an individual===
In histories of the consolidation of the Zhou [[Battle of Muye|conquest of Shang]], the [[Duke of Zhou]] pursued Shang king [[Di Xin]]'s minister Feilian to the seacoast and killed him there. This episode is narrated in the ''[[Mencius (book)|Mengzi]]''<ref name="Mengzi 7.2" /> as well as the excavated text ''Xinian'', part of the [[Tsinghua Bamboo Slips|Qinghua University bamboo slips]] collection, a product of Chu provisionally dated around 370 {{sc|bce}}.<ref name="Pines 2014" />{{rp|298–299}}<ref name="Milburn 2016" />{{rp|65}} According to the ''Shiji'', which carries a not dissimilar account, Feilian's descendants would later found the state of [[Qin (state)|Qin]].{{sfnp|''Shiji''|loc=[[:zh:s:史記/卷005#秦先祖|vol 5: Basic Annals of Qin]]}} Various theories have attempted to explain how the name Feilian was attached both to an individual minister at the end of the Shang dynasty and a Chu cultural wind spirit.{{sfnp|Chen|2017|pp= 14–15}}

==Form==
Modern English language sources state Feilian is a winged [[Chinese dragon|dragon]] with the head of a deer and the tail of a snake.<ref name="Mythology" /><ref name="routledge" /> Hawkes states Feilian is commonly depicted as a winged deer,{{sfnp|Hawkes|1985|p=89}} but it can encompass a multiplicity of different winged creatures.<ref name=Tang />

Commentary to the ''[[Shiji]]'' provide earlier textual depictions. Where Emperor Wu of Han ordered the construction of buildings dedicated to Feilian worship, [[Eastern Han]] commentator [[Ying Shao]] defined Feilian as a sacred beast, able to control the winds. [[Jin dynasty (266–420)|Jin dynasty]] commentator [[Jin Zhuo]] provided a more detailed description, saying Feilian had a deer's body with a bird's head, horns, and a snake's tail, with markings like a leopard's spots.{{sfnp|''Shiji''|loc=[[:zh:s:史記/卷028|vol. 28: Book of Establishing Sacrifices]], p. 479}} Similarly, in the ''[[Huainanzi]]'', where Feilian is ridden like a horse in the world outside the world, Eastern Han commentator [[Gao You]] states that Feilian is the name of a winged beast with long fur.{{sfnp|Lin|2010}} [[Western Han]] rhapsodist [[Sima Xiangru]]'s {{zhp|p=Shang lin fu|c=上林賦}} mentions Feilian next to another mythical creature, the {{zhp|p=xiezhi|c=獬豸}}. In annotation, [[Eastern Jin]] dynasty commentator [[Guo Pu]] equates Feilian with the "dragon sparrow" ({{lang|zh|龍雀}}), saying it has the head of a deer and the body of a bird, in a neat inversion of Jin Zhuo's roughly contemporaneous description.{{sfnp|Lin|2010}}

===As other mythical creatures===
Sun Zuoyun expanded upon his reconstruction of ''feilian'' as an alternative written representation of the word {{lang-zh|labels=no|first=t|t=風|s=风|p=fēng|l=wind}}, using the fact that it was often used to write the word {{lang-zh|labels=no|first=t|t=鳳|s=凤|p=fèng|l=phoenix}} since the graphical forms had not yet differentiated,<ref name=Luo /> to identify Feilian with the mythical [[Fenghuang|phoenix]]. He went on to claim that several Han dynasty stone mortuary figures from [[Luoyang]] and [[Ya'an]], all with wings, horns, claws, and feathers, should be understood as representing the Feilian.{{sfnp|Lin|2010}} During the Shang dynasty, the word for "phoenix" was sometimes written using the words for "deer" and "long-tailed bird" squished together into a single glyph; a direct reflection of the Feilian's chimeric appearance.<ref name="Tian" />

Lin Tongyan argues that given the first character of the term ''feilian'' ({{zhi|first=t|t=飛|s=飞 |p=fēi}}) means "flying", and the second character ({{zhi|c=廉|p=lián}}) is pronounced similarly to {{zhi|c=麟|p=lín}}, Feilian should be conceptualised as a type of ''[[qilin]]'' capable of winged flight.{{sfnp|Lin|2010}}

== In popular culture ==

* Feilian is one of the Chinese mythical creatures depicted in Wo Long Fallen Dynasty as a Divine Beast. Feilian is contracted to Dian Wei and later Xu Chu and the protagonist. Dian Wei after becoming consumed by Yin qi, merged with Feilian, becoming a humanoid Feilian Yaoguai.

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist|refs =

<ref name=msc>{{cite book
| author1=Jiang Liangfu (姜亮夫)
| author3= Zhao Kuifu (趙逵夫)
| editor= Pang Jian (龐堅)
| author2= Xia Zhuancai (夏傳才)
| author4= Guo Weisen (郭維森)
| display-authors= etal 
| date= 2000 | orig-date=1998
| place = Shanghai
| publisher= Shanghai Cishu Chubanshe
| script-title=zh:先秦詩鑒賞辭典
| trans-title= Dictionary for the Thorough Appreciation of pre-Qin Poetry
| isbn = 7532604845
| ref= {{sfnref|Pang et al.|2000}}
| language=zh
| pages= 743, 862, 884
}}</ref>

<ref name=He>{{ cite book
| author= He Xingliang (何星亮)
| trans-title= Nature Worship in China
| script-title= zh:中國自然崇拜
| place= Nanjing | publisher= Jiangsu Arts and Literature Press
| date= 2008 | page= 279
| language= zh 
}} Cited in {{harvnb|Chen|2017|p=16}}</ref>

<ref name=Hu>{{ cite journal 
| author= Hu Houxuan (胡厚宣)
| author-link = Hu Houxuan
| trans-title= Explaining the Shang dynasty search for longevity from the Four Directions and sacrifices to the Four Winds
| journal= Fudan Academic Journal
| date= 1956 | issue=1 | pages=61–64
| language=zh
| script-title=zh:釋殷代求年於四方和四方風的祭祀
}} Cited in {{harvnb|Chen|2017|pp=12–13}}</ref>

<ref name=Zhang>{{ cite book
| author= Zhang Aiping (張愛萍)
| trans-title= "Fengbo" and "Wind ceremonies": A comparative study of wind spirit folklore in China and Japan
| place= Hangzhou| publisher= Zhejiang University Press
| date = 2005 | pages= 36–38
| language= zh
| script-title= zh:「風伯」與「風祝」— 中日風神神話比較研究
}} Cited in {{harvnb|Chen|2017|p=16}}
</ref>

<ref name="Mengzi 7.2">{{ cite book
| author= Mencius | author-link= Mencius
| title= Mengzi | title-link= Mencius (book)
| chapter= [[:zh:s:孟子/滕文公下|7.2: Lord Wen of Teng pt. 2]]
| orig-date= c. 300 {{sc|bce}}
| place= Hong Kong
| publisher= Zhonghua Shuju
| date= 1997
}}</ref>

<ref name=Axel>{{ cite book | last=Schuessler | first= Axel | title= ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese | publisher= [[University of Hawai'i Press]] | date= 2007 | page= [https://books.google.com/books?id=nIvqAC7FNBQC&pg=PA238 238] | isbn = 9780824829759}}</ref>

<ref name="Mythology">{{cite book|last=Roberts|first=Jeremy|title=Mythology: Chinese Mythology A to Z|url=https://archive.org/details/chinesemythology0000robe|url-access=registration|publisher=[[Facts on File, Inc.]]|location=New York|date=2004|page=[https://archive.org/details/chinesemythology0000robe/page/39 39]|isbn=0816048703}}</ref>

<ref name="routledge">{{cite book|last=Lurker|first=Manfred|title=The Routledge Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and Demons|publisher=[[Psychology Press]]|date=2004 | orig-date=1984 | edition= 3rd |pages=61–62|isbn= 9780415340182}}</ref>

<ref name=Air>{{cite book|last=Newton|first=David|title=Encyclopedia of Air|publisher=[[Greenwood Press]]|date=2003|page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofai00newt/page/134 134]|isbn=9781573565646|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofai00newt/
| place= Westport, CT}}</ref>

<ref name=Todo>{{ cite journal | author=  Tôdô Akiyasu (藤堂明保) | title= Hôô to Hiren ni tsuite: Kan Tai kjôtsû kigo no ichimen | script-title=ja:鳳凰と飛廉につぃズ (漢タイ共通基語の一面)| journal= Tôhôgaku | volume= 18 | pages= 104–114 | date=1959 | language=ja }}</ref>

<ref name=Luo>{{ cite book
|author= Luo Zhenyu (羅振玉)
| trans-title= Collected Studies and Essays of Luo Zhenyu
| volume = 1 | page= 206 | date= 2013 | place= Shanghai
| publisher= Shanghai Ancient Books Press
| trans-chapter= Expanded and Corrected Explanations of the Writings at Yinxu
| language=zh
| script-chapter=zh:增訂殷墟書契考釋
| script-title=zh:羅振玉學術論著集
}} Cited in {{harvnb|Chen|2017|p=15}}</ref>

<ref name="Tian">{{cite book|author=Qu Yuan|title=Tian Wen: A Chinese Book of Origins | series= Volume 624 of A New Directions Paperbook Chinese Book of Origins|publisher=New Directions Publishing|date=1986|page=III|isbn=9780811210119 | translator=Stephen Field | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=gkMTKkiUYtAC&q=1500 | orig-date= 300s to 200s {{sc|bce}} }}</ref>

<ref name="Pines 2014">{{ cite journal| title= Zhou History and Historiography: Introducing the Bamboo manuscript ''Xinian''
| first= Yuri | last= Pines | author-link= Yuri Pines
| journal= T'oung Pao | date= 2014 | volume= 100 | issue= 4/5 | pages= 287–324
| publisher= Brill
| jstor= 24754918
| doi= 10.1163/15685322-10045P01
}}</ref>

<ref name="Milburn 2016">{{ cite journal 
| author-link= Olivia Milburn 
| last= Milburn | first= Olivia
| title= The ''Xinian'': An ancient historical text from the Qinghua University collection of bamboo books
 | journal= Early China
 | volume= 39 | date= 2016 | pages= 53–109
 | doi = 10.1017/eac.2016.2
 | publisher= Cambridge University Press
 | jstor= 44075753
| doi-access= free}}</ref>

<ref name=Tang>{{ cite web
| url= http://www.zgmsbweb.com/Mobile/Index/articleDetail/relaId/13711
| work = Art News of China
| date = 2017 | language= zh
| script-title=zh:从鎏金飞廉纹六曲银盘看唐代东西文化的融合
| trans-title= Viewing Tang dynasty east–west cultural exchange from a six-lobed silver plate with gold ''feilian'' design inlay
| author = Tang Kuanxin (唐宽欣)
| url-status= live| archive-date= 20 August 2023
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230820192637/http://www.zgmsbweb.com/Mobile/Index/articleDetail/relaId/13711
}}</ref>

}}

===Sources===
* {{ cite book
| translator= David Hawkes
| translator-link= David Hawkes (sinologist)
| author1= Qu Yuan| author1-link= Qu Yuan
| author2= Song Yu | author2-link= Song Yu 
| title= The Songs of the South
| title-link= Chu Ci
| date= 1985 | orig-date= 300s to 200s {{sc|bce}}
| publisher= Penguin Classics
| isbn = 0140443754
| ref = {{sfnref|Hawkes|1985}}
}}
* {{ cite book
| author1= Sima Qian | author1-link= Sima Qian
| author2= Sima Tan| author2-link= Sima Tan
| title= Shiji | script-title=zh:史記
| trans-title= [[Records of the Grand Historian]]
| orig-year= 90s BCE
| ref = {{sfnref|''Shiji''}}
| year = 1964 | publisher= Zhonghua Shuju
}}
* {{cite book| author= Sun Zuoyun (孫作雲) | orig-date= 1943 | script-chapter=zh:飛廉考—中國古代鳥族之研究 | trans-chapter= A study of the Feilian – research into families of birds in early China | script-title=zh:孫作雲文集 | trans-title= Collected Works of Sun Zuoyun | language= zh | publisher= Henan University Press| date= 2003 | isbn = 9787810419369 | place= Kaifeng | ref= {{sfnref|Sun|1943}} }}
* {{cite periodical| author= Lin Tongyan (林通雁) | date= 2010 | publisher= Shaanxi Renmin Meishu Chubanshe | issue= 3 | script-magazine=zh:美術研究 | magazine=Meishu Yanjiu | script-title=zh:从长安铜飞廉到洛阳石翼兽 | trans-title=From bronze Feilians in Chang'an to stone winged beasts in Luoyang | pages= 49–56 | orig-date= 1988 |url=https://www.sohu.com/a/501680862_121124392 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230818151513/https://www.sohu.com/a/501680862_121124392 | archive-date= 18 August 2023 | ref={{sfnref|Lin|2010}} | language= zh | url-status= live| via= sohu.com
}}
* {{ citation
| url = https://nccur.lib.nccu.edu.tw/bitstream/140.119/111487/1/103001.pdf
| date = 2017
| publisher= National Chengchi University
| place= Taipei
| script-title= zh:中國⾵神信仰的來源、流變及實踐
| trans-title= Chinese Belief in Wind Spirits: Origins, Evolution, and Practices
| language= zh
| author= Chen Yinwen (陳吟⽂)
| type= graduate thesis
| ref= {{sfnref|Chen|2017}}
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230820181759/https://nccur.lib.nccu.edu.tw/bitstream/140.119/111487/1/103001.pdf
| archive-date= 20 August 2023
| url-status= live 
}}

[[Category:Shang dynasty people]]
[[Category:Chinese dragons]]
[[Category:Chinese gods]]
[[Category:Wind deities]]