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The third of the four beasts is “like a leopard,” except it has four bird-like wings on its back and four heads (Daniel 7:6). This beast is given authority to rule. The third beast represents Greece, an empire known for the swiftness of its conquests. The four heads are predictive of the four-way division of the empire following Alexander. The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild All Divine Beasts Gameplay! 0:00 Divine Beast Vah Ruta 49:25 Divine Beast Vah Rudania 1:34:40 Divine Beast Vah M.
In clockwise order: Black Tortoise of the North, Azure Dragon of the East, Vermilion Bird of the South and White Tiger of the West.
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- Thus, to Chu Feng, the Four Symbols Divine Beasts possessed extraordinary significance. “Chu Feng, never would I have imagined that you’d actually really manage to return the four of us back to being a Divine Power.” The Four Symbols Divine Beasts were clearly sacred beings that stood high and above.
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The Four Symbols (Chinese: 四象; pinyin: Sì Xiàng, literally meaning 'four images'), are four mythological creatures appearing among the Chinese constellations along the ecliptic, and viewed as the guardians of the four cardinal directions. These four creatures are also referred to by a variety of other names, including 'Four Guardians', 'Four Gods', and 'Four Auspicious Beasts'. They are the Azure Dragon of the East, the Vermilion Bird of the South, the White Tiger of the West, and the Black Tortoise (also called 'Black Warrior') of the North. Each of the creatures is most closely associated with a cardinal direction and a color, but also additionally represents other aspects, including a season of the year, a virtue, and one of the Chinese 'five elements' (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water). Each has been given its own individual traits and origin story. Symbolically, and as part of spiritual and religious belief, these creatures have been culturally important across countries in the East Asian cultural sphere.
History[edit]
Depictions of mythological creatures clearly ancestral to the modern set of four creatures have been found throughout China. Currently, the oldest known depiction was found in 1987 in a tomb in Xishuipo (西水坡) in Puyang, Henan, which has been dated to approximately 5300 BC. In the tomb, labeled M45, immediately adjacent to the remains of the main occupant to the east and west were found mosaics made of clam shells and bones forming images closely resembling the Azure Dragon and White Tiger, respectively.[1]
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The modern standard configuration was settled much later, with variations appearing throughout Chinese history. For example, the Rongcheng Shi manuscript recovered in 1994, which dates to the Warring States Period (ca. 453–221 BCE), gives five directions rather than four and places the animals differently. According to that document, Yu the Great gave directional banners to his people, marked with the following insignia: the north with a bird, the south with a snake, the east with the sun, the west with the moon, and the center with a bear.[2]
In Taoism, the Four Symbols have been assigned human identities and names. The Azure Dragon is named Meng Zhang (孟章), the Vermilion Bird is called Ling Guang (陵光), the White Tiger Jian Bing (監兵), and the Black Tortoise Zhi Ming (執明).
The colours associated with the four creatures can be said to match the colours of soil in the corresponding areas of China: the bluish-grey water-logged soils of the east, the reddish iron-rich soils of the south, the whitish saline soils of the western deserts, the black organic-rich soils of the north, and the yellow soils from the central loess plateau.[3]
Four Symbols in I Ching[edit]
The Four Symbols are closely connected with the yin-yang philosophy. Fuxi explained the Four Symbols as one of the stages of the creation of the world, in the following way:
Four images as Taijitu and digrams-yao
無極生有極、 有極是太極, 太極生兩儀, 即陰陽; 兩儀生四象: 即少陰、太陰、 少陽、太陽; 四象演八卦, 八八六十四卦。 | Wújí shēng yǒu jí, yǒu jí shì tàijí, Tàijí shēng liǎngyí, jí yīnyáng; Liǎngyí shēng sìxiàng: jí shǎo yīn, tàiyīn, shǎo yáng, tàiyang; Sìxiàng yǎn bāguà, bābāliù shísì guà. | The Limitless (無極; wuji) produces the delimited (有極; youji), and this demarcation is equivalent to the Absolute (太極; taiji). The Taiji (the two opposing forces in embryonic form) produces two forms, named yin-yang (陰陽) (which are called Liangyi (the manifested opposing forces)). These two forms produce four phenomena: named lesser yin (少陰, shaoyin), greater yin (太陰; taiyin, which also refers to the Moon), lesser yang (陽, shaoyang), and greater yang (太陽; taiyang, which also refers to the Sun). The four phenomena (四象; Sìxiàng) act on the eight trigrams (八卦; Bagua), eight 'eights' results in sixty-four hexagrams. |
Correspondence with the Five Principles[edit]
A Han-dynasty pottery tile emblematically representing the five cardinal directions
These mythological creatures have also been syncretized into the five principles system. The Azure Dragon of the East represents Wood, the Vermilion Bird of the South represents Fire, the White Tiger of the West represents Metal, and the Black Tortoise (or Black Warrior) of the North represents Water. In this system, the fifth principle Earth is represented by the Yellow Dragon of the Center.[4]
Four Auspicious Beasts | Five direction | Five seasons | Five colors | Wuxing | Four Symbols | Yao | Four Gods |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Azure Dragon | East | Spring | Green | Wood | Young yang | ⚎ | Kōbō |
Vermilion Bird | South | Summer | Red | Fire | Old yang | ⚌ | Zhurong |
White Tiger | West | Autumn | White | Metal | Young yin | ⚍ | Jokushū |
Black Tortoise | North | Winter | Black | Water | Old yin | ⚏ | Genmei |
Yellow Dragon or Qilin | Central | Midsummer | Yellow | Earth | Houtu |
Correspondence with the four seasons[edit]
The four beasts each represent a season. The Azure Dragon of the East represents spring, the Vermilion Bird of the South represents summer, the White Tiger of the West represents autumn, and the Black Tortoise of the North represents winter.[5]
See also[edit]
- Four Holy Beasts, the Vietnamese version
References[edit]
- ^'西水坡遺址里的圖案擺放,預示著古代某種神秘的星象'. KK News (in Chinese). 2018-04-30. Retrieved 2019-09-18.
- ^Pines, Yuri. 'Political Mythology and Dynastic Legitimacy in the Rong Cheng Shi ManuscriptArchived 2012-04-25 at the Wayback Machine'. Bulletin of SOAS, Vol. 73, No. 3 (2010), p. 515.
- ^N, Brady and R, Weil. [Elements of the Nature and Properties of Soil]. (2014). p. 89. Accessed 27 January 2015.
- ^A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations: Third Edition, Schirokauer, Brown, Lurie, Gay. (2006) ISBN0-534-64307-8.
- ^'The Hidden or Implied Meaning of Chinese Charm Symbols - 諧音寓意 - Differences between Chinese Coins and Chinese Charms'. Gary Ashkenazy / גארי אשכנזי (Primaltrek – a journey through Chinese culture). 16 November 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
External links[edit]
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Four_Symbols&oldid=988539794'
Print In Chinese Constellations, there are four mythological creatures guard the world in four directions, which are named ‘Four Symbols’ or ‘Four Mythological Symbols’ (‘Si Xiang’ in Chinese). They are the Azure Dragon, the Vermilion Bird, the White Tiger, and the Black Tortoise.
As recorded in Shan Hai Jing (an ancient book of mythic geography existed since the 4th century), each one of them represents a direction and a season, and each has its own individual characteristics and origins.
These mythological creatures have been synthesized into the 5 element system. The Azure Dragon of the East represents Wood, the Vermilion Bird of the South represents Fire, the White Tiger of the West represents Metal, and the Black Tortoise of the North represents Water. In this system, the fifth element Earth is represented by the Yellow Dragon of the Center
Zelda Killing The Four Divine Beasts
Azure Dragon (Qinglong)
According to the theory of Five Elements, the Azure Dragon is a holy beast representing the east. In ancient times, the dragon enjoyed a much higher status in China than in India, as the Chinese believe dragon is supreme holy animal, the symbol of the emperor. Among the many dynasties China has been through, some rulers have taken the Azure Dragon as their reign title, such as Emperor Ming of the Wei Kingdom in the Three Kingdoms Period.
Vermillion Bird (Zhuque)
Vermillion Bird, also called ‘Zhuniao’, is the god of south. “Zhu” refers to the vermillion color, like the fire, so “Zhuque” also refers to the phoenix. It is said to have the ability to reborn from the fire, just like the immortal bird in the western mythology, so it is also named fire phoenix. In Chinese legend, Zhuque is said to have chicken’s head, swallow’s chin, snake’s neck, fish’s tail, and five-color feather.
White Tiger (Baihu)
The White Tiger is a holy beast representing the west, and the season it stands for is autumn. It is also a symbol of force and army, and so many things entitled White Tiger in ancient China are related to military affairs. For instance, the white tiger banner in ancient army and the white tiger image on Commander’s Tally. In the Han Dynasty, the White Tiger was usually carved on the stone relief of a tomb door, or on the lintel of a tomb passage with the Azure Dragon, to ward off evil spirits.
Black Tortoise (Xuanwu)
Names Of The Four Divine Beasts Chinese
At the very beginning Xuanwu referred to the tortoise giving divination: the tortoise has black back, and is said to have the ability to enter the nether world to inquire forthcoming things. After getting the answer, it would come back showing the answer with some certain signs. Later on, it is usually depicted as both a tortoise and a snake, specifically with the snake coiling around the tortoise. As the tortoise lives in water, it becomes the water god; and the tortoise enjoys a long life, so Xuanwu becomes the symbol of longevity; the nether world is said to be in the north, as people in the Shang Dynasty would face north when practicing divination, thus Xuanwu becomes the god of north.