Three-legged bird
Encyclopedia
The three-legged crow is a creature found in various mythologies
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...

 and arts of Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

, Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...

, and North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...

. It is believed by many cultures to inhabit and represent the sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...

.

The creature has been featured in myths from Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

, where it appears on wall mural
Mural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...

s. It has also been found figured on ancient coins from Lycia
Lycia
Lycia Lycian: Trm̃mis; ) was a region in Anatolia in what are now the provinces of Antalya and Muğla on the southern coast of Turkey. It was a federation of ancient cities in the region and later a province of the Roman Empire...

 and Pamphylia
Pamphylia
In ancient geography, Pamphylia was the region in the south of Asia Minor, between Lycia and Cilicia, extending from the Mediterranean to Mount Taurus . It was bounded on the north by Pisidia and was therefore a country of small extent, having a coast-line of only about 75 miles with a breadth of...

.

In East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...

n mythologies the three-legged crow is most often associated with the sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...

.

China

In Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology is a collection of cultural history, folktales, and religions that have been passed down in oral or written tradition. These include creation myths and legends and myths concerning the founding of Chinese culture and the Chinese state...

 and culture, the three-legged crow is called the Sanzuwu ' onMouseout='HidePop("25521")' href="/topics/Cantonese">Cantonese
Cantonese
Cantonese is a dialect spoken primarily in south China.Cantonese may also refer to:* Yue Chinese, the Chinese language that includes Cantonese* Cantonese cuisine, the cuisine of Guangdong province...

: sam1zuk1wu1; Shanghainese
Shanghainese
Shanghainese , or the Shanghai language , is a dialect of Wu Chinese spoken in the city of Shanghai and the surrounding region. It is classified as part of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. Shanghainese, like other Wu dialects, is largely not mutually intelligible with other Chinese varieties...

: sae tsoh u) and is present in many myths and is also mentioned in the Shanhaijing. The earliest known depiction of a three-legged crow appears in Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...

 pottery of the Yangshao culture. The Sanzuwu is also of the Twelve Medallions that is used in the decoration of formal imperial garments in ancient China. A silk painting from the Western Han excavated at the Mawangdui archaeological site also depicts a Sanzuwu perched on a tree.

Sun Crow in Chinese Mythology

The most popular depiction and myth of a Sanzuwu is that of a sun crow called the Yangwu or more commonly referred to as the Jīnwū or "golden crow
Crow
Crows form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small pigeon-size jackdaws to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents and several...

". Even though it is described as a crow or raven, it is usually colored red instead of black.

According to folklore, there were originally ten sun crows which settled in 10 separate suns. They perched on a red mulberry tree called the Fusang
Fusang
Fusang or Fousang refers to several different entities in ancient Chinese literature, often either a mythological tree or a mysterious land to the East....

 , literally meaning the Leaning Mulberry Tree, in the East at the foot of the Valley of the Sun. This mulberry tree was said to have many mouths opening from its branches. Each day one of the sun crows would be rostered to travel around the world on a carriage
Carriage
A carriage is a wheeled vehicle for people, usually horse-drawn; litters and sedan chairs are excluded, since they are wheelless vehicles. The carriage is especially designed for private passenger use and for comfort or elegance, though some are also used to transport goods. It may be light,...

, driven by Xihe
Xihe (deity)
In Chinese mythology, Xihe is a Chinese sun goddess. The wife of Emperor Jun, she was once the 'mother' of ten suns, in the form of Three-legged birds, residing in a mulberry tree in the eastern sea named Fusang...

 the 'mother' of the suns. As soon as one sun crow returned, another one would set forth in its journey crossing the sky. According to Shanhaijing, the sun crows loved eating two sorts of mythical grasses of immortality, one called the Diri , or "ground sun", and the other the Chunsheng , or "spring grow". The sun crows would often descend from heaven on to the earth and feast on these grasses, but Xihe did not like this thus she covered their eyes to prevent them from doing so.
Folklore also held that, at around 2170 BC, all ten sun crows came out on the same day, causing the world to burn; Houyi
Houyi
Houyi , also called Yiyi or simply Yi, was a mythological Chinese archer and the leader of Dongyi. He is sometimes portrayed as a god of archery descended from heaven to aid mankind, and sometimes as the chief of the Youqiong Tribe during the reign of King Tai Kang of Xia Dynasty...

 the celestial archer saved the day by shooting down all but one of the sun birds. (See Mid-Autumn Festival for variants of this legend.)

Other depictions of the Sanzuwu in Chinese Mythology

In Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology is a collection of cultural history, folktales, and religions that have been passed down in oral or written tradition. These include creation myths and legends and myths concerning the founding of Chinese culture and the Chinese state...

, the Fènghuáng
Fenghuang
Fenghuang are mythological birds of East Asia that reign over all other birds. The males are called Feng and the females Huang. In modern times, however, such a distinction of gender is often no longer made and the Feng and Huang are blurred into a single feminine entity so that the bird can be...

is commonly depicted as being two legged but there are some instances in art in which it has a three legged appearance. Xi Wangmu
Xi Wangmu
Xi Wangmu, literally Queen Mother of the West , is an ancient Chinese goddess, also known in Japan and Korea. Her origins can be traced back to oracle bone inscriptions of the 15th century BCE that record sacrifices to a "western mother". Even though these inscriptions illustrate that she predates...

 (Queen Mother of the West) is also said to have three green birds that gathered food for her and in Han-period religious art they were depicted has having three-legs.
In the Yongtai Tomb dating to the Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...

 Era, when the Cult of Xi Wangu flourished, the birds are also shown as being three-legged.

Japan

In Japanese mythology
Japanese mythology
Japanese mythology is a system of beliefs that embraces Shinto and Buddhist traditions as well as agriculturally based folk religion. The Shinto pantheon comprises innumerable kami...

, this flying creature is a raven
Raven
Raven is the common name given to several larger-bodied members of the genus Corvus—but in Europe and North America the Common Raven is normally implied...

 or a Jungle Crow
Jungle Crow
The Jungle Crow , is a widespread Asian species of crow. They are very adaptable and are able to survive on a wide range of food sources making them capable of colonizing new areas due to which they are often considered a nuisance, especially on islands...

 called ; and the appearance of the great bird is construed as evidence of the will of Heaven or divine intervention in human affairs.

Although Yatagarasu is mentioned in a number of places in the Shintō
Shinto
or Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...

 canon, there is very little explanation, and much of the material is contradictory. This great crow was sent from heaven as a guide for Emperor Jimmu
Emperor Jimmu
was the first Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. He is also known as Kamuyamato Iwarebiko and personally as Wakamikenu no Mikoto or Sano no Mikoto....

 on his initial journey from the region which would become Kumano
Kumano
' literally means 'Bear Field'. It is a name adopted by various places in Japan.# Kumano Shrine# Kumano Shrines Grand Shrines# Kumano Region# Kumano, Mie City in Mie Prefecture# Japanese cruiser Kumano a Mogami class cruiser naval ship....

 to what would become Yamato
Yamato
Yamato was originally the area around today's Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan. Later the term was used as the name of the province and also as an ancient name of Japan...

. It is generally accepted that Yatagarasu is an incarnation of Taketsunimi no mikoto, but none of the early surviving documentary records are quite so specific.

On many occasions, it appears in art as a three-legged crow, although there is no description stating that the Yatagarasu was three-legged in the Kojiki
Kojiki
is the oldest extant chronicle in Japan, dating from the early 8th century and composed by Ō no Yasumaro at the request of Empress Gemmei. The Kojiki is a collection of myths concerning the origin of the four home islands of Japan, and the Kami...

.

Both the Japan Football Association
Japan Football Association
The Japan Football Association, sometimes known as the Japan Soccer Association , is the governing body responsible for the administration of association football in Japan. It is responsible for the national team as well as club competitions....

 and subsequently its administered teams such as the Japan national football team
Japan national football team
The Japan national football team represents Japan in association football and is operated by the Japan Football Association, the governing body for association football in Japan...

 use the symbol of Yatagarasu in their emblems and badges respectively. The winner of the Emperor's Cup
Emperor's Cup
, commonly known as or , is a Japanese association football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football tournament in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formation of the J. League, Japan Football League and their predecessor, Japan Soccer League...

 is also given the honor of wearing the Yatagarasu emblem the following season.

Korea

In Korean mythology
Korean mythology
Korean mythology consists of national legends and folk-tales which come from all over the Korean Peninsula. Even within the same ethnic group, myths tend to have slightly different variations...

, it is known as Samjok-o (hangul
Hangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...

: ; hanja
Hanja
Hanja is the Korean name for the Chinese characters hanzi. More specifically, it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation...

: ). During the period of the Koguryo Kingdom, the Samjok-o was a highly regarded symbol of power, thought superior to both the dragon
Chinese dragon
Chinese dragons are legendary creatures in Chinese mythology and folklore, with mythic counterparts among Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Bhutanese, Western and Turkic dragons. In Chinese art, dragons are typically portrayed as long, scaled, serpentine creatures with four legs...

 and the Korean phoenix
Phoenix (mythology)
The phoenix or phenix is a mythical sacred firebird that can be found in the mythologies of the Arabian, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, Indian and Phoenicians....

.

The three-legged crow was one of several emblems under consideration to replace the phoenix in the Korean seal of state when its revision was considered in 2008. The Samjok-o is considered a symbol of Goguryeo
Goguryeo
Goguryeo or Koguryŏ was an ancient Korean kingdom located in present day northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula, southern Manchuria, and southern Russian Maritime province....

.

In popular culture

  • Yatagarasu is the name of a child in the My-HiME
    My-HiME
    is an anime series, created by Sunrise. Directed by Masakazu Obara and written by Hiroyuki Yoshino, the series originally premiered in Japan on TV Tokyo from September 2004 to March 2005...

     anime, belonging to Shiho Munakata
    Shiho Munakata
    is a fictional character in the anime and manga series My-HiME, and also appears in the alternate universe sequel My-Otome, where she is known as Shiho Huit. She is voiced by Sakura Nogawa in both series and by Leda Davies in the English dub....

    .
  • In contemporary Korean dramas set in Goguryeo
    Goguryeo
    Goguryeo or Koguryŏ was an ancient Korean kingdom located in present day northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula, southern Manchuria, and southern Russian Maritime province....

    , like Jumong (TV series) or Kingdom of the Winds, the Samjoko is a symbol of power.
  • In the game Genji: Dawn of the Samurai, one of the bosses is a giant, fire-wielding three-legged bird.
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