Fenghuang, known in Japanese as Houou, are mythological birds found in East Asian mythology that reign over all other birds. Originally feng referred to the males and huang to the females, but such a distinction of gender is often no longer made.
The fenghuang is also called the "August Rooster" since it sometimes takes the place of the Rooster in the Chinese zodiac. In the Western world it is often called the "Chinese phoenix", or simply "phoenix", however the two have dissimilar traits and are of mostly independent origin.
