The Twelve Divine Beasts come from Taoist legends, and their Taoist names are the Twelve Heavenly Generals.
Taoism divides the gods into:
The "Three Emperors": the emperors of heaven, earth and humans.
"Two Gods": the two gods of Yin and Yang.
"Eight Gods": Xuanyuan's death from Chi You.
The "Twelve Heavenly Generals": Guiren, Tangshe, Suzaku, Liuhe, Gouchen, Qinglong, Tiantian, Baihu, Taichang, Xuanwu, Taiyin and Tianhou.
Among them, Qinglong, White Tiger, Suzaku, Xuanwu and Qilin are collectively called the "Five Spirits" and play an important role in Chinese Feng Shui divination. The names of the twelve divine generals can still be seen in Liuren divination. , Renshu is said to be one of the three techniques taught by Xuannv to Huangdi to defeat Chiyou. It is as famous as Qimen and Taiyi Shenshu. According to historical records, it was first seen in the Spring and Autumn Period of Wuyue and Tao Zhugong, Fan Li, Zixu, Wen All kinds of people are proficient in this way and use this technique as a strategy.
1. It seems inappropriate to derive twelve divine beasts from twelve heavenly generals. For example, Gouchen (Gouchen, six stars, also known as 'Gouchen', the name of the constellation in Ziweiyuan) , : 'Gouchen Liuxing is under the Five Emperors, serving as the harem, the emperor's concubine. She is also in charge of the emperor's six army generals, and also the three princes.'). Gouchen the Great Emperor, assisting the Jade Emperor, in charge of the North and South poles and the three talents of heaven, earth and people, unified Yu Zhongxing, in charge of military and revolutionary affairs in the world, was especially respected in the Song Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, the "Supreme Yellow Urn Dazhai Ceremony" was followed by "Sanqing" and "Haotian Liuyu Chenzun" (evolved from "Liuhe" and evolved into "Haotian Liuhe" after the Southern Song Dynasty) The four emperors' and formed a foregone conclusion): 1. The Jade Emperor who rules the Ten Thousand Heavens 2. The Great Emperor Gouchen who rules the Ten Thousand Thunders 3. The Great Ziwei who rules the Ten Thousand Stars 4. The Great Qinghua Emperor who rules the Ten Thousand Categories (or "Dongji Taiyi" The Lord of Suffering') 5. The Immortal Emperor who rules over all spirits 6. The Emperor of Earth who rules over all the earth. In the "Three Pure Ones" and "Four Imperial Guards" system, the "Four Imperial Guards" are ranked third: Emperor Ziwei, also Known as the "Gouchen Shanggong Anji Emperor", he lives in the Ziwei Shanggong, namely Gouchen Palace and Anji Jiangxiao Palace. He governs the spirits and holds the picture of the gods. 2. The other mythical animals should be the four spirits (green dragon, white tiger, and red bird) , Xuanwu or dragon and phoenix turtles (dragon and phoenix turtles and snakes)) and Qilin (one horn), Tianlu (deer) (two horns), ward off evil spirits (lion-like, with wings. Some say that lions and gluttons should all be listed in this genus), Jiaoduan, six beasts (bear, turtle, brave, xiu, turtle, tiger), owl, rhinoceros, sheep, dog, chicken... and the like are more suitable for the word "beast". Attached is the "Qing Dynasty" Huidian > List of glazed tile pieces trotting (small animals): dragon, phoenix, lion, Pegasus, seahorse, Suan Ni (Bitou), Aiyu (fish), Xie Zhi (Xie), bullfight (ox), Xingshi (monkey) ).