Shengyu
Mythological Narrative
Jade Mountain 'is where the Queen Mother of the West dwells'. Its bird is the Shengyu: 'shaped like a long-tailed pheasant but scarlet, it eats fish, its call is like a deer's, and when it appears, that kingdom suffers great floods.'
The Mu Tianzi Zhuan brings King Mu of Zhou to 'the Mountain of Massed Jade' on his western progress, where he loads three chariots with jade; Guo Pu identified that mountain with the Jade Mountain of this classic. Goddess and disaster-bird share the one peak: here the Queen Mother 'presides over the plagues of heaven and the five destructions', mistress of pestilence and the executioner's breath, while the scarlet Shengyu announces coming floods by the mere fact of being seen. Both belong to the mountain's grimmer face.
Within the omen-system of the western mountains, the Shengyu pairs off against the Feiyi of Mount Taihua, whose appearance brings drought to all under heaven: one bird, one serpent, flood and drought parcelled out to neighboring peaks, in the recurring 'when it appears' formula that runs through the whole classic.
Academic Discussion & Critique
Exchange peer-reviewed hypotheses, comparative Indo-European etymologies, and archaeological field interpretations regarding Shengyu.
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