Hey all! So I’ve decided to change the format for #FourGodsFriday. From this week on, I will be giving you a look into the characters, mythology, or the world of The Four Gods, while also remaining open for questions. This week, I’m going to give you a more in-depth look into the Fenghuang tribes that appear throughout the series. Here we go!

There are four tribes of Fenghuang: 

 发明 Faming “Light Issuing” (East)– These Fenghuang are usually the upper tier of the Fenghuang clans. They consider themselves the most proper of all four tribes and deem the other three as simple and even savage. Though they have very high views of themselves, they are not as politically savvy as some of the other tribes. Their powers are fire-based but they are very skilled in wind and sound magic. Their plumage contains more blues and greens than other Fenghuang. When in a humanoid form, these Fenghuang have hair colors in the brown and auburn spectrum and usually having brown or amber eyes. Skin color can vary, but these Fenghuang are on the paler side. Their clothing and collective culture is the closest to Han Chinese culture out of all four tribes. They also have the most contact with humans. 

 烧明 Shaoming “Light Burning” (South)– The Fenghuang in the southern tribe while not the classiest of clans, usually hold all the positions of power, much to the eastern tribe’s chagrin. The Shaoming have reputations for being scandalous, having fiery tempers, and extremely knowledgable of Heavenly politics. These Fenghuang have fire-based magic and also have skills in sound magics. Wind magic is not their forte, however, there are rumors floating around the Heavens that the Shaoming have crossbred with Long considering some have been able to master water-based magics. Their plumage exclusively features warm tones, mainly reds and oranges, however some can have violet colors in their feathers. In humanoid forms, the Shaoming Fenghuang have brighter hair colors ranging from browns to reds, and their eye colors can range from black to amber to violet. The Shaoming generally have the darkest skin colors out of all four tribes. Their culture and clothing resembles the Miao of southern China, but since this is the biggest tribe, they have been known to acclimate to other cultures of southern China such as the Tujia, Zhuang, and Yi cultures. In TFG, this is the tribe Fengge and his family hail from.

 速霜 Sushuang  "Severe Frost" (West)- The Sushuang are the most spiritual out of the four tribes. Despite being the tribe closest to Heaven, they are the least involved in politics and value spirituality and philosophy over their ranks. They are the most wind affiliated out of the four tribes when it comes to their magic, but they also have the strongest sound magic out of all the tribes. Their plumage has more yellows and whites than the other tribes, and they are more accustomed to higher altitudes and extreme temperatures. In their humanoid forms, the Sushuang can have the most extreme features, with hair colors featuring blacks, browns, whites, and even blues. They eye colors can also range from black to blue, while most have a hazel-like eye color. Their skin, like the Shaoming, can be quite dark, but they can also be extremely pale. Their culture and clothing would be closest to Tibetan culture.

逾長 Yuzhang “Exceeding Growth” (North)- The Yuzhang are the most removed out of all the Fenghuang tribes and prefer to stay out of everyone’s business. Next to the Sushuang, they are the least involved in politics, but when present, are the most level-headed. Their magic is also wind affiliated, but are not skilled in sound or fire magics. Their plumage has more black than other tribes, and they are the quietest flyers out of all Fenghuang. In their humanoid forms, they are closest to resembling humans with hair colors in the blacks and browns and eye colors within the same spectrum. Their skin is the palest out of the four tribes. Their collective culture closely resembles the Manchu and Mongolian cultures.

In all Fenghuang tribes, their ruling classes are called Jinghuo 精火, and all young are called Yue 鸑. The two highest positions in the entire collective tribe are Zhuque 朱雀, which is an office of the Si Ling 四靈, and the Fenghuang Tianwang 鳳凰天王, which serves as chief to all four tribes.