The appearance of the mythical beast can bring happiness to the world and dispel anger, so it is regarded as a symbol of good luck. The divine beast is supreme and a symbol of the emperor. It is also the representative of the East, and the five elements are woody, so there are the sacred beasts on Kunlun Mountain, the famous divine beasts, snow-white, able to speak human words, through the feelings of all things, rarely haunted, unless there were saints governing the world at that time, only to come to the book.

Everything in the world has spirituality, and in the vast Three Realms, there are some extremely spiritual beasts, they have unknown magical powers, and they have always been the favorite pets of the gods of the Three Realms, and ordinary people are rare to see in their lives. The appearance of the mythical beast can bring happiness to the world and dispel anger, so it is regarded as a symbol of good luck.

The dragon's head, tiger neck, tiger body, tiger tail, turtle feet, mouth and tongue are open, and the teeth are sharp. Six serpentine dragons are attached to the dragon's head. There is a seat on the back, and there is a divine beast on the seat that is also the head of the dragon, and the mouth is a dragon, the head of the dragon. The whole body is decorated with animal prints and moire, and is inlaid with turquoise.

The image of the mythical beast is treacherous, exquisitely made, the turquoise inlay is fine, the green stone is shiny, extremely beautiful, it is a rare thing. For its use, the academic community is still divided, some scholars believe that it may be a drum frame for hanging drums, and some think that it is a chime rack.

In ancient China, the four most terrifying and powerful beasts were the Green Dragon, the White Tiger, the Vermilion Bird, and the Xuanwu Four Beasts. The green dragon is the god of the east, the white tiger is the god of the west, the vermilion bird is the god of the south, and the Xuanwu is the god of the north. Therefore, there are "green dragons, white tigers, vermilion birds, Xuanwu, the four spirits of the sky, with the four directions, the king of the palace and the palace to take the law".

The green dragon controls the power of the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder (Heavenly Thunder Tribulation), which is blue in color and wood, and is the guardian beast of the East, guarding the stars of the East Palace

The white tiger controls the power of the tornado storm (summoning ten thousand beasts), which is white in color and gold, and is the protector of the western beast and guards the stars of the West Palace

Vermilion Bird controls the power of the burning flame (the three absolute fires of heaven and earth), and the color vermilion belongs to the fire, which is the protection of the southern beast and the guard of the Nangong stars

Xuanwu controls the power of ice, wind and snow (dark methamphetamine), which is black in color and belongs to water, protecting the beasts of the north and guarding the stars of the North Palace

Green Dragon

There are many legends about dragons, and there are many theories about the origin of dragons, some say that they were introduced from India, and some say that they were turned into Chinese stars. India itself is said by the dragon god, but the status of the dragon in India is not high, and there is also a physical object - the python.

Green Dragon

In the era when the Five Elements Doctrine prevailed, stories about the green dragon began to circulate slowly; according to the five elements of yin and yang, the Five Elements matched five colors to the south, south, south, and northwest, and each color was matched with a divine beast and a god; the east was cyan with a dragon, the west was white, with a tiger, the south was vermilion, with a bird, the north was black, with martial arts, and yellow was the central positive color.

Among the gods of the four directions, according to the Classic of Mountains and Seas, 'Southern Zhurong, the body of a beast and a human face, multiply two dragons.' ’；‘ The west is harvested, there is a snake in the left ear, and there are two dragons. ’；‘ There is a sentence in the east, with a bird and a human face, and two dragons. ’；‘ Northern Yujiang, black body and siblings, riding two dragons. One of the more interesting points is that the dragons in the Classic of Mountains and Seas are all ridden, while the snakes of his kind are either held or manipulated or wrapped around the neck, showing the difference between the two, but the five gods in the five directions are not very different from the four gods in the four directions, so I will not elaborate here. Vermilion Bird, Xuanwu (black turtle snake, Wu is the meaning of turtle and snake), green dragon, white tiger and respectively represent the twenty-eight houses of the four directions, the dragon is the seven houses of the east - horn, Kang, Di, Fang, heart, tail, Kei, and the shape of these seven Suku is very similar to the shape of a dragon, it can be seen from their literal meaning, the horn is the horn of the dragon, Kang is the neck, Di is the root, but the root of the neck, the fang is the shoulder, is the wedge, the heart is the heart, the tail is the tail, and the Kei is the end of the tail.

There is also the part of the dragon's heart, which some people call 'fire', which is related to the rain and rain, and because the green dragon is wood, it is also the year of Jupiter. After the rise of Taoism, these four spirits were also named by people, which is convenient for human beings to call, the green dragon is called 'Meng Zhang', the white tiger is called 'Jian Bing', the red bird is called 'Lingguang', and Xuanwu is 'Zhiming', and in many dynasties, there are also some monarchs who take Qinglong to do their own year name, such as Emperor Wei Ming of the Three Kingdoms is an example, and there are also records in the historical records that the Xia Dynasty is a dynasty belonging to Mude, so he has a record of the auspicious omen of 'Qinglong was born in the suburbs'.

In ancient China, the head with horns is the male dragon, the two-horned one is called the dragon, the single-horned one is called the Jiao, the hornless one is the cockroach, the jade pendant often has large and small double dragons, still called the mother and child cockroach, the status of the dragon is much higher than that of India. Because in China, the dragon is a sacred object, the supreme one, and a symbol of the emperor. It is also the representative of the East, the five elements are wood, and because the cyan is wood, there is a saying that the left green dragon and the right white tiger.

The stars are used in the twenty-eight constellations, the seven oriental constellations - horn, kang, di, fang, heart, tail, kei, the ancients imagined them as the image of the dragon, because they are located in the east, according to the five elements of yin and yang to the five sides of the color matching, the east color is green, so the name 'green dragon'.

And the folk have a dragon sex prostitution saying, and when you have sex with a cow, you have a unicorn, and when you have sex with a pig, you have an elephant.

The so-called dragon gives birth to nine sons, which is not like the dragon's statement, it is like this-

The eldest child is called a prison cow (qiúniú): it loves music and often stands on the headstock. Such as the Huqin of the Han nationality, the three-stringed qin of the Bai nationality, etc. And the Mongolian horse-head qin may also be a variant of the captive cow.

The second son is Jairpi (yázì): it loves to kill, so it is often mounted on weapons to deter enemy troops. At the same time, it is also used on the ceremonial guard to appear more majestic.

San'er is a cháofēng: a beast-shaped dragon, a bit like a dog, it is good at looking, so it is on the corner of the temple. It is said to deter demons and destroy calamities.

The fourth is púláo: it likes to roar, and people put it on the bell, and most of them are the image of púláo. It is said that it lives on the beach, but it is very afraid of whales, and if they attack, it will scream in fear. Therefore, people made the wooden pestle into the shape of a whale to make the bronze bell particularly loud.

The fifth child is 狻猊 (suānní): resembling a lion. It is a foreign product, which was introduced to China with Buddhism, so the character is a bit like Buddha. It's quiet and loves fireworks. Therefore, it is often placed on the Buddha's seat or incense burner, so that it can protect the Dharma for the Buddha's door.

The sixth child is Baxia (bàxià): also known as 赑屃 (bìxì), 蚣蝮 (should be a 趴蝮) (bāxià), which looks like a turtle. Legend has it that in ancient times, it often carried the three mountains and five mountains to make waves. was later subdued by Xia Yu and made a lot of contributions to Xia Yu. After the water control became an attack, Xia Yu let it carry its exploits by itself. Therefore, most of the stone tablets in China are carried by it.

The seventh child is 狴犴 (bì'àn): looks like a tiger. Legend has it that it upholds justice and can distinguish right from wrong, so it is placed on the top and bottom of the prison door, the two gates and halls, and the top of the cards that officials quietly avoid when they go out on patrol, so as to maintain the solemnity of the court.

The eighth child is negative 屃 (fùxì): because it loves it, so Duo'an has two rules on the stone stele.

Mozi is a chīwěn: also known as chīwěi, a fish-shaped dragon. According to legend, it was introduced by Buddhism from India around the time of the Northern and Southern Dynasties. It is the thing under the seat of the rain god in the Buddhist scriptures, which can extinguish fires. Therefore, the kiss is changed from this, so it is more than at both ends of the roof ridge to eliminate disasters and extinguish fires.

White tiger

Among the four sacred beasts in China, another one that is often compared to the dragon is the 'white tiger'; the tiger, the chief of all beasts, its majesty and the legendary ability to subdue ghosts, make it also become a yang beast, often follow the dragon to go out, 'cloud from the dragon, wind from the tiger' has become the best pair of ghosts to subdue.

White tiger

And the white tiger is also the god of war and killing. 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. Among the 28 constellations, there are seven Western Nakshatras: Kui, Lou, Stomach, Ang, Bi, Mi, and Shen. Therefore, it is the representative of the West, and its whiteness is because it is the West, and the West is gold in the five elements, and the color is white. Therefore, it is called the White Tiger not because it is white, but from the five elements.

In addition to the four spirits in Taoism, including the green dragon and white tiger, even when the feng shui master explored the cemetery, the terrain that protruded on the left and right sides of the terrain in front of the terrain and could be used as a tomb has a unique title, called the left green dragon and the right white tiger, taking the meaning of its protection, and there is also the same decoration in the public hall, and the green dragon and hundred tigers are painted on the left and right hall pillars to suppress evil spirits. After the rise of Taoism, Dragon and Tiger was borrowed as a term for Taoist alchemy, which refers to "lead and mercury, kanli, water and fire, yin and yang, and so on." The Taoist alchemy is divided into internal and external (inner Dan refining qi, outer Dan alchemy medicine, the author is not very sure), the inner Dan is in terms of the five elements of yin and yang, dragon yang, born in the separation, leaving the fire, so the cloud 'dragon comes out of the fire', the tiger yin, born in the kan, the kan belongs to the water, so the cloud 'tiger is born to the water', after the combination of the two, a yin and a yang, reconciled with each other, called the Tao Ben, are the representatives of the Yuan Shen and the Yuan Jing. Another way of saying is that sex belongs to wood, wood represents the East, Yu hexagram is shock, so it is compared to the green dragon, love belongs to gold, gold represents the West, Yu hexagram is exchange, gold is white, so it is called the white tiger.

In the minds of the ancients, tigers were terrible things and respectable things. The scary thing is that it eats people and animals. And what is respectable is that because of its incomparable power, it can ward off evil. And in some ancient books, such as the Eastern Han Dynasty Ying Shao's "Customs and Customs: Rituals": "Draw a tiger at the door, ghosts dare not enter", "The tiger, the yang thing, the chief of a hundred beasts." It can stubbornly frustrate and devour ghosts. Today, people have died of evil, and they burn tiger skins and drink them. Striking its claws can also ward off evil. This is also true. The ancients also believed that the white tiger was an auspicious one: "Virtue is the bird and beast." ’

The original star gods of the West Heavens were bears and owls, but later because of the totems of the ancient Qiang tribe, when the bear changed to a dragon. When the Yellow Emperor developed to the east, the totem of the dragon was brought to the east, and the 'Oriental Canglong Constellation' became one, and the Vermilion Bird became the new residence of the phoenix totem in the heavenly kingdom when the south was unified, and finally became the 'dragon and phoenix Chengxiang' due to the integration of the two major tribes. As an ancient totem, it is the east phoenix and the west dragon, and as a star sign, it is the east dragon and the west vermilion bird. After the Zhou Dynasty, the feudal system was formally established, the idea of the five elements was also matured, the heavenly statue was redivided, and the Vermilion Bird was placed in the south and worshiped together with the god of Zhurong Fire. And the Western ones worship the white tiger. In the tribal struggle and migration, the dragon in the northwest moved to the east, the phoenix in the east moved to the south, and the tiger in the south moved to the north. In the Han Dynasty, the concept of the five elements became a unified thought, and then Xuanwu was supplemented to complete the supporting facilities of the 'God of the Four Directions'.

In ancient times, the "Historical Records of Tiangong Book" 'East Palace Canglong, South Vermilion Bird, West Palace Xianchi, North Palace Xuanwu. 'It's not the white tiger here, it's the salty pond. And the salty pond is the star of the main five grains, and the main autumn, because the five grains are harvested in the autumn, so it is placed in the autumn, but it is not an animal, how can it be matched with dragons, birds, and turtles to form the four spirits? Therefore, in the Song Dynasty, he had already questioned: 'Canglong, Vermilion Bird, Xuanwu, and each total seven houses are concerned.' As for the salty pool, it is not one star, and it is free to be outside the twenty-eight nights. There is also an explanation for the salty pond, which is a place for sun bathing. In "Huainanzi Astronomy": "The sun comes out of Yanggu, bathes in the salty pool, and blows in Fusang, which is called the morning light." It can be seen that the salty pond was originally regarded as the sunrise place by the Qiang people, and the salty pond is also the alkaline water lake, which should be the taro lake in the Minshan area, or Qinghai. This proves that the celestial phenomena of the Star Palace worshipped by primitive people do not yet have the concept of green dragons and white tigers. In the so-called "Book of Rites and Rites": "Linfeng, turtle and dragon are called the four spirits." 'Replace the salty pond that does not belong to the animal with a unicorn. In later generations, there were four spirits and four elephants with tigers.

And because the White Tiger is the god of war, there are many fierce generals who are said to have become the White Tiger Star in the world, such as: Tang Dynasty general Luo Cheng, Xue Rengui father and son, etc. In addition, the white tiger was sucked and released by Taoism, was deified, and became the door god of various temples.

Suzaku

The Vermilion Bird can also be said to be a phoenix or a bird. The 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.

Suzaku

Suzaku

In the records of ancient books, the phoenix is a beautiful bird, and with its song and demeanor as the king of birds, it can bring auspiciousness to the world, and also has the special spirituality of 'not the sycamore does not live, the bamboo does not eat, and the spring does not drink', and because it is the long of the 'feather insect', so and ' The dragon of the scale worm has gradually become a pair in the legend, a changeable, a virtuous and beautiful, it has become a pair that complements each other in folklore, and because the dragon symbolizes the yang, and the phoenix (phoenix is male, female is phoenix) that is also divided into yin and yang gradually becomes the representative of pure yin after the dragon is opposite.

And the phoenix has many original forms. Such as golden pheasant, peacock, eagle vulture, hoof, black bird (swallow) and so on. It is also said that the Buddhist Dapeng golden-winged bird became. 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 bird, white is the swan, and there are yellow and purple.

And the Xuanniao's saying is from the "Poetry and Business Ode to the Xuanniao": "The Xuanniao of Heaven's destiny descends to give birth to business, and it is full of earth." The ancient emperor ordered martial arts soup, and the four sides of the positive domain. In it, it is the descendants of Yin Shang who say that their ancestor, Qi, was born by Xuanniao and established a powerful Shang dynasty. Therefore, Xuanniao became the ancestor of merchants. "Historical Records: Yin Benji" also recorded this history: "Yin Qi and his mother are called Jian Di, and there is a daughter of Rong Di, who is the second concubine of the emperor. The three of them took a bath, and saw the Xuanniao with its eggs, and Jian Di took it and swallowed it, because of the pregnancy contract. In addition to the Yin Shang, the ancestors of the Qin and Manchu dynasties during the Warring States period and the ancestors of Silla in Korea were also related to the devouring of Xuanniao eggs by fairies. Whether it is a bird or a phoenix, it follows the development of Taoism, and it is changed from a bird, or a peacock or a pheasant, etc., into a fairy who is half human and half fowl, and who inherits the art of war to a fairy who is completely human, is all with the development of Taoism.

In the past, there were three temples dedicated to Xuannu in Beijing, called Jiutian Niangniang Temple and Xuannu Temple. There are also Xuannu temples in the north and south.

Xuanwu

Xuanwu is a kind of spiritual creature composed of a turtle and a snake. The original meaning of Xuanwu is Xuanwu, and the ancient sounds of Wu and Shen are connected. Wu means black, and Shen means yin. Xuan Ming was originally a description of the turtle: the back of the turtle is black, and the turtle is to invite the turtle to the underworld to ask the ancestors, bring the answer back, and show it to the world in the form of a divination. Therefore, the earliest basalt was the tortoise. Since then, the meaning of Xuan Ming has continued to expand. The turtle lives in the rivers, lakes and seas (including the turtle), so the Xuan Ming has become the god of water; the turtle has a long life, and the Xuan Ming has become a symbol of immortality; the original underworld is in the north, and the oracle bone divination of Yin Shang is 'its divination must be north', so Xuan Ming has become the northern god again.

Xuanwu

Like the other three spirits, Xuanwu has also been transformed from the twenty-eight constellations in the world: fighting, bull, female, void, danger, room, and wall. In ancient times, people after the ancient times had the following interpretations of Xuanwu, "Xuanwu" is a turtle. "The Book of Rites: Qu Lishang" cloud: "Okay, the former vermilion bird and then Xuanwu" and "Xuanwu" are turtles and snakes. "Chu Ci Far Travel" Hong Xingzu added: 'Xuanwu is called a turtle and snake. Located in the north, it is called Xuan. There are scales and armor on the body, so it is called martial arts. 'Xuanwu' is a combination of snakes, turtles and snakes.

"Anthology" volume 15 Zhang Heng "Si Xuanfu" said: "Xuanwu stays in the shell, and the snake winds and corrects itself. Li Shan Zhuyun: "The turtle and the snake are called Xuanwu." "The Book of the Later Han Dynasty: The Biography of Wang Liang": "Chifu Fu" says: "Wang Liang is the master of Xuanwu." Li Xian Zhuyun: "Dead Wu, the god of the north, the combination of turtles and snakes. ''Xuanwu' is the god of water and the god of the north. "The Book of the Later Han Dynasty: The Biography of Wang Liang": 'Xuanwu, the name of the god of water. 'Rebuilding the Weishu Collection, Volume 6: 'Born of Xuanwu in the North,...... The north of the town, the main wind and rain. ’

But Xuanwu was upgraded by later generations of Taoist priests to become the emperor of the north "Zhenwu Emperor". It is different from the other three spirits. The other Qinglong and White Tiger only became the door gods of the mountain temple, and the Vermilion Bird became the Xuannu of the Heavens.

Xuanwu was valued and personified in the Song Dynasty. This is inseparable from the emperors of the Song Dynasty. At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, there were legends of Zhenwu and Tianpeng as the generals of the sky. In the first year of the Tianxi of Weizhenzong, an incident happened in the military camp. In the seventh volume of "The Origin of Things": "The battalion has seen the snake, and the sergeant has built a real martial arts hall because of it." In the fourth month of the second year, the spring spring hall side, inexhaustible, the people who are sick and diseased, drink more and heal. When Zhenzong heard about this, he issued an edict to build a view on the spot and gave the name 'Xiangyuan'. This is about the earliest Zhenwu temple in China.

The life experience of Emperor Zhenwu, later generations mostly say that when Emperor Yang of Sui, the Jade Emperor reincarnated one of his three souls, incarnated in the queen of the Joy Kingdom, disgusted with the world, gave up his position to practice on Wudang Mountain, successfully ascended, guarded the north, and said: Xuanwu.