East West North South Symbol

Mythological creatures in Chinese constellations

Iv Symbols

Clockwise from acme left: Black Tortoise of the North, Azure Dragon of the Due east, Vermilion Bird of the South and White Tiger of the Due west.

Chinese name

Chinese

四象

Literal meaning

Iv Images

Transcriptions
Standard mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Sì Xiàng

Vietnamese name

Vietnamese alphabet

Tứ tượng

Chữ Hán

四象

Korean name

Hangul

사상

Hanja

四象

Japanese name

Kanji

四象

Hiragana

ししょう

Transcriptions
Revised Hepburn	Shishō
Kunrei-shiki	Shishō

Iv Gods

Chinese name

Chinese

四神

Transcriptions

Vietnamese name

Vietnamese alphabet

Tứ Thánh Thú

Chữ Hán

四聖獣

Korean name

Hangul

사신

Hanja

四神

Transcriptions
Revised Romanization	Sashin

Japanese name

Kanji

四神

Hiragana

しじん

Transcriptions
Revised Hepburn	Shijin
Kunrei-shiki	Shijin

The Four Symbols (Chinese: 四象; pinyin: Sì Xiàng , literally meaning "four images"), are four mythological creatures appearing amidst the Chinese constellations along the ecliptic, and viewed as the guardians of the four primal directions. These four creatures are also referred to by a variety of other names, including "Four Guardians", "4 Gods", and "Four Auspicious Beasts". They are the Azure Dragon of the Eastward, the Vermilion Bird of the Due south, the White Tiger of the West, and the Black Tortoise (likewise called "Blackness Warrior") of the North. Each of the creatures is most closely associated with a cardinal direction and a color, but likewise additionally represents other aspects, including a flavor of the yr, an emotion, virtue, and 1 of the Chinese "five elements" (wood, fire, earth, metal, and h2o). Each has been given its own individual traits, origin story and a reason for being. Symbolically, and as part of spiritual and religious belief and meaning, these creatures take been culturally important beyond countries in the East Asian cultural sphere.

History [edit]

Depictions of mythological creatures clearly ancestral to the mod set of four creatures take been found throughout China. Currently, the oldest known depiction was plant in 1987 in a tomb in Xishuipo (西水坡) in Puyang, Henan, which has been dated to approximately 5300 BC. In the tomb, labeled M45, immediately adjacent to the remains of the main occupant to the east and west were found mosaics fabricated of mollusk shells and basic forming images closely resembling the Azure Dragon and White Tiger, respectively.^[1]

The modern standard configuration was settled much later, with variations appearing throughout Chinese history. For example, the Rong Cheng Shi manuscript recovered in 1994, which dates to the Warring States period (ca. 453–221 BCE), gives five directions rather than 4 and places the animals differently. According to that document, Yu the Great gave directional banners to his people, marked with the following insignia: the north with a bird, the south with a snake, the east with the sunday, the west with the moon, and the center with a bear.^[two] The Chinese archetype Book of Rites mentions the Vermillion Bird, Black Tortoise (Nighttime Warrior), Azure Dragon, and White Tiger as heraldric animals on war flags;^[three] they are associated with the 4 cardinals management: Due south, North, Due east, and West, respectively.^[4]

In Taoism, the Iv Symbols have been assigned human identities and names. The Azure Dragon is named Meng Zhang ( 孟章 ), the Vermilion Bird is chosen Ling Guang ( 陵光 ), the White Tiger Jian Bing ( 監兵 ), and the Black Tortoise Zhi Ming ( 執明 ). Its Japanese equivalent, in respective order: Seiryuu (east), Suzaku (south), Byakko (west), Genbu (North).

The colours associated with the four creatures tin exist said to friction match the colours of soil in the corresponding areas of Mainland china: the bluish-gray h2o-logged soils of the e, the cherry-red iron-rich soils of the due south, the whitish saline soils of the western deserts, the black organic-rich soils of the north, and the yellow soils from the cardinal loess plateau.^[v]

In I Ching [edit]

The chapter 繫辭上; Xì Cí shàng ; 'The Great Treatise I' in the I Ching (易經; 'Classics of Changes') describes the origins of the Four Symbols thus:^[vi] ^[7]

易有太極，
是生兩儀，
兩儀生四象，
四象生八卦，

Yì yǒu tài jí ，
shì shēng liǎngyí ，
liǎng yí shēng sìxiàng ，
sìxiàng shēng bāguà ，

In Change at that place is the Supreme Polarity, ( 太極 ; Taiji),
which generates the 2 Modes. ( 兩儀 ; Liangyi)
The Two Modes generate the Four Images, ( 四象 ; Sixiang)
and the Four Images generate the Eight Trigrams. ( 八卦 ; Bagua).

易有太極，是生兩儀，兩儀生四象，四象生八卦，	Yì yǒu tài jí ， shì shēng liǎngyí ， liǎng yí shēng sìxiàng ， sìxiàng shēng bāguà ，	In Change at that place is the Supreme Polarity, ( 太極 ; Taiji), which generates the 2 Modes. ( 兩儀 ; Liangyi) The Two Modes generate the Four Images, ( 四象 ; Sixiang) and the Four Images generate the Eight Trigrams. ( 八卦 ; Bagua).

Correspondence with the Five Phases [edit]

A Han-dynasty pottery tile emblematically representing the five cardinal directions

Bronze mirror with cosmological decoration from the Belitung shipwreck, including Bagua and the Iv Auspicious Beasts

These mythological creatures have also been syncretized into the Five Phases system (Wuxing). The Azure Dragon of the East represents Wood, the Vermilion Bird of the Due south represents Fire, the White Tiger of the Due west represents Metal, and the Black Tortoise (or Black Warrior) of the N represents Water. In this system, the fifth principle Globe is represented by the Xanthous Dragon of the Center.^[eight]

4 Auspicious Beasts	Five directions	Five seasons	Times of mean solar day^[9]	Five colors	Wuxing	Four Symbols	Yao	Five Gods^[10]
Azure Dragon	E	Spring	Dawn	Blue-dark-green	Wood	Young yang	⚍	Goumang (句芒) / Chong (重)
Vermilion Bird	Due south	Summer	Midday	Cerise	Fire	Old yang	⚌	Zhurong (祝融) / Li (犁)
White Tiger	West	Autumn	Dusk	White	Metallic	Young yin	⚎	Rushou (蓐收) / Gai (該)
Black Tortoise	North	Winter	Midnight	Black	H2o	Old yin	⚏	Xuanming (玄冥) / Xiu & Eleven (修 & 熙)
Xanthous Dragon or Qilin	Central	Midsummer		Xanthous	Earth			Houtu (后土) / Goulong (句龍)

Run across as well [edit]

Chinese astrology – Astrology based on Chinese astronomy
Color in Chinese culture – Values ascribed to colors in Chinese cultural tradition
Four Dwarves (Norse mythology) – Iv dwarves in the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning
Iv Heavenly Kings – Buddhist gods
4 Holy Beasts – Iv sacred animals in Vietnamese mythology
Four Living Creatures – Form of heavenly beings described in the prophet Ezekiel'south vision
Four Mountains – Four deities, heroes or legendary mountains in Chinese mythology
4 Seas – Four bodies of water that metaphorically made upwardly the boundaries of ancient China
Four sons of Horus – Ancient Egyptian gods
Four Stags (Norse mythology) – 4 stags in the Poetic Edda
Four temperaments – Proto-psychological theory
Hindu star divination – Star divination based on Indian astronomy
Lokapala – Guardians or Kings of the cardinal directions
Purple Forbidden enclosure – Chinese historical constellation
Royal stars – Persian definition in astronomy
Tetramorph – Symbolic arrangement of four differing elements
Wufang Shangdi – Traditional Chinese fivefold deity

References [edit]

^ "西水坡遺址里的圖案擺放，預示著古代某種神秘的星象". KK News (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 2018-04-30. Archived from the original on 2021-11-26. Retrieved 2019-09-18 .
^ Pines, Yuri. "Political Mythology and Dynastic Legitimacy in the Rong Cheng Shi Manuscript Archived 2012-04-25 at the Wayback Auto". Bulletin of SOAS, Vol. 73, No. 3 (2010), p. 515.
^ Liji, "Qu Li Shang (Summary of the Rules of Propriety Part one)", 69 quote: "行：前朱鳥而後玄武，左青龍而右白虎。" James Legge's translation: "On the march the (imprint with the) Red Bird should be in front; that with the Dark Warrior behind; that with the Azure Dragon on the left; and that with the White Tiger on the right".
^ Zheng Xuan (annotator) & Kong Yingda (clarifier), Volume of Rites: Annotated and Antiseptic, "Vol 3. Qu Li 1". Siku Quanshu version. p. 27 of 158. quote: "前南後北，左東右西。朱鳥、玄武、青龍、白虎，四方宿名也。"
^ Brady, Due north.; Weil, R. (2014). Elements of the Nature and Properties of Soil. p. 89.
^ Book of Changes "繫辭上 - Xi Ci I (The Cracking Treatise) xi.iii" with James Legge'south translation
^ Zhu Xi (2020). The Original Meaning of the Yijing: Commentary on the Scripture of Change. Translated past Joseph A. Adler. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 46.
^ Schirokauer, Conrad; Brownish, Miranda (2005). A Cursory History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations (3rd ed.). ISBN0-534-64307-eight.
^ Ashkenazy, Gary (16 November 2016). "The Hidden or Implied Meaning of Chinese Charm Symbols – 諧音寓意 – Differences between Chinese Coins and Chinese Charms". Primaltrek.com . Retrieved 22 May 2018.
^ Zuozhuan "Knuckles Zhao's 29th year - zhuan". quote:「夫物，物有其官，官修其方，朝夕思之。……故有五行之官，是謂五官，……木正曰句芒，火正曰祝融，金正曰蓐收，水正曰玄冥，土正曰后土。……少皞氏有四叔，曰重、曰該、曰修、曰熙，實能金、木及水。使重為句芒，該為蓐收，修及熙為玄冥，……此其三祀也。顓頊氏有子曰犁，為祝融；共工氏有子曰句龍，為后土，……」. Translation past Durrant, Li, & Schberg (2016) "Every kind of thing has its official, who is charged with perfecting the methods for it and keeping these in mind twenty-four hours and night. [...] Thus, there were the officials of the V Resource(/ Agents / Phases), known as the Five Officials. [...] The Director for Woods was known every bit Goumang, the Managing director for Fire was known every bit Zhurong, the Director for Metal was known as Rushou, the Director for Water was known as Xuanming, and the Manager for Earth was known as Houtu.[...] Shaohao had four younger brothers named Chong, Gai, Xiu, and Xi, who were talented with metal, wood, and water. He made Chong the Goumang, or Director for Wood; Gai the Rushou, or Director for Metal; and Xiu and Xi the Xuanming, or Director for Water.[...] Zhuanxu had a son named Li, who was the Zhurong, or Director for Fire. Gonggong had a son named Goulong, who was the Houtu, or Director for Earth. [...]"