Vermilion Bird

Vermilion Bird
Zhū Què sculpture on the eaves tile
Chinese name
Chinese	朱雀
Literal meaning	Vermilion Peafowl
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhū Què Wade–Giles Chu1 Ch'üeh4 Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization jyu1 jeuk3 Jyutping zyu1 zoek3 Southern Min Hokkien POJ chu-chhiok
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabet	Chu Tước
Chữ Hán
Thai name
Thai	หงส์ไฟ
Korean name
Hangul	주작
Hanja	朱雀
Transcriptions Revised Romanization Ju-jak
Japanese name
Kanji	朱雀
Hiragana	すざく or しゅじゃく
Transcriptions Revised Hepburn Suzaku or Shujaku Kunrei-shiki Suzaku or Syuzyaku

The Vermilion bird is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. According to Wu Xing, the Taoist five-elemental system, it represents the fire-element, the direction south, and the season summer correspondingly. Thus it is sometimes called the Vermilion bird of the South (南方朱雀, Nán Fāng Zhū Què). It is known as Zhu Que in Chinese, Suzaku in Japanese, Jujak in Korean and Chu Tước in Vietnamese. It is described as a red bird that resembles a pheasant with a five-colored plumage and is perpetually covered in flames. Represented by Jonangu Shrine in the southern part of Kyoto.

It is often mistaken for the Fenghuang due to similarities in appearance, but the two are different creatures. The Fenghuang (similar to the phoenix in western mythologies) is a legendary ruler of birds who is associated with the Chinese Empress in the same way the dragon is associated with the Emperor, while the Vermilion Bird is a mythological spirit creature of the Chinese constellations.

As the other three Symbols, there are seven "mansions", or positions, of the moon within Vermilion Bird. The names and determinative stars are:

The Vermilion bird is an elegant and noble bird in both appearance and behavior, it is very selective in what it eats and where it perches, with its feathers in many different hues of vermilion.

(南方朱雀)