Quest of the Feathered People: Different Worship of Dongyi and Shang Dynasty

Think about Chinese totem perhaps most people would say it's definitely dragon, but  the early worship was totally different from what people thought. This time I will introduce the another significant kind of culture in ancient China.

Dongyi(東夷) people have the irreplaceable status in Chinese history. Although they are not as famous as the Xuanyuan clan(軒轅氏)—another name of the Yellow Emperor and his clan—they actually played an important role in the Chinese culture and lineage, no less than any other.

The character "東" means "east", and "夷" was an archaic term for the people who lived in the east. Two prime worship of Dongyi were birds and the sun. Shaohao(少昊) was one of the most famous leader of Dongyi. Also, there was another person called Taihao(太昊) before who was belived as an earlier leader.

The structure of "昊" is a sun on the top and sky under it. These symbol in the picture came from Dawenkou culture(大汶口文化) in Taian(泰安), Shandong(山東) province, where was the main range of Dongyi. They seem like sun rises above the mountain and cloud or maybe something else. That shows the close connection between the sun and the eastern Chinese culture.

Not only the sun, another kind of legend has been existed for a long time. Yuren(羽人) or Yumin(羽民) could be seen in many documents pictures and handcrafts. It's meaning was "the Feathered People", this might related to Dongyi.

Let's explain the relationship between Dongyi, Xuanyuan clan and Shang dynasty. In the mythology Taihao had another name "Fuxi(伏羲)", who and his sister Nuwa(女媧) was the primary ancestor of Chinese, recreated human after the flood. In other words, Xuanyuan clan and Shaohao clan came from the same origin.

 

Feathered Human Jade Carving of Shang Dynasty

The Shang dynasty was found by the Shang clan. Nowadays, researchers tend to believe that they derived from the Shaohao clan. There were records in ancient document Zuozhuan(左傳) about Shaohao named official positions after birds. In the other hand, in Shang people's legend of the birth of their ancestor Xie(契), his mother ate a whole egg of Xuanniao(玄鳥) by accident and then got pregnant with him.

Xuanniao clan(玄鳥氏) was exactly one of Shaohao's official positions. The general opinion is that Xuanniao referred to swallow, it's habit could match the duty of Xuanniao clan. Also, it's look match to the meaning of Xuanniao: "black bird". There were lot of images of birds and even Feathered People in Shang dynasty's bronzes and carvings.

The Feathered People and worship of birds and the sun is an essential form of ancient Chinese culture. Somehow, similar worship and images have appeared in many other cultures as well. Are there any connection between them?

Where did these people came from?And where did they go?