In ancient Chinese lierature, phoenix and owl are often used in the same language context. However, their morals are quite different. Phoenix symbolizes sacredness, nobleness, beauty, kindness, honesty and happiness, whereas owl symbolizes vulgarity, dirt, ugliness, slyness and unhappiness.This pair of contradictory imagery fully shows the ancient people’s attitude of folk custom in which they respect phoenix and depreciate owl,and it also shows the ordinary psychological model of the duality antagonism.
