凤 (fèng) · phoenix (Chinese mythological bird), surname Feng

Meanings

1 phoenix (Chinese mythological bird)
2 surname Feng

Characters

凤

fèng

phoenix

Examples

HSK 1

她名字里有个凤字。

Tā míngzi lǐ yǒu gè fèng zì.

Her name contains the character for phoenix.

HSK 6

龙和凤是中国文化中的吉祥象征。

Lóng hé fèng shì Zhōngguó wénhuà zhōng de jíxiáng xiàngzhēng.

The dragon and phoenix are auspicious symbols in Chinese culture.

Tips

culture

In Chinese mythology, 凤 refers to the male phoenix and 凰 to the female, but 凤凰 as a pair represents the empress alongside the dragon (龙) for the emperor. 龙凤 (dragon-phoenix) symbolizes a perfect couple.

Components

radical

几 jī

small table; surround frame

The 几-shaped outer frame is the indexing Kangxi radical for the simplified 凤. Originally 鳳 contained a full 鳥 (bird) component; the reform collapsed that imagery and reused the 几-like outline as the lookup anchor surrounding a single inner stroke.

semantic

又 yòu

hand; again

The inner 又 (hand) is a graphic shorthand inserted by the simplification reform to replace the original 鳥. It carries no original semantic content here and acts as a placeholder body within the 几-frame, giving the modern 4-stroke 凤 (phoenix) its compact shape.