The Vermilion Bird is believed to be one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. According to Wu Xing which is the Taoist five-elemental system, it represents the fire-element, the direction south, and the season summer correspondingly. Thus it is sometimes called the Vermilion Bird of the South (Nán F?ng Zh? Què). It is often mistaken for the Fenghuang due to similarities in appearance, but the two are different creatures. The Fenghuang is the king of birds, while the Vermilion Bird is a mythological spirit creature of the Chinese constellations.