Who are the four gods of the ancient Chinese sacred beasts?

The Xuanwu is known in English as Black Tortoise, the Vermilion Bird is known in English as Vermilion Bird, the White Tiger is known in English as White Tiger, and the Green Dragon is known in English as Azure Dragon.

China's four great beasts: Black Tortoise, Vermilion Bird, White Tiger, Azure Dragon.

In ancient times, 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 seven major stars in each part of the line forming, named after their shapes. The Green Dragon is the god of the East, the White Tiger is the god of the West, the Vermilion Bird is the god of the South, and the Xuanwu is the god of the North.

Expanded Information

The Green Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Xuanwu, also known as the Four Elephants, originated from ancient Chinese astrological beliefs rather than Taoism, and were not absorbed into Taoism as the Four Spirit Divinities until the Two Han Dynasty. Another major manifestation of the four gods in ancient China lies in the military, in the Warring States period, the marching formation there is "before the Vermilion Bird after the Xuanwu, the left blue dragon right white tiger".

In China, the dragon is a god, but also the emperor's symbol, and the green dragon is the representative of the East, the five elements are wood, but also because of the green is wood, there is a left green dragon, the right white tiger said. The dragon is a sacred animal worshipped by the Chinese people, is a symbol of auspiciousness and majesty, due to the worship of consciousness, and then evolved into the traditional folk activities of praying for a good harvest and praying for peace.

In ancient Chinese mythology, the white tiger is the god of protection, war and killing in the West. The tiger has a variety of divine powers, such as avoiding evil, avoiding disasters, praying for abundance and punishing evil, becoming rich and happy. Therefore, the white tiger is the main kill, is considered to be the god of killing so there are a number of fierce generals are said to become the reincarnation of the white tiger star charging, for example: the Tang Dynasty general Luo Cheng, Xue Rengui father and son, and so on.

Many places and things related to the military are named after the White Tiger, for example: the tiger symbolizes the command of the army, symbolizing the might of the White Tiger flag, the Water Margin in Linchong mistakenly into the military key White Tiger Festival Hall, and so on.

From the Yin and Shang Dynasties, the Vermilion Bird is the divine beast representing the Yan Emperor and the seven southern hosts, the well, the ghost, the willow, the star, the Zhang, the wing, the square, the joint for the bird-shaped, Zhu is red, like fire, the south is fire, so the name Vermilion Bird, and the doctrine of the Five Elements began to rise after its symbolic meaning and more C Ding and summer.

The Xuanwu is a combination of a turtle and a snake. The original meaning of Xuanwu is Xuanmei, and the ancient sounds of wu and mei are similar. According to the Five Elements, it is a spirit animal representing the north, with the image of a black turtle and snake (or tortoise and snake), and the season represented is winter.