What is the meaning of Qinglong White Tiger Suzaku Xuanwu and where does it come from?

Qinglong, Baihu, Suzaku and Xuanwu, also known as the Four Elephants, are the four gods in China mythology, representing the east, west, south and north respectively. They originated from the belief in the stars in ancient China, and were absorbed by Taoism in the Han Dynasty to become four spirits. Another major manifestation of the Four Gods in ancient China was militarily. During the Warring States period, there were "before Suzaku and after Xuanwu, left Qinglong and right White Tiger".

Qinglong is wood, white tiger is gold, Suzaku is fire, Xuanwu is water, and the central Huanglong is earth. Ancient astronomers in China divided the stars in the sky into seven star regions: Three Walls and Four Elephants. There are four elephants around the three walls: East Black Dragon, West White Tiger, South Suzaku and North Xuanwu.

Extended data

Qinglong, Baihu, Suzaku and Xuanwu respectively represent 28 stars in four directions. For example, the dragon is the east corner, the sonorous, the mutual, the room, the heart, the tail and the dustpan, all of which are very dragon-shaped. As can be seen from their meanings, the horn is the horn of the dragon, the clang is the neck, and they are the roots of each other, namely.

Qinglong originated from the worship of stars in ancient times. Since the pre-Qin period, Qinglong has been a god beast representing Tai Hao and the East for seven nights, but in the Han Dynasty, the theory of five elements began to rise, and its symbolic meaning increased "A, B and Chun".

In Four Holy Beasts, China, another kind of dragon is often compared with the tiger; Tigers are the leaders of many animals. Its strength and legendary ability to subdue ghosts make it a beast belonging to Yang. It often goes out with dragons, and "the cloud follows the dragon and the wind follows the tiger" becomes the best partner for subduing ghosts.

Suzaku does not belong to the phoenix, but one of the four spirits and four elephants. Like the other three schools, it comes from the stars and is the general name of the seven schools in the south: well, ghost, willow, star, Zhang, wing and Qi. Think of it as Suzaku. Zhu is red, like fire, and the south belongs to fire.

Xuanwu is a spiritual thing composed of turtles and snakes. Xuanwu originally meant Xuanming, and the ancient sounds of Wu and Ming are interlinked. Xuan means black; Ghost means yin. At first, Xuan Ming described the turtle divination as follows: the turtle's back is black, and the turtle divination first invited the turtle to ask questions in the underworld, brought back the answers and showed them to the world in the form of divination.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Qinglong White Tiger Suzaku Xuanwu