The Four Symbols in ancient Chinese mythology first refer to Lao Yang, Lao Yin, Shao Yang, and Shao Yin. Tai Chi gives birth to two forms, and two forms produce four images. Tai Chi is one, meaning chaos, and two. Yi refers to yin and yang, and the four images are derived from yin and yang. In traditional Chinese culture, the green dragon, white tiger, red bird, and basalt are the representatives of the four elephants. The green dragon represents wood, the white tiger represents gold, the red bird represents fire, and the basalt represents water. They also represent the four directions of east, west, south, and north respectively. . In the Twenty-Eight Constellations, the four images are used to divide the stars in the sky, also known as the four gods and four spirits.
Daoshu said: The four elephants are the green dragon, the white tiger, the red bird, and Xuanwu.
The Yi Zhuan calls the four images Shaoyang, Laoyang, Shaoyin and Laoyin.
But in the Song and Ming dynasties, the four images of the Zhou Yi were equated with the four images of the stars. The Yi said that images are formed in the sky and formed on the earth. Therefore, the sun, moon and stars are divided into yin and yang, water, fire, earth and stone as the four images of the sky. The four images of the earth are divided into hard and soft.
The traditional Chinese orientation is with the south at the top, which is different from the modern orientation with the north at the top. Therefore, when describing the orientation of the four images, we would say left green dragon (east), right white tiger (west), front red bird (south), Later Xuanwu (north) is expressed, and it echoes the Five Elements in terms of directions (East Wood, West Gold, North Water, South Fire).
The concept of the Four Symbols was extremely valued in ancient Japan and Korea. These countries were often called the Four Saints and the Four Sacred Beasts. It is worth noting that in fact, China only has the title of "Four Holy Generals" for these four spirits in the sky, but there is no term for the Four Saints.