What are the four mascots in ancient China?

The four mascots in ancient China were: dragon, phoenix, turtle and unicorn.

1. Dragon is a miraculous animal in ancient myths and legends in East Asia, such as China, and the leader of scale insects. Often used as a symbol of good luck, it is one of the most representative traditional cultures of East Asian nations such as Han nationality, and the legend of dragon is very rich.

The most basic feature of the dragon image is "nine similarities", and these nine animals are still controversial. Legend has it that it can be hidden, detailed and huge, short and long. The vernal equinox ascends to the sky, the autumnal equinox dives into the deep, and it calls for rain, and these are the images of dragons developed in the later period, which are more complicated than the original dragons.

2. Phoenix originally meant phoenix bird, and later it became the abbreviation of Phoenix because of the combination of phoenix. The King of Birds in China Myths and Legends. The male is called phoenix; The female is Huang, commonly known as Phoenix.

In the ancient totem era, it was regarded as a god bird and was worshipped. Metaphor is a virtuous person. It is a bird in the imagination of primitive society, which gradually evolved through the modification of its original image.

3. The texture of turtle back is dense. People in China always think that the tortoise hides the secrets of heaven and earth, so it has become a mysterious animal with rich cultural connotations. At the same time, it is precisely because the turtle's life span is very long that it becomes a symbol of longevity. People often use "turtle age" to describe people's longevity, or together with "crane age", they are called "turtle age and crane age".

4. Kirin (qí lín): A traditional auspicious animal in China, with gentle temperament, is said to live for 2,000 years. The ancients believed that wherever Kirin haunts, there must be auspicious signs. Sometimes it is used to describe people with outstanding talents and both ability and political integrity.

Kirin is also said to be a beast of the Middle Earth, but compared with Huanglong, which is regarded as the center of the earth in many ancient books such as Huainanzi and Lingxian, Kirin is only compared with the four spirits such as Qinglong in Yi Mao.

References:

Baidu encyclopedia-mascot