The Qingniao () were
blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...
or
green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
s which appear in
Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature in the geographic area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology includes many varied myths from regional and cultural traditions.
Much of t ...
, popular stories, poetry, and religion (the Chinese are somewhat ambiguous in regard to English color vocabulary, and the word ''qing'' may and has been translated as
"blue" or "green", or even "black"). Qingniao is especially regarded as the messengers or as otherwise serving the Queen Mother of the West
Xi Wangmu
The Queen Mother of the West, known by various local names, is a mother goddess in Chinese religion and mythology, also worshipped in neighbouring Asian countries, and attested from ancient times. From her name alone some of her most importan ...
. In some sources, three-legged Qingniao carry her messages; in other sources, a single one-legged Qingniao fetched her food. In some versions, three, sometimes three-legged, green birds brought her food: these seem to have some similarity with the
Three-footed birds believed to reside in the sun.
[Christie, 78] (Sometimes these birds are called "crows".) The Qingniao are an important motif and frequently depicted in myths regarding Xi Wangmu and her Western Paradise, which is generally located on the
mythical Kunlun Mountain.
See also
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Birds in Chinese mythology
Birds in Chinese mythology and legend are of numerous types and very important in this regard. Some of them are obviously based on real birds, other ones obviously not, and some in-between. The crane is an example of a real type of bird with my ...
*
Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature in the geographic area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology includes many varied myths from regional and cultural traditions.
Much of t ...
*
Distinction of blue and green in various languages
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Shangyang (rainbird)
The Shangyang (), (or shang yang) in Chinese mythology was a rainbird (i.e. it could predict rain). It was one of several important mythical birds in this tradition. The Shangyang was particularly associated with the Lord of Rain, Yu Shi. Once the ...
, a mythical one-legged bird
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Three-legged crow
The three-legged (or tripedalism, tripedal) crow is a Legendary creature, mythological creature in various mythology, mythologies and arts of East Asia. It is believed to inhabit and represent the Sun.
Evidence of the earliest bird-Sun motif or to ...
Notes
References
*Christie, Anthony (1968). ''Chinese Mythology''. Feltham: Hamlyn Publishing. .
*Yang, Lihui, ''et al.'' (2005). ''Handbook of Chinese Mythology''. New York: Oxford University Press.
{{Chinese mythology
Mythological and legendary Chinese birds
Chinese poetry allusions