In ancient China, the stars in the sky were divided into seven star regions: "Three Walls" and "Four Elephants". Pen Fun Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 infoThe word "wall" means "wall". "Sanyuan" is "Ziweiyuan", which symbolizes the imperial palace, "Taiweiyuan" symbolizes administrative institutions, and "Tianshiyuan" symbolizes the bustling market. Since the earth revolves around the sun, the stars in the sky also change with the seasons. At the turn of summer and autumn, the white tiger emerges.

In traditional Chinese culture, it is one of the four elephants of the Taoist Western Seven Stars, and according to the Five Elements Theory, it is a spirit animal representing the West, a white tiger, and the season represented is autumn. The seven western houses of the twenty-eight houses (Kui, Lou, Stomach, Ang, Bi, Mi, and Shen), whose image is a tiger, is located in the west, is golden, white, and is generally called the white tiger.

Among the four sacred beasts of China, another one that is often compared to the dragon is the 'white tiger', and like the green dragon, the white tiger is not a "tiger".

In the myths and legends of the Han people, the white tiger is the god of war and the god of killing. At the same time, the white tiger has a variety of divine powers such as avoiding evil, fighting disasters, praying for abundance and punishing evil, promoting goodness, getting rich, and tying the knot. And it is one of the four spirits, and of course it is also made of the stars.

Vermilion Bird is one of the four elephants in the traditional culture of the Han nationality and one of the four sacred beasts in ancient times. According to the Five Elements Doctrine, it is a sacred beast that represents the south, the color it represents is red, and the season it represents is summer.

The four divine beasts are: Vermilion Bird, Xuanwu, Green Dragon, and White Tiger. In China, the phoenix is a spiritual creature that represents happiness. There are many different forms of it. Such as golden pheasant, peacock, eagle vulture, hoof, Xuanniao (swallow) and so on, and it is said that the Dapeng golden-winged bird became in the Buddhist story. The phoenix myth says that the phoenix has the head of a chicken, the jaw of a swallow, the neck of a snake, and the tail of a fish, with five-colored stripes. There are also five varieties of phoenixes, which are divided by color: red is the phoenix, green is the luan bird, white is the swan, and the yellow and purple phoenix can be said to be the red bird or the bird. Suzaku is one of the four spirits, and like the other three, it comes from the stars, and is the general name of the seven southern Nakshatras: Well, Ghost, Willow, Star, Zhang, Wing, and Zhen. It's like Suzaku. Zhu is red, like fire, and the south belongs to fire, so it is called Phoenix. It also has the characteristic of being reweighted from the fire, and it is the same as the immortal bird in the West, so it is also called the fire phoenix.

"Chu Ci Far Travel": "Summoning Xuanwu and running to his subordinates." Wang Yi noted: "Hu Taiyin God envoy Cheng Wei also." Hong Xingzu added: "The speaker said: 'Xuanwu is called a turtle and snake, located in the north, so it is called Xuan, and it is called Wu because of its scale armor. Cai Yong said: "Northern Xuanwu, the length of insects." "Anthology" note: "The turtle and the snake are Xuanwu." 'Another "Book of Rites, Qu Li": Vermilion bird before the trip and then Xuanwu. Kong Yingda Shu: "Xuanwu, turtle also." "The Book of the Later Han Dynasty: The Biography of Wang Liang": "The name of the Xuanwu Water God." Li Xian's note: "Xuanwu, the god of the north, the combination of turtles and snakes." According to Xuanwu that the Taoist is the true martial emperor, the Song Dynasty avoided the Xuan, changed the Xuan to the truth, the later generations of Taoism worshiped the true martial arts, then the turtle and snake two things were placed next to it, Tang Duan Cheng style "Youyang Miscellaneous Tales Zhinuo Gaoxia": "Zhu Taoist scholar, Taihe eight years often travel to Lushan, rest in the stream stone, suddenly see the pan like a pile of silk, hungry and become a giant tortoise, visit the mountain, the cloud is Xuanwu. That is, the legendary god and monster change.

In ancient times, people imagined a number of stars in the north as the image of a turtle and a snake, and called it the Emperor Xuanwu. In Han folk beliefs,

The god of the north

"Chu Ci Far Travel" notes the clouds: "Xuanwu, the name of the god of the north". "Historical Records: The Book of Heavenly Officials" said: "Beigong Xuanwu, void, and dangerous." "Rebuilding the Weishu Collection" Volume 6 "Hetu": "The Black Emperor of the North, the god name Ye Guangji, is the essence of Xuanwu".

(2) The god of water, the god of water, the god of water

According to the theory of yin and yang five elements, the north belongs to water, so the northern god is the god of water. "The Book of the Later Han Dynasty: The Biography of Wang Liang": "Xuanwu, the name of the god of water". "Rebuilding the Weft Book Collection" Volume 6 "River Map": "The Seven Gods of the North actually begin with the Dou, the north of the town, and the main wind and rain." Rain is needed for the growth of all things, and water can extinguish fire, so the water god attribute of Xuanwu is quite valued and believed by the Han people.

(3) The god of fertility

Ancient Chinese used to compare the great divine power with the phenomenon of the sympathetic evolution of yin and yang, and worshiped the divine power of reproduction. The snake itself is a symbol of reproduction and reproduction, and Xuanwu appears in the shape of a turtle and snake combined, and was regarded by the ancients as a symbol of male and female mating and reproduction. Wei Boyang of the Eastern Han Dynasty (survived around 121 AD) "Zhou Yi Shen Tong Deed" also used the example of turtle and snake correction to illustrate that yin and yang must cooperate: "Guan Guan Sui dove, in the river island, fair lady, gentleman is good, male is not alone, female does not live alone, Xuanwu turtle and snake, entanglement and support, to clear the peony, after all, Xiangxu."

(4) The god of command

The turtle is a symbol of longevity and immortality in ancient times, and can guide the breath, "Historical Records: The Biography of the Turtle Celie" contains the clouds: "The old man in the south uses the turtle to support the bed, and the line is more than 20 years old, and the old man dies, moves the bed, and the turtle is not dead." Turtles can conduct qi guidance". "Hug Puzi" contains: "Chengyang Xuan Jian hunted when he was young, fell into the empty mound, starved, saw that there was a big turtle in the mound, counted and turned, impermanence, opened his mouth and swallowed air, or he looked up. Thrifty also heard that the turtle could guide, but he tried to follow the turtle's actions, so he did not go hungry again." Moreover, the first of the seven houses of Beigong Xuanwu is also known as the South Dipper. "Star Classic" cloud: "The six stars of the Southern Dipper, the life of the Lord Son of Heaven, and the position of the Prime Minister." Jin Ganbao (survived around 316) "Sou Shen Ji" quoted Guan Zhi as saying: "Nandou is destined to live, and Beidou is injected to death." Worship Nandou can increase longevity. This is very attractive to emperors, bureaucrats, and ordinary people who pursue immortality.

These divine characteristics of Xuanwu not only won the faith of all social strata, but also laid the foundation for Xuanwu to evolve into a Taoist god after the Tang and Song dynasties.

The second star name

"Book Yaodian": "The stars are empty in the night, and Yin Zhongqiu." Biography: "Void, the star in the Xuanwu." According to Xuanwu, that is, the general name of the seven houses in the north.

Its three directions

The "Four Gods Pattern Wadang" was extremely popular in the Han Dynasty, and it included four animals, namely the green dragon, the white tiger, the vermilion bird, and the Xuanwu.

The four mythical beasts in ancient Han legends are the green dragon, the white tiger, the vermilion bird, and the Xuanwu. Among them, the green dragon is wood, the white tiger is gold, the vermilion bird is fire, the xuanwu is water, and the central yellow is earth. It is the product of the combination of ancient Han mythology and astronomy. In "Huainanzi", it is mentioned that the Yellow Dragon is the central beast of the four divine beasts, and it is a wrong statement that the unicorn is the center, and the status of the unicorn is slightly inferior to the dragon. The four divine beasts are also the four beasts in the "six beasts" corresponding to the six hexagrams of Zhou Yi, collectively known as the "six gods", which are the green dragon, the vermilion bird, the Gou Chen, the Teng snake, the white tiger, and the Xuanwu, in addition to indicating the five elements and directions, but also reflecting the hexagram information. The green dragon, the white tiger, the vermilion bird, and the Xuanwu are also a reference to the auspicious and evil times corresponding to the different hours of the Chinese twelve-hour system, and often the time corresponding to the green dragon is auspicious, and the white tiger, the vermilion bird, and the Xuanwu correspond to the fierce time.