Heavenly Cock

According to the Chinese, the Heavenly Cock is a goldenplumed fowl that crows three times a day. The first, when the sun takes its morning bath on the horizons of the sea; the second,when the sun is at its height; the last, when it sinks in the west. The first crowing shakes the heavens and stirs mankind from sleep. Among the offspring of the Cock is the yang, the male principle of the universe. The Cock has three legs and perches in the fu-sang tree, which grows in the lands of sunrise and whose height is measured by thousands of feet. The Heavenly Cock’s crowing is very loud, and its bearing, lordly. It lays eggs out of which are hatched chicks with red combs, who answer his song every morning. All the roosters on earth are descended from the Heavenly Cock, whose other name is the Bird of Dawn.