When Huang-ti ascended the throne, he diffused grace, followed
[the ordinances of] Heaven,[2]
unified the Way, rectified virtue,
practicing only what was
jên, and the world was at peace. As yet
the phoenix had not appeared, and he thought only of its signs.
He went early to bed and rose early in the morning.
[3]
He summoned
T`ien-lao and asked, "What are the signs of the phoenix?"
T`ien-lao answered, "As to the signs of the phoenix, its front
is like a swan and its back like a lin. It has a neck like a snake
and a tail like a fish; it is marked like a dragon and has a body
like a tortoise; it has the beak of a swallow and it pecks like a
chicken.[4]
On its head it carries Virtue, on its back it bears jên;
it embraces Sincerity, and under its wing it clasps i.[5]
Its low cry
is like a gong, its loud cry like a drum. When it stretches its neck
and flaps its wings, the five colors all shine forth and the eight
winds[6]
are put into motion. Its ch`i corresponds with seasonable
rain. In eating it shows moderation; in drinking, deportment.
It passes by, and civilization begins. It comes, and everything
good is complete.[7]
Only the phoenix is able to spread the blessings
of Heaven and respond to the bounty of Earth, arrange the five
sounds and oversee the nine virtues.[8]
When the empire has the
proper Way and has achieved one of the signs of the phoenix, then
the phoenix passes through. When it achieves the second sign,
it soars above. With the third, it alights there. With the forth, it
descends all year around. With the fifth it lives all its life long
in the state."
Huang-ti said, "Alas, in truth how would I dare associate myself
with [these signs]?" Whereupon he put on yellow robes and
[wore a yellow girdle and][9]
yellow hat, and rigorously purified
himself[10]
inside the palace, and then phoenixes came [in flocks]
covering the sun. Huang-ti descended the Eastern Steps and,
facing west, repeatedly bowed, striking his head on the ground
and said, "August Heaven sends down its blessing, and I dare
not but accept its mandate." Thereupon the phoenixes stopped
in the Emperor's eastern park,[11]
perching in the Emperor's wut`ung
trees[12]
and eating the Emperor's bamboo seeds. There they
stayed to the end of their lives without leaving.
The Ode says,[13]
The male and female phoenix fly about,
Their wings rustling,
While they settle in their proper resting place.