Certificates/Peacock/Phoenix/Feng Huang/Bong Hwang

[MTSD]

Hey Folks,

I've been doing some research and a rather curious question popped up that never really crossed my mind. If you look at most karate certificates, including TSD, the border is comprised of two peacocks (or the mythical phoenixes) facing one another encasing the certificate with their elaborate tails. I have never questioned their significance until research brought me to question it...now. I have found little regarding what they actually are and close to no information about the significance of what they represent and why they're on our certificates.

My research regarding what they are went as follows:

I was looking up peacocks and karate certificates which led me to find out that these birds go by the name "Feng Huang" in Chinese and "Bong Hwang" in Korean. Upon investigating these names it turns our these peacocks are less like peacocks and more like mythical creatures similar to the dragon that could be roughly translated to that of the mythical Phoenix.

Within this research I came to realize these creatures symbolized good luck, charity, high virtue, grace, and the union of yin/yang. As you can imagine you can derive some simplistic reasons as to why these mythical birds are on our certificates, but I've found not specific reason as to why they're on our certificates or who started this tradition like Kano Jigoro with the ranking system.

So...does anyone have any information or stories passed on from instructors regarding these mythical birds represented on the certificates.

Tang Soo!

 

[Dirty Dog]

An excellent questions, and one to which I have no answer. However, I am supposed to be meeting with our GM next week. He was a student of GM Hwang Kee and then of GM Kang Ik Lee after the Moo Duk Kwan splintered. He may well have something to offer at least as far s the early days of TKD and TSD.

 

[MTSD]

Wow, very kind of you to offer to ask your GM. Much appreciated!

 

[reeskm]

I've had the very same question myself! While I've never had a GM or instructor tell me the meaning, I have discovered a bit you might find helpful:
TSD is well known to incorporate a lot of ancient chinese and korean philosophy. Due to the nature of cross cultural sharing and exchanges, there are big links to Japanese culture as well.

-Yes, it is better to consider these figures as dragons and phoenix, not peacocks. But peacocks do show up on certificates as well, and that's because the mythical phoenix has a peacock's tail.
-dragons and the phoenix are mythical creatures in asia and are symbolic
- it is associated with Korean royalty. The old Kings of Korea would sit on the "phoenix throne".
- In the UNESCO world heritage site of Toshogu in Nikko, Japan, where the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu is entombed, many of these mythical creatures show up. An entire wall to the right side of the main gate of his tomb is covered in Phoenix, and decorated in panels that seem to tell a story of the phoenix. This is just after you enter the main courtyard and go up the main steps, around the corner from the stone lanterns on your right and the famous "3 wise monkeys" shrine on your left. When I went there recently, I instantly thought of my certificates when seeing the Phoneix mural!
-According to: http://www.pem.org/aux/pdf/learn/asia_curriculum/korea-tsb.pdf

Phoenix represents:
Elegance, virtue, morality, prosperous future,
the queen
And the dragon:
Heavenly power, good luck, repels evil,
the king, rain

And so you have this type of um/yang duality in the symbology on the certificate, wishing the bearer these wishes of good fortune.

Interesting to note, our belt colours in Moo Duk Kwan are the five elements, which have 5 creatures/deities that are represented there, and the 4 compass directions with 5 element being center.
The vermillion bird (similar to the Phoenix or Feng Huan) and the azure dragon are two of them.

Also interesting, the turtle that represents dan ranks is also a five element creature and represented at Toshogu, in the inner most sanctum of the funeral urn of Tokugawa Ieyasu. A crane is also there... standing watch over the Shogun.

Hope that helps.