Meaning
Left dragon and right tiger refers to the Feng Shui terminology: green dragon on the left, white tiger on the right, red bird on the front, and Xuanwu on the back. The detailed explanation is as follows:
The four spirits govern spring, summer, autumn and winter. In addition to [Green Dragon] and [White Tiger], there are also [Suzaku] and [Xuanwu], four kinds of animals, which are called the Four Spirits. things.
In ancient China, the Twenty-Eight Constellations were established, and the Twenty-Eight Constellations were divided into four groups, each group containing seven constellations. These four groups are respectively the stars of the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter. Each season is paired with an animal and a direction (see attached picture). Spring is paired with the east, and its spiritual creature is [green dragon], because [green dragon] represents the vitality of spring and the growth of all things. The vitality of the green dragon is equivalent to the budding flowers and plants in spring. As for summer, the weather is hot, so it is represented by red fire. Moreover, in summer, birds are particularly active, so the spiritual creature of summer is [Suzaku]. [Suzaku] is the red fire bird. In addition, summer goes with the south. ?Autumn has a chilling atmosphere. In ancient times, there were more executions than in autumn, so it was called Autumn Jue. And when autumn comes, the trees turn yellow and the leaves fall. Therefore [white tiger] just represents the loneliness and solemn atmosphere of autumn. Autumn is paired with the West. In winter, it is matched with the north. In winter, flowers, plants and trees no longer flourish, and animals hibernate, giving the impression of a collection. Therefore, [Xuanwu] just represents this season. The so-called "Xuanwu" refers to the big black turtle, because the turtle has the appearance of collecting. Black represents convergence.
The usual left green dragon and right white tiger represent the left and right positions, but do not represent the real green dragon and white tiger.
The blue dragon represents the east and the white tiger represents the west.
In addition to the four spirits in Taoism, including the green dragon and white tiger, when Feng Shui masters explore cemeteries, the protruding terrain on the left and right in front of the terrain, which can be used as tombs, has a unique title. They are called green dragons on the left and white tigers on the right, taking the meaning of their protection. The same decoration is also found in the public hall, with green dragons and hundreds of tigers painted on the left and right pillars to suppress evil spirits. After the rise of Taoism, dragon and tiger were borrowed as the terminology of Taoist alchemy, which refers to the synonyms of "lead and mercury, Kanli, water and fire, yin and yang", etc. Taoist alchemy is divided into internal and external (internal elixir for refining qi and external elixir for refining elixirs. The author is not very knowledgeable and I am not sure). In terms of yin and yang and the five elements, internal elixir is based on yin and yang and the five elements. Longyang is born from Li, and Li belongs to fire, so it is said that "dragon follows fire" "Li Chu" means tiger yin, born in the ridge, which belongs to water, so it is said that "the tiger is born by the water". After the two are combined, one yin and one yang harmonize with each other, which is called the Tao. They are both the soul and the essence. representative. ?Another way of saying it is that the nature belongs to wood, and wood represents the east, and it is in the hexagram Zhen, so it is compared to a green dragon; love belongs to gold, and gold represents the west, and in the hexagram it is dui, and the gold is white, so it is called a white tiger. Metal can overcome wood, so emotions can damage nature. If you use the true essence of the two eights to combine them into one, then metal and wood will be seamless, and dragons and tigers will form elixirs by themselves. In the human body, the liver is the dragon and the kidneys are the elixir. Tiger, while Waidan still takes the meaning of yin and yang, with dragon as lead and tiger as mercury.
In ancient China, the stars in the sky were divided into seven star regions: "Three Yuan" and "Four Symbols". The so-called "Yuan" means "city wall". "Sanyuan" is "Ziweiyuan", symbolizing the imperial palace; "Taiweiyuan" symbolizes administrative agencies; "Tianshiyuan" symbolizes the prosperous market. These three walls are arranged in a triangle shape surrounding the North Star. There are "four elephants" distributed around the "Three Walls": "East Canglong, West White Tiger, South Suzaku, and North Xuanwu". That is to say, the stars in the east are like a dragon, the stars in the west are like a tiger, the stars in the south are like a big bird, and the stars in the north are like turtles and snakes. As the earth orbits the sun, the stars in the sky change with the seasons. Every evening at the turn of winter and spring, the black dragon appears; at the turn of spring and summer, the basalt rises; at the turn of summer and autumn, the white tiger appears; at the turn of autumn and winter, the red bird rises. The Eastern Qinglong belongs to wood
Suzaku, Xuanwu (black turtle and snake, Wu means turtle and snake), Qinglong and White Tiger respectively represent the twenty-eight constellations in the four directions, and the dragon is the seven constellations in the east - Jiao, Kang , Di, Fang, Heart, Tail, Ji, and the shape of these seven constellations is very similar to the shape of a dragon. It can be seen from the meaning of their words that the horn is the horn of the dragon, Kang is the neck, Di is the root, but the neck The root, the room is the shoulder, the ribs, the heart is the heart, the tail is the tail, and the Ji is the end of the tail.
Also in the part of the dragon’s heart, some people call it the ‘big fire’, which is related to sunshine and rain. And because Qinglong belongs to wood, it is also the year of Jupiter in that year. After the rise of Taoism, these four spirits were also given human names to make it easier for humans to call them. The green dragon was called "Mengzhang", the white tiger was called "Jianbing", the red bird was called "Lingguang", and the Xuanwu was called "Zhi Ming". Among the many dynasties, some monarchs took Qinglong as their reign name, such as Emperor Wei Ming of the Three Kingdoms. In the historical records, it is also said that the Xia Dynasty was a dynasty of Mu De, so it had the auspicious title of "Qinglong was born in the suburbs". Records of trillions.
On the second day of the second month of the lunar calendar, people call it "February 2, the dragon raises its head", which symbolizes the return of spring to the earth and the recovery of all things. At the same time as the "dragon raises its head" in the sky, spring is slowly coming to the world, with more rain, the earth turning green, and spring plowing starting from south to north. There is a folk proverb: "On February 2, the dragon raises its head, the big warehouses are full, and the small warehouses flow." Therefore, the second day of February is designated as the "Spring Dragon Festival".
The white tiger in the West is the god of war
The white tiger is also the god of war and killing. The white tiger has many magical powers such as avoiding evil, warding off disasters, praying for prosperity and punishing evil, promoting good deeds, making wealth, and getting married. And it is one of the four spirits, and of course it is also made of stars. Among the twenty-eight constellations, there are seven in the west: Kui, Lou, Wei, Ang, Bi, Xi, and Shen. Therefore, it is the representative of the West, and its white color is because it is the West. The West belongs to gold among the five elements, and its color is white. So it is called White Tiger not because it is white, but because of the five elements.