Oriolidae
黄鹂科
huáng-lí kē

General

Information is from dictionaries and other sources. Pinyin reflects Mandarin pronunciation; for some dialect names, it is no more than a polite fiction. Korean glosses are tentative. Comments and corrections welcome. Hover over Green Lettering Green lettering at this site hides a tool tip with glosses, further explanations, etc. Hover cursor to reveal. to see additional information.

The Oriolidae are represented in China by six species, all belonging to the genus Oriolus. These include the Eurasian Golden Oriole (the oriole of Western tradition) in the far west of China and four species in the south of China, three of which are found only in Yunnan.

While the oriole known to the west is the Golden Oriole, the oriole of Chinese tradition is the Black-naped Oriole (Oriolus chinensis), a bird famed for its golden appearance and beautiful song. The Black-naped Oriole is known by a number of names in Chinese, including 黄鹂 huáng-lí 'yellow-oriole', 莺 yīng 'oriole', 黄莺 huáng-yīng 'yellow-oriole', 黄鸟 huáng niǎo 'yellow bird', and 仓庚 (or 鸧鹒) cānggēng 'oriole'. The character for 鹂 lí consists of the phonetic 丽 lì (meaning 'beautiful') on the left and the character 鸟 niǎo (meaning 'bird') on the right.

The choice of ornithlogical name fell on 黄鹂 huáng-lí 'yellow-oriole', which has been extended to all other oriolid species, although this poses some difficulty in naming. While in spoken Chinese 黄鹂 huáng-lí is effectively a single word meaning 'oriole', four of six species found in China are not actually yellow. In the ornithological naming two approaches can be found. One is to keep 黄鹂 huáng-lí as a single word with the meaning 'oriole', resulting in species names like 朱黄鹂 zhū huáng-lí 'vermilion yellow oriole'. The second is to drop the 黄 huáng 'yellow' for non-yellow species. This is possible because in written Chinese the single character 鹂 lí is sufficient to indicate the meaning without ambiguity. The second approach is now more common.

The various names of the oriole were borrowed into neighbouring countries under the influence of Chinese culture, including Vietnam, where the same name was often borrowed into Vietnamese multiple times. The Japanese also imported the various oriole names, but in adopting the characters from Chinese , the Japanese made one important innovation. Since the Black-naped Oriole was very unlikely to be seen in Japan, especially in core areas like the Kinki region, the Japanese borrowed the character 莺 yīng (鶯 in its traditional form) for what they perceived as their own cultural equivalent to the oriole: the uguisu or bush warbler, a member of the Sylviidae. Like the oriole, the Japanese Bush Warbler is noted for its beautiful song heralding the spring. Unlike the oriole, it is a small brown bird that is more often heard than seen. The usage of 鶯 to write the word uguisu was eventually imported back into Chinese by modern ornithologists, resulting in the current situation where the term 莺 yīng is now ornithologically applied to the warblers. (See How 莺 came to be used for the warblers under Japanese influence).

Ornithological specialisations (EXTRALIMITALS)

As noted, Chinese ornithologists have extended the name 黄鹂 huáng-lí or 鹂 lí 'oriole' to all members of the genus Oriolus. To the genus Sphecotheres, which occurs in Australia, Papua-New Guinea and the Lesser Sundas, they give the name 裸眼鹂 luóyǎnlí 'naked eye oriole', due to their striking red eyepatch. (The English name is the less glamorous Figbird, presumably bestowed in colonial times.)

Under the influence of English, Chinese ornithologists have also extended the term 鹂 lí 'oriole' to the New World Orioles (Icteridae).

Cultural

During the Ming Dynasty in China, the Black-naped Oriole (黄鹂 huáng-lí) was depicted in 'Mandarin Squares' (known as 补子 bǔzi) attached to official uniforms of high-ranking bureaucrats. It was the insignia of rank for Grade Eight of civilian official.

莺 yīng is used in traditional literary expressions like:

莺歌燕舞 yīng-ge yàn-wǔ 'orioles sing and swallows dart' -- a scene of spring, peaceful and prosperous

莺声燕语 yīng-shēng yàn-yǔ 'trill of an oriole, song of a swallow' -- the sweet delicate voice of a woman

Species names

ABOUT THIS TABLE

ORIOLINAE
SCIENTIFIC & ENGLISH		CHINESE			EAST		SOUTH	NORTH
Oriolus
Latin	English	Chinese	Chinese (Taiwan)	Other Ch	Japanese	Korean	Vietnamese	Mongolian
Oriolus trailli	Maroon oriole	朱鹂 (朱鸝) zhū-lí 'vermilion oriole'	(朱鹂) 朱鸝 zhū-lí 'vermilion oriole'	栗色黄鹂 (栗色黃鸝) lì-sè huáng-lí 'chestnut-coloured yellow oriole' (6) 朱黄鹂 (朱黃鸝) zhū huáng-lí 'vermilion yellow oriole'	ヒゴロモ (緋衣) hi-goromo 'scarlet robe'		Chim Tử anh 'purple oriole (bird)' (12, 34)
Oriolus mellianus	Silver Oriole Stresemann's Maroon Oriole Mell's maroon oriole	鹊鹂 (鵲鸝) què-lí 'magpie oriole' (2, 4) 鹊色鹂 (鵲色鸝) què-sè lí 'magpie-coloured oriole' (1, 3, 5)		鹊色黄鹂 (鵲色黄鸝) què-sè huáng-lí 'magpie-coloured yellow oriole' (6, 7)	ギンイロヒゴロモ (銀色緋衣) gin-iro hi-goromo 'silver scarlet-robe'
Oriolus xanthornus	Black-hooded oriole Asian black-headed oriole Black-headed oriole	黑头黄鹂 (黑頭黃鸝) hēi-tóu huáng-lí 'black-headed yellow oriole'			ズグロコウラウグイス (高麗鴬) zu-guro kōrai uguisu 'black-headed Korean warbler'		Chim Vàng anh đầu đen 'black-headed yellow oriole (bird)' (12, 34)
Oriolus oriolus	Eurasian golden oriole Golden oriole European golden oriole	金黄鹂 (金黃鸝) jīn huáng-lí 'golden oriole'		金莺 (金鶯) jīn-yīng 'golden oriole'	ニシコウライウグイス (西高麗鴬) nishi kōrai uguisu 'western Korean warbler'			Эгэл шаргач ᠡᠭᠡᠯ ᠱᠢᠷᠭᠠᠴᠢ egel shargach 'common yellowish' Inner M: Алтан гургалдай ᠠᠯᠲᠠᠨ ᠭᠣᠷᠭᠣᠯᠳᠠᠢ altaŋ gurgaldai 'golden warbler' (31)
Oriolus chinensis	Black-naped oriole	黑枕黄鹂 (黑枕黃鸝) hēi-zhěn huáng-lí 'black naped yellow oriole'	(黄鹂) 黄鸝 huáng-lí 'yellow-oriole'	黄鹂 (黃鸝) huáng-lí 'yellow-oriole' (northern Chinese) 黄莺 (黃鶯) huáng-yīng 'yellow oriole' (southern Chinese) 黄鸟 (黃鳥) huáng niǎo 'yellow bird' 仓庚 (倉庚) or 鸧鹒 (鶬鶊) cānggēng 'oriole' 莺 (鶯) yīng 'oriole' (obsolete) 黄爪落 (黃爪落) huáng zhǎoluò 'yellow zhaoluo'	コウライウグイス (高麗鴬) kōrai uguisu 'Korean warbler'	꾀꼬리 kkoekkori 'oriole'	Chim Vàng anh Trung Quốc 'Chinese yellow oriole (bird)' (12, 13, 34)	Дорнын шаргач ᠳᠣᠷᠣᠨ᠎ᠠ ᠵᠢᠨ ᠱᠢᠷᠭᠠᠴᠢ dorniŋ shargach 'eastern yellowish' Inner M: Манхар алтан гургуулдай ᠮᠠᠩᠬᠠᠷ ᠠᠯᠲᠠᠨ ᠭᠣᠷᠭᠣᠣᠯᠳᠠᠢ maŋkhar altaŋ gurguuldai 'masked golden warbler' (31, 33)
Latin	English	Chinese	Chinese (Taiwan)	Other Ch	Japanese	Korean	Vietnamese	Mongolian
Oriolus tenuirostris	Slender-billed oriole	细嘴黄鹂 (細嘴黃鸝) xì-zuǐ huáng-lí 'narrow-billed yellow oriole'			ミナミコウライウグイス (南高麗鴬) minami kōrai uguisu 'southern Korean warbler'		Chim Vàng anh lưng xám 'grey-backed yellow oriole (bird)' (34)

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