Fenghuang (Chinese: 鳳凰; pinyin: fènghuáng) are mythological birds found in Sinospheric mythology that reign over all other birds. The males were originally called feng and the females huang but such a distinction of gender is often no longer made and they are blurred into a single feminine entity so that the bird can be paired with the Chinese dragon, which is traditionally deemed male.
It is known under similar names from various languages (Vietnamese: Phượng hoàng or Phụng hoàng; Japanese: Hō-ō or Hou-ou or Ho-Oh; Korean: Bonghwang). The fenghuang is also called the "August Rooster" (鶤雞 or 鵾雞; yùnjī or kūnjī; yün4-chi1 or k'un1-chi1) since it sometimes takes the place of the Rooster in the Chinese zodiac.[citation needed] In the Western world, it is commonly called the Chinese phoenix or simply Phoenix, although mythological similarities with the Western phoenix are superficial.