jiāojīng

䴔䴖

Word · NounTraditional鵁鶄

water bird mentioned in ancient texts

Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma

Meanings

1 sense · 3 examples
1.

noun

a water bird mentioned in ancient Chinese texts (often identified as a type of duck or mandarin duck)

archaic

This is an archaic term found in classical literature such as the *Classic of Mountains and Seas* (山海经). The bird is often described as having colorful plumage and is sometimes equated with the mandarin duck (鸳鸯) or the tufted duck.

 《
Shān山
hǎi海
jīng经
 》
zhōng中
miáo描
shù述
de的
jiāo鵁
jīng鶄
yǔ羽
máo毛
wǔ五
cǎi采
 ,
xíng形
sì似
yuān鸳
yāng鸯
 。

The *Classic of Mountains and Seas* describes the jiāojīng as having colorful five-colored feathers, resembling mandarin ducks.

Gǔ古
rén人
cháng常
yǐ以
jiāo鵁
jīng鶄
jiāo交
jǐng颈
bǐ比
yù喻
ēn恩
ài爱
fū夫
qī妻
 。

Ancient people often used the image of jiāojīng birds necking together as a metaphor for loving couples.

Show 1 more example
Zhè这
zhǒng种
shuǐ水
niǎo鸟
zài在
gǔ古
dài代
bèi被
chēng称
wéi为
jiāo鵁
jīng鶄
 ,
rú如
jīn今
yǐ已
hǎn罕
jiàn见
qí其
zōng踪
jì迹
 。

This water bird was called jiāojīng in ancient times, and its traces are now rarely seen.