Peng (mythology)

A Peng ( zh, t=鵬, p=péng, first=t) or Dapeng () is a giant bird that transforms from a Kun (), a giant fish, in Chinese mythology.

Names

The Chinese logograms for ''peng'' and ''kun'' exemplify common radical-phonetic characters. combines the "bird radical" with a phonetic, and combines the "fish radical" () with a phonetic.

Both the mythic Chinese ''Peng'' and ''Kun'' names involve word play. was anciently a variant Chinese character for in , as in the ca. 100 CE ''Shuowen Jiezi''; originally meant "fish roe; fry; spawn" (ca. 200 BCE '' Erya'').

Synonyms of Peng include and . Dapeng is also a place name for a few places in greater China, most notably in Shenzhen and Taiwan.

After recent fossil discoveries in northeast China, Chinese paleontologists used Peng to name the enantiornithine bird '' Pengornis'' and the wukongopterid pterosaur '' Kunpengopterus''.

Etymology

Linguist Wang Li relates "peng, fabulous great bird" to element in ; is also related to "wind".

Literature

Zhuangzi

In Chinese literature, the Daoist classic '' Zhuangzi'' has the oldest record of the Kun Peng myth. The first chapter () begins with three versions of this parable; the lead paragraph, a quote from the ''Qixie'' (, probably invented by Zhuangzi), and a quote from the (, cf. ''Liezi'' chapter 5, ). The first account contrasts the giant Peng bird with a small and and the third with a . The Peng fish-bird transformation is not only the beginning myth in ''Zhuangzi'', but Robert Allinson claims, "the central myth".

Analysis and interpretations

Many ''Zhuangzi'' scholars have debated the Peng story. Lian Xinda calls it "arguably the most controversial image in the text, which has been inviting conflicting interpretations for the past seventeen centuries."

In traditional Chinese scholarship, the standard Peng interpretation was the "equality theory" of Guo Xiang (d. 312 CE), who redacted and annotated the received ''Zhuangzi'' text. Guo's commentary said,

Some Chinese scholars gave alternate interpretations. The Buddhist monk Zhi Dun (314-366 CE) associated the Peng's flight with the highest satisfaction achieved by the .

The Chan Buddhist master Hanshan Deqing (, 1546–1623) also declares the Peng is the image of the Daoist sage, and suggests the bird's flight does not result from the piling up of wind but from the deep piling up of ''de'' "virtue; power".

In modern scholarship, some scholars reject Guo's "equality theory" construal. Lian differentiates contemporary interpretations between whether Zhuangzi was a radical skeptic and/or a relativist.

Julian Pas concurs that "the true sage is compared to the enormous bird." Angus Charles Graham sees the Peng as "soaring above the restricted viewpoints of the worldly." Allinson finds it "very clear and very explicit that the standpoint of the big bird and the standpoint of the cicada and the dove are not seen as possessing equal value." Karen Carr and Philip J. Ivanhoe find "positive ideals" in the Peng symbolizing the "mythical creature that rises above the more mundane concerns of the word. Brian Lundberg says Zhuangzi uses the image to urge us to "go beyond restricted ''small'' points of views." Eric Schwitzgebel interprets, "Being small creatures, we cannot understand great things like the Peng (and the rest of the ''Zhuangzi''?)." Steve Coutinho describes the Peng as a "recluse who wanders beyond the realm of the recognizable", in contrast the tiny birds that "cannot begin to understand what lies so utterly beyond the confines of their mundane experience." Scott Cook writes, "We are, at first, led by Zhuangzi almost imperceptibly into an unreflective infatuation with the bird." Lian concludes the Peng is "An inspiring example of soaring up and going beyond, the image is used to broaden the outlook of the small mind; its function is thus more therapeutic than instructional." Bryan W. Van Norden suggests, "The likely effect of this passage on the reader is a combination of awe and disorientation."

Zhuangzi's Peng bird became a famous literary metaphor. Two early examples were the by Dongfang Shuo (154 BCE – 93 CE) and the '' Commentary on the Water Classic'' ().Victor H. Mair, ed. (2002), ''The Columbia history of Chinese literature'', Columbia University Press, p. 298.

Comparisons

In comparative mythology of giant creatures, Peng is similar to the Roc or Garuda and Kun to the Leviathan.

Notable people named Peng

''Peng'' linguistically symbolizes "greatness; great promise; great accomplishments"; for instance, the idiom means "have a bright/unlimited future". This character is commonly used in Chinese given names and several important mainland Chinese, Hong Kong and Taiwanese politicians have ''Peng'' in their given names. In contrast, the character ''Kun'' () is seldom used.

Mainland China:

*Yue Fei (courtesy name: Pengju, ), Chinese military general, calligrapher, and poet during the Southern Song dynasty
* Li Peng (), former Premier of China
* Yuan Peng (), Chinese academic and vice minister of state security whose pseudonym is Yuan Yikun ()
* Ji Pengfei (), Chinese politician
* Xiao Peng ()
* Bi Dapeng ()
* Peng Kiong Chou
* Lin Peng (), Chinese actress
* Dong Chengpeng (), professionally known as Da Peng (), Chinese actor, film director and singer
* Yue Yunpeng (), Chinese actor and ''xiangsheng'' performer
* Jing Haipeng (), Chinese astronaut
* Ouyang Kunpeng (), Chinese swimmer (note ''Kun'' is also used in this case)
Hong Kong:
* Stanley Kwan Kam-pang (), Hong Kong film director and producer
* Ruco Chan Chin-pang (), Hong Kong actor and singer
*Lo Hoi-pang (), Hong Kong actor and singer
* Lam Tung Pang (), Hong Kong artist
Taiwan:
* Yeh Yao-peng (), Taiwanese politician
* Cheng Yun-peng (), Taiwanese politician
*Hsieh Cheng-peng (), Taiwanese tennis player
Southeast Asia:
* Alex Au Waipang (), Singaporean LGBT rights activist
* Goh Choon Phong (), Singaporean businessman and CEO of Singapore Airlines
* Prajogo Pangestu (), Indonesian business magnate of Chinese descent
Japan:

The Chinese character ''peng'' is pronounced ''hō'' in Japanese, as seen in the sumo ring names Taihō Kōki (), Hakuhō Shō (), Enhō Akira (), Daishōhō Kiyohiro (), Tokushinhō Motohisa (), Wakanohō Toshinori (), Kyokutenhō Masaru () and so on. It is also used in company names, such as Taiho Pharmaceutical ({{lang, ja, 大鵬薬品工業).

See also

* Golden Winged Great Peng
* Birds in Chinese mythology
* Fenghuang
* Roc
* Thunderbird
* Fish in Chinese mythology

References

Birds in Chinese mythology