Chinese idioms 6: golden chickens

Ever heard of a chicken standing on one leg? Chinese language does in fact have an idiomatic saying that describes this situation:

金鸡独立 jīn jī dú lì [listen]: standing on one leg like a golden rooster.

    This expression deriving from
chinese martial arts is now commonly also used to indicate the position of standing on one foot.

   But what is this golden rooster? According to the legend, it is a divine rooster: on the Fusang Mountain, where the sun rises, there is a jade rooster. When the jade rooster sings, the golden rooster sings. When the golden rooster sings, the stone rooster sings. When the stone rooster sings, then all the roosters in the world sing to announce the rising sun.
(see. Shenyijing 《神异经·东荒经》："盖扶桑山有玉鸡玉鸡鸣则金鸡鸣金鸡鸣则石鸡鸣石鸡鸣则天下之鸡悉鸣潮水应之矣。)
 
 Consequently, "golden rooster" became the name for the rooster that heralds the break of day. (see here and here)

By the way, rooster in Chinese is 雄鸡 xióngjī.

http://www.nipic.com/show/1/64/4183916ke50426b7.html

金鸡 jinji as a scientific name now refers to the  chrysolophus pictus, commonly known as Golden Pheasant or "Chinese Pheasant", in the past also known as 锦鸡 [錦雞] jǐnjī n. golden pheasant .

Today in China also a 金鸡奖 jīnjījiǎng exist: the "Golden rooster awards" are awards in film; the Chinese equivalent of the Academy Awards . The name of the award came from the year of the Rooster in 1981. Award recipients receive a statuette in the shape of a golden rooster, and are selected by a jury of film makers, film experts, and film historians. The awards are given out by the China Film Association. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Rooster_Awards)

See you next post!