What are the names of all the sacred beasts in China

The Four Divine Beasts are ancient Chinese legends of the divine beasts as the Green Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Xuanwu, which belong to the combination of ancient mythology and astronomy. The four beasts incorporate the five elements and directions, represented by different colors: green for wood in the east, white for gold in the west, red for fire in the south, black for water in the north, and yellow for earth in the center. Another book, the Huainanzi, mentions that the yellow dragon, one of the five dragons, sits in the center and is the eldest of the four beasts.

The so-called heavenly number, the left blue dragon, the right white tiger, before the Zhu Bird, after the Xuan Wu. Therefore, it is in the Yin of the Hall to know the order of the sun and the moon, see the bottle of ice to know the world's heat and cold. In ancient China, the stars in the sky is divided into "three walls" and "four elephants" seven major star areas.

Expanded Information

Origin of the Four Great Beasts of China:

During the Shang Dynasty, the ancients divided the sky into four palaces, east, west, south, north and south, and named them respectively after the Green Dragon (Canglong), the White Tiger, the Vermilion Bird and the Xuanwu (a tortoise-shaped god). In fact, the sky was divided into four parts, with the seven major stars in each part of the line to form a line, named after its shape.

In the east, the horns (wood jiao), hyper (golden dragon), dizi (earth raccoon), room (sun rabbit), heart (moon fox), tail (fire tiger), and mini (water panther) are shaped like dragons, so the eastern palace is called the Green Dragon or Canglong.

The seven stars in the west, Kui (Wood Wolf), Lou (Golden Dog), Stomach (Earth Pheasant), Pleiades (Sun Chicken), Bi (Moon Crow), Cather (Fire Monkey), and Sam (Water Ape) are shaped like tigers, so the Western Palace is called the White Tiger.

In the south, Jing (Wood Jail), Ghost (Golden Goat), Liu (Earth Roe Deer), Xing (Sun Horse), Zhang (Moon Deer), Wings (Fire Snake), and Jingquan (Water Earthworm) are united in the shape of a bird, which is called the Vermilion Bird.

The seven stars of the north, Dou (wood xiezhi), Niu (golden ox), Nu (earth bat), Xu (sun rat), Gui (moon swallow), Muro (fire pig), and Pi (water yu), are in the shape of a tortoise, and are called Xuanwu (玄武). Thus, the Green Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, Xuanwu and became the four gods guarding the Heavenly Palace, warding off evil and regulating yin and yang.

Baidu Encyclopedia - The Four Divine Beasts