What is the Largest Bird That Ever Lived?

Dapeng bird, the largest bird in Chinese myths and legends, is a strange bird in many legends in the world.

Roc

(The biggest bird in Chinese mythology)

The western Dapeng is named Roc or Rukh, and the word comes from Persian . Legend has it that the body is huge and the feathers are white. They feed on elephants and are extremely powerful.

Roc Bird Origin

The origin of western penguins may be traced back to the ancient Persian god bird "Amrzs", also known as "Slnamurv" or "Simurgh / Senmurv". The bird has gone through three major annihilations, so it knows everything about the past, present, and future. Its appearance is the head of a bird or a human face, and its wings can be extended to cover the sun and moon.

There is a "knowledge tree" in ancient Persian mythology, which has seeded into thousands of plants and trees in the world. "Simafu" nests on it, and when the fruit matures, it is shaken down and planted in the mountains and rivers. It's a common occurrence in The Shah Nameh. Gallo in ancient India is a variant of "Ezi". The giant bird "ziz" in Jewish mythology may also be related to Dapeng.

Another is that Dapeng originated from the real life elephant bird (Aepyornis maximus / elephant bird). The bird is born in Madagascar and looks like an ostrich and cannot fly. Extinct as late as about 1649, only skeleton and egg specimens remain today.

The largest elephant bird known is 305 cm tall and weighs 455 kg. Their eggs are also about 30 cm long. It is also said that the prototype of Dapeng is a fear bird or vulture.

Roc bird description

Dapeng attacked Sinbad s ship, Travel to Marco Polo, described it as follows: It is said that (Peng bird) looks like a hawk-headed hawk, and is very big ... they can catch the elephant, lift it up to the ground, and throw it into flesh Enjoy the mud slowly. People also say that Dapeng has a wingspan of 30 steps (approximately 23 meters) and its wing feathers are 12 steps (approximately 9 meters). The thickness also matches the length. "

Henry Yuer, the English translator of The Travels, mentioned that in the Middle Ages Peng Yu was more common as a treasure, but most of it was elephant trunk palm leaves. It is said that Kublai Khan also had such a piece of pengyu, about 20 meters long. There is also a book mentioning a businessman who had been to the China Sea, and he brought the root of a branch of Peng Yu to Spain.

Many legends in "One Thousand and One Nights" refer to Dapeng, most famously "Sinbad's Voyage". Sinbad was abandoned on the island the second time he went out to sea, and found huge bird eggs with a 50-foot circumference. When Dapeng returned to his nest, he tied himself to the bird's claw. The next day, I was carried by a peng bird and fled to a high cliff. I found that the local python was infested with the thickness of the jujube tree, and I could swallow the elephant in one bite. These pythons are the food of Dapeng. On the fifth voyage, Dapeng egg was found on an island, and fellow merchants broke their shells and ate for food. As a result, the two birds returned. They sailed away, and the ship was sunk by Dapeng with boulder.

About 1375, the Arab traveler Ibn Battuta wrote in his diary: "I thought it was a mountain, but it turned out to be a bird! If it saw us, it would destroy us." Then the wind changed, Ibin's ship was not near the Dapeng he saw. The Mach Islands in the Indian Ocean was once known as the "Peng Bird Islands", which may be related to this record.

Roc Bird Mythology Relationship

According to Richard Burton, the translator of "One Thousand and One Nights", Dapeng has mythological ties to many divine birds. There are: Bennu in ancient Egypt (Phoenix in ancient Egypt), Anka in Arabia, long-necked bird in Turkey, Kerkes in Turkey, and Glip in ancient Greece (Gryps), Russia's "Norka", and wisdom ancient birds on the Nordic tree of life.

The chess piece "Rook" is said to originate from the bird, but it is also said that it comes from the image of an elephant carrying a siege tower.