User:Whipsandchains/Jinwu

In Chinese mythology and culture, the three-legged bird is called the Sanzuniao and is present in many myths and is also mentioned in the Shanhaijing. The earliest depiction of a three-legged bird appears in Neolithic pottery of the Yangshao culture. The Sanzuniao is also of the Twelve Medallions that is used in the decoration of formal imperial garments in ancient China.

Sun Crow in Chinese Mythology
The most popular depiction and myth of a Sanzuniao is that of a sun crow called the Yangwu or more commonly referred to as the Jīnwū  or "golden crow". Even though it is described as a crow or raven, it is usually colored red instead of black.

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. Each day one of the sun crows would be rostered to travel around the world on a carriage, driven by Xihe the 'mother' of the suns. As soon as one sun crow returned, another one would set forth in it's journey crossing the sky. According to Shanhaijing, the sun crows loved eating two sorts of mythical grasses of immortality, one called the Diri, or "ground sun", and the other the Chunsheng , or "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. Folklore also held that, at around 2170 BC, all ten sun crows came out on the same day, causing the world to burn; Houyi the celestial archer saved the day by shooting down all but one of the sun birds. (See Mid-Autumn Festival for variants of this legend.)

Other depictions of the Sanzuniao in Chinese Mythology
In Chinese mythology, the Fènghuáng is commonly depicted as being two legged but there are some instances in art in which it has a three legged appearance. Xi Wangmu (Queen Mother of the West) is also said to have three green birds that gathered food for her and in Han-period religious art they were depicted has having three-legs. In the Yongtai Tomb dating to the Tang Dynasty Era, when the Cult of Xi Wangu flourished, the birds are also shown as being three-legged.