Editing Three-legged crow (section)

==China==
[[File:Douze_emblemes_des_rites_memoires_historiques_V3c23_205.PNG|thumb|The sanzuwu in a disc representing the sun (top row: right) is one of the ''twelve ornaments'' which decorates the Imperial garments in China.]]
In [[Chinese mythology]] and culture, the three-legged crow is called the '''sanzuwu''' ({{zh|s=三足乌|t=三足烏|p=sān zú wū}}; [[Cantonese]]: ''saam<sup>1</sup>zuk<sup>1</sup>wu<sup>1</sup>''; [[Shanghainese]]: sae tsoh u) and is present in many myths. It is also mentioned in the [[Shanhaijing]]. The earliest known depiction of a three-legged crow appears in [[Neolithic]] pottery of the [[Yangshao]] culture.<ref name="Turtle">{{citation|title=The shape of the turtle: myth, art, and cosmos in early China |first=Sarah |last=Allan |publisher=SUNY Press|year=1991|isbn=0-7914-0460-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LqBHRAoO0qQC&dq=three-legged+bird+sunbird&pg=PA31|page=31}}</ref> 
[[File:Threeleggedbird han dynasty.jpg|thumb|Mural from the [[Han dynasty]] (206 BCE – 220 CE) found in [[Henan]] province depicting a three-legged crow]]

The sanzuwu in a disc represents the sun and is also one of the ''[[Twelve Ornaments]]'' that is used in the decoration of formal imperial garments in ancient China.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Welch |first=Patricia Bjaaland|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/893707208|title=Chinese art : a guide to motifs and visual imagery |date=2012|publisher=Tuttle Publishing |isbn=978-1-4629-0689-5|location=Boston, US |pages=164|oclc=893707208}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|author=Yuan Zujie |date=2007|title=Dressing for power: Rite, costume, and state authority in Ming Dynasty China|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11462-007-0012-x|journal=Frontiers of History in China |volume=2|issue=2|pages=181–212|doi=10.1007/s11462-007-0012-x|s2cid=195069294|issn=1673-3401|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Wen |first=Benebell |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/939277861 |title=The Tao of Craft: Fu Talismans and Casting Sigils in the Eastern Esoteric Tradition |date=2016 |isbn=978-1-62317-067-7 |publisher=[[North Atlantic Books]] |location=Berkeley, California |page=343 |oclc=939277861 }}</ref>

===Sun crow in Chinese mythology===
The most popular depiction and myth of a ''sanzuwu'' is of a sun crow called the '''Yangwu''' ({{zhi|c=陽烏}}), more commonly referred to as the '''Jinwu''' ({{zhi|c=金烏|l=golden crow}}) or "golden crow". Even though it is described as a corvid, it is usually coloured red instead of black.<ref name="Animal">{{cite book|title=Animal Motifs in Asian Art: An Illustrated Guide to Their Meanings and Aesthetics |author=Katherine M. Ball  |publisher=Courier Dover Publications |year=2004|isbn= 978-0-486-43338-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LqBHRAoO0qQC&dq=three-legged+bird+sunbird&pg=PA31|page=241}}</ref>  A silk painting from the [[Western Han]] excavated at the [[Mawangdui]] archaeological site also depicts a "golden crow" in the sun.<ref name="hunan museum">{{cite web |url=http://61.187.53.122/Collection.aspx?id=1348&lang=en |title=T-shaped painting on silk from Xin Zhui's tomb |work=Hunan Museum }}</ref>
In ancient Chinese depictions, the Chinese god of creation, [[Fuxi]], is often depicted carrying the sun disk with the {{zhl|c=金烏|p=jīnwū |l=golden crow}} while the Chinese goddess of creation, [[Nüwa]], holds the moon disk which contains a gold-striped toad.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Ma Boying |title=History Of Medicine In Chinese Culture, A (In 2 Volumes)|publisher=World Scientific Publishing Company |year=2020|isbn=9789813238008|pages=108}}</ref>

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]], 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.<ref name="Turtle2">{{harvnb|Allan|1991|p=27}}</ref> Each day one of the sun crows would be rostered to travel around the world on a carriage, driven by [[Xihe (deity)|Xihe]], 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 the ''[[Shanhaijing]]'', the sun crows loved eating two grasses of immortality, one called the Diri ({{zhi|c=地日|p=dìrì|l=ground sun}}), and the other the Chunsheng ({{zhi|c=春生|l=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.<ref name="Handbook">{{cite book|title=Handbook of Chinese mythology|author1=Lihui Yang|author2=Deming An|author3=Jessica Anderson Turner|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2005|isbn=978-1-57607-806-8|url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofchines0000unse/page/95|pages=[https://archive.org/details/handbookofchines0000unse/page/95 95–96]}}</ref> Folklore also held that, at around 2170 BC, all ten sun crows came out on the same day, causing the world to burn; [[Hou Yi]], the celestial archer, saved the day by shooting down all but one of the sun crows.
[[File:Chengdu_2007_341.jpg|thumb|The [[Queen Mother of the West]] sits upon a throne, flanked by Tiger (west, autumn, yin) and Dragon (east, spring, yang). She is surrounded by a nine-tailed fox, two seated women, a leaping frog, a male attendant, and a three-legged crow, Eastern Han dynasty, 25{{snd}}220 CE.]]
The ''sanzuwu'' is also depicted with the [[Queen Mother of the West]] who are believed to be her messengers.<ref name=":0" />

===Other tripedal creatures in Chinese mythology===
In [[Chinese mythology]], there are other three-legged creatures besides the crow, for instance, the ''[[Wangliang#Lunheng|yu]]'' {{linktext|lang=zh|魊}} "a three-legged tortoise that causes malaria".<ref>[[Wolfram Eberhard]] (1968), ''The Local Cultures of South and East China'', E.J. Brill, 193-195.</ref>

The three-legged crow symbolizing the sun has a [[yin yang]] counterpart in the ''chánchú'' {{lang|zh|蟾蜍}} "[[Jin Chan|three-legged toad]]" symbolizing the moon (along with the [[moon rabbit]]). According to an ancient tradition, this toad is the transformed [[Chang'e]] [[lunar deity]] who stole the [[elixir of life]] from her husband [[Hou Yi|Houyi]] the archer, and fled to the moon where she was turned into a toad.<ref>Wolfram Eberhard (1986), ''A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols: Hidden Symbols in Chinese Life and Thought'', Routledge, 292.</ref>

The ''[[Fènghuáng]]'' is commonly depicted as being two-legged but there are some instances in art in which it has a three-legged appearance.<ref>[http://www.avians.net/paragon/fenghuang.htm Feng Huang, Emperor of Birds]</ref><ref>[http://www.ancientspiral.com/phoenix.htm Ancient Spiral: The Phoenix] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517083532/http://ancientspiral.com/phoenix.htm |date=2008-05-17 }}</ref>

[[Xi Wangmu]] (Queen Mother of the West) is also said to have three '''[[qingniao|green birds]]''' ({{zh|labels=no|c=青鳥|p=qīngniǎo}}) that gathered food for her and in Han-period religious art they were depicted as having three legs.<ref name="Beastiary">{{cite book|title=A Chinese Bestiary: Strange Creatures from the Guideways Through Mountains and Seas |author=Richard E. Strassberg |publisher=University of California Press|year=2002|isbn= 978-0-520-21844-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e-NEfzqA4pUC&q=A+Chinese+bestiary&pg=PA196|page=195}}</ref><ref>[http://www.bookrags.com/Xi_Wangmu Xi Wangmu Summary<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> In the Yongtai Tomb dating to the [[Tang dynasty]] Era, when the Cult of Xi Wangmu flourished, the birds are also shown as being three-legged.<ref>[http://www.eskimo.com/~webguy/china99/721tang.htm China 1999 – Tang Dynasty Day<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

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