Left Qinglong, right Baihu, front Vermilion Bird, rear Xuanwu… Doesn’t that sound familiar? This sentence is not only common in various Taoist classics, but also frequently mentioned in literary works.
Qinglong, Baihu, Zhuque, and Xuanwu are the four ancient divine beasts that guard the four directions in Taoist legends.
In ancient times, our ancestors divided the sky into seven major star regions: the “Three Enclosures” and the “Four Symbols”. The “Three Enclosures” were the “Purple Weiyuan”, “Taiwei Yuan”, and “Tianshi Yuan”. Surrounding the “Three Enclosures” were the “Four Symbols”: the Eastern Azure Dragon, the Western White Tiger, the Southern Vermilion Bird, and the Northern Xuanwu.
The names of these four divine beasts are recorded in the Taoist classic “Yunji Qibian”: Qinglong Mengzhang, Baihu Jianbing, Zhuque Lingguang, and Xuanwu Zhiming.
The Four Great Beasts of the East: Azure Dragon, Meng Zhang, and Divine Lord
Dragon is the Eastern Seven Mansions – Jiao, Kang, Di, Fang, Xin, Wei, Ji, and the shape of these seven mansions is very similar to that of a dragon. From their meanings, it can be seen that Jiao is the horn of a dragon; Kang is the neck; Di is the foundation, the root of the neck; A house is an arm, a threat; The heart is the heart; Tail is tail; Ji is the tail end.
The Qinglong Mengzhang Divine Lord symbolizes the Shaoyang of the Four Symbols and the spring of the four seasons, thus symbolizing innovation and vitality. In many dynasties, there were also some monarchs who wanted to use the protection of the gods to choose Qinglong as their reign title. For example, Emperor Wei Ming of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Rui, once designated 233 AD as the first year of Qinglong.
The Western White Tiger Guardian God Lord, one of the Four Great Divine Beasts
The White Tiger Guard God Lord is a god of war and the god of killing and conquering, possessing various divine powers such as warding off evil, warding off disasters, praying for prosperity, and punishing evil. Among the twenty-eight constellations, there are seven Western constellations: Kui, Lou, Wei, Ang, Bi, Zhi, and Shen. So it represents the West, and at the same time, the Western Five Elements belong to gold, with a color of white, so it is called the White Tiger.
Due to the fact that the White Tiger is the god of warfare, many fierce generals in history have been said to have descended from the White Tiger star, such as the Tang Dynasty generals Luo Cheng, Xue Rengui, and his son.
Southern Zhuque Ling Guangshen Jun, one of the Four Great Divine Beasts
Zhuque Ling Guangshen Jun, also known as Phoenix or Xuanniao, is the general term for the seven southern constellations: Jing, Gui, Liu, Xing, Zhang, Yi, and Zhen. Zhu is red in color, and in addition, it belongs to fire in the south, hence the name Phoenix. It also has the characteristic of being reborn from fire, just like the immortal bird in the West, so it is also called the Fire Phoenix.
According to the records in ancient books, phoenix is a beautiful bird, the king of birds. It can bring auspicious omens to the world, and it also has the special spirituality of “not living in wutong, not eating bamboo, not drinking water”. Because it is the length of “feather insect”, it has gradually become a pair with the dragon that is the length of “scale insect” in the legend. One is changeable, and one has a good virtue. It has become a pair of complementary folk customs. More importantly, because the dragon symbolizes the supreme sun, and the phoenix (male is the phoenix, female is the phoenix) that originally has a proportion of yin and yang is also following the dragon After that, it gradually became the representative of pure yin.
The Northern Xuanwu Zhiming Divine Lord, one of the Four Great Divine Beasts
Speaking of Xuanwu Zhiming Divine Lord, he is different from the other three Divine Lords. Although he was originally transformed by the stars, in later generations, Xuanwu was upgraded to the “True Martial Emperor” who presides over the north.
Zhenwu Emperor, also known as Xuantian God, Xuanwu Emperor, etc., full name Zhenwu Dangmo Emperor, is a northern god in Chinese Taoist mythology and legend. He is a well-known deity among Taoist immortals, the Jade King Zun God. The main deity worshipped in Wudang Mountain, Hubei Province now is the Zhenwu Emperor. In the Taoist scriptures, he is referred to as “Zhen Tian Wu Ling Ying You Sheng Di Jun”, and in folk culture, he is also known as the Dangmo Tian Zun and the Hairless Ancestor.
