What are the four great beasts?

Introduction of Spirit and Beast-Qinglong Qinglong is one of the four elephants in China traditional culture. According to the theory of five elements, it is the dragon of the four great beasts representing the East.

The beast is blue dragon, and the position of Qinglong is east to left, representing spring; The orientation of the white tiger is west to right, representing autumn; Suzaku's orientation is south and front, representing summer; The orientation of Xuanwu is north and back, representing winter. Among the 28 constellations in China, Qinglong is the general name of the seven eastern stars (horn, sound, phase, room, heart, tail and dustpan).

Spirit Beast-White Tiger among the Four Beasts

White tiger is also the god of war and war. White tiger has many magical powers, such as avoiding evil, avoiding disasters, praying and punishing evil, promoting good, making a fortune and getting married. And it is one of the four spirits, and of course it is also changed from the stars. Among these 28 stars, there are 7 in the west: osmium, building, stomach, ang, bi, Gou and Shen. Therefore, it is the representative of the west, and its whiteness is due to the west. The five elements belong to gold and the color is white. So it is called white tiger not because it is white, but because it comes from five elements. White tiger, the god of the west in ancient mythology. The figure is like a tiger and the white tiger is fierce, so it becomes a symbol of dignity. At the same time, the white tiger also symbolizes power and the army, so many places named after the white tiger in ancient times are related to the military, such as the white tiger flag in the ancient army and the white tiger statue on the military symbol.

Spirit beast-Suzaku, Suzaku's four great beasts.

Suzaku is also a mysterious bird. Suzaku is one of the four spirits, and it is the general name of the seven nights in the south. Well, ghosts, willows, stars, Zhang, wings and birds are connected into a bird shape, which is also called a mysterious bird. Zhu is red and the south belongs to fire, hence the name Suzaku. In modern times, influenced by the myth of fairy birds in the west and Japanese pop culture, Chinese people sometimes regard fairy birds as suzaku in translation and cognition. In fact, there is no saying in the ancient myths and legends of China that Suzaku will be reborn from the fire. Nirvana of Phoenix is just a poem written by Mr. Guo Moruo with reference to the legend of fairy birds in the West. Similarly, Suzaku is not a phoenix.

Spirit beast-Xuanwu, the four great beasts of Xuanwu.

Xuanwu is a spiritual thing composed of turtles and snakes. Xuanwu originally meant Xuanming, and the ancient sounds of Wu and Ming are interlinked. Wu means black; Ghost means yin. At first, Xuan Ming described the tortoise divination as follows: the tortoise's back is black, and the tortoise divination is to let the tortoise go to the underworld to ask his ancestors, bring back the answers and show them to the world in the form of divination. Therefore, the earliest Xuanwu is the tortoise. Since then, the meaning of Xuanming has been expanding. Turtles live in rivers, lakes and seas (including turtles), so Xuan Ming became a water god; The tortoise lives long, and Xuan Ming has become a symbol of immortality; The first underworld was in the north. In the Yin and Shang Dynasties, Oracle Bone Inscriptions divined that "divination will point to the north", so Xuan Ming became a northern god again. Xuanwu, also called "Zhenwu", commonly known as "Zhenwu Emperor", is the god worshipped by Taoism. According to legend, the prince of Gu Jing Le Wang was born fierce and traveled in the East China Sea. When he met the immortal, he gave him a sword and went to Wudang Mountain in Hubei Province to practice. After 42 years of success, it rose during the day and became the Northern Xuanwu Army of Weizhen. But in the Song Dynasty, it was renamed Zhenwu because it was forbidden to use mysterious figures. Xuanwu is also said to be a big turtle in the North Sea. This turtle was once used as a pillar to support the whole Penglai Fairy Mountain. Because of its profound spiritual awareness, after years of hearing and seeing, it finally came to fruition. Therefore, there are many tortoise-borne tablets in the imperial mausoleum, which is the secret of Xuanwu. In addition, Xuanwu is also called Xuanming, so it is also called Beiming. Hearing this name, it is estimated that many readers will associate it with Bei Ming's return to the sea and Jin Yong's "The Legend of the North Ghost" written by Xiaoyao. Xuanwu, like other three spirits, is also derived from the 28 stars on earth: bucket, ox, female, air, danger, house and wall. However, people after ancient times have the following explanations for Xuanwu. Xuanwu is a tortoise. Book of rites "Quli" in the cloud, "before the trip, Zhu bird and then Xuanwu. . "Xuanwu" is a tortoise and snake. Supplement to Hong Xingzu's Biography of Chu Ci: "Xuanwu is called tortoise and snake. Located in the north, it is called Xuan. With a scale, it is called martial arts. Xuanwu is a combination of snakes, turtles and snakes.