The divine beasts that guard the four directions of east, west, south and north are?

East Green Dragon, West White Tiger, South Vermilion Bird, North Xuanwu.

The Four Divine Beasts are ancient Chinese legends of the Green Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Xuanwu, which are a 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.

Ancient China divided the stars in the sky into seven major star areas, namely, the "Three Walls" and the "Four Elephants". The so-called "Waki" is the meaning of "city wall". The three walls are arranged in a triangular shape around Polaris. In the "three walls" peripheral distribution of the "four elephants": "East Canglong, West White Tiger, South Jupiter, North Xuanwu".

That is to say, the star in the east is like a dragon, the star in the west is like a tiger, the star in the south is like a big bird, and the star in the north is like a turtle and a snake. As the earth revolves around the sun, the astrological signs in the sky change with the seasons.

Every evening at the turn of winter and spring, the Canglong appears; at the turn of spring and summer, the Xuanwu rises; at the turn of summer and autumn, the White Tiger shows its head; and at the turn of autumn and winter, the Vermilion Bird rises, collectively known as the "Four Divine Beasts".

Expanded Information:

The ancients divided the sky into four parts, and named them after the seven major star constellations in each part.

In the east, the Horn (Wood Jiao), the Hyper (Golden Dragon), the Dui (Earth Raccoon), the Fang (Sun Rabbit), the Heart (Moon Fox), the Tail (Fire Tiger), and the Kei (Water Leopard) 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 Rooster), Bi (Moon Crow), Cather (Fire Monkey), and Sam (Water Ape) are shaped like tigers, so they call the Western Palace 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 haetae), 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 become the four gods guarding the Heavenly Palace, to ward off evil and adjust the yin and yang.