The four great beasts are Qinglong, Baihu, Suzaku and Xuanwu.

1. Qinglong

originated from the worship of stars in ancient times. In ancient China, the stars in the sky were divided into seven star regions: "Three Walls" and "Four Elephants". "Three Walls" is "Ziwei Walls", symbolizing the palace; "Taiweiyuan" symbolizes the administrative agency; "Sky City Wall" symbolizes the bustling market.

these three walls are arranged in a triangle around Polaris. There are four elephants around the Three Walls: East black dragon, West White Tiger, South Suzaku and North Xuanwu. In other words, the stars in the East are like a dragon. As the earth revolves around the sun, the stars in the sky change with the seasons. Every evening at the turn of winter and spring, black dragon appears.

2. White tiger

White tiger is also a god of war and war, which originated from the worship of stars in ancient times. The white tiger has many magical powers, such as avoiding evil spirits, avoiding disasters, praying for prosperity, punishing evil and promoting good, getting rich and getting married. It is one of the four spirits, and of course it is also changed from the stars.

is composed of seven of the 28 stars in the west: Kui, Lou, Wei, Chang, Bi, Gou and Shen. Therefore, it is the representative of the west, and its whiteness is due to the fact that the west belongs to gold in the five elements and its color is white. So white is said from the five elements.

3. Suzaku

is one of the four elephants and one of the four great beasts in China traditional culture, which originated from the worship of the stars in ancient times. It is a beast representing the south, the color is red and the season is summer.

The four great beasts are Suzaku, Xuanwu, Qinglong and White Tiger. Suzaku is one of the four spirits, and like the other three, it comes from the stars, and is the general name of the seven southern lodges: well, ghost, willow, star, Zhang, wing and bird.

4. Xuanwu

The father of Yu, the founder of Xia Dynasty in China, was called "Gun", the word Xuan Ming, or Xuanwu, which helped Shun to control water before the famous Dayu did. Because it only uses plugging instead of dredging, it has not succeeded despite the help of the gods. Generally speaking, Gun is regarded as the incarnation of turtle, and Tu Shanshi, a member of Xia clan, thinks that snake is his ancestor.

Extended information

The four great beasts are the legendary beasts in ancient China, namely, Qinglong, Baihu, Suzaku and Xuanwu, which are the products of the combination of ancient mythology and astronomy. The four animals are integrated with five elements and directions, represented by different colors: oriental cyan is wood, western white is gold, southern red is fire, northern black is water, and central yellow is earth. In addition, Huainanzi mentioned that Huanglong, one of the five dragons, is in the center, which is the length of four beasts.

The so-called days are Zuo Qinglong, Right White Tiger, Former Suzaku and Later Xuanwu. Therefore, you can know the order of the sun and the moon by being in the shade of the class, and you can know the cold and heat of the world by seeing the ice in the bottle. ?

In ancient China, the stars in the sky were divided into seven star zones, namely "Three Walls" and "Four Elephants". The so-called "wall" means "city wall". Three walls are arranged in a triangle around Polaris. There are four elephants around the Three Walls: East black dragon, West White Tiger, South Suzaku and North Xuanwu.

that is to say, the stars in the east are like a dragon, the stars in the west are like a tiger, the stars in the south are like a big bird, and the stars in the north are like turtles and snakes. As the earth revolves around the sun, the stars in the sky change with the seasons. Every evening at the turn of winter and spring, black dragon appears; At the turn of spring and summer, Xuanwu rises; At the turn of summer and autumn, the white tiger emerges; At the turn of autumn and winter, Suzaku rises, which is always called "the four great beasts".

Baidu Encyclopedia-Four Beasts