Vermilion Bird (朱雀 zhūquè) – represents the South, Summer, and the Fire. The Black Tortoise is closely connected to the warrior god Xuanwu.

It’s also known as the Turtle-Snake (龟蛇), and it looks like a tortoise entwined with a snake. White Tiger (白虎 báihǔ) – represents the West, Autumn, and the Metal.īlack Tortoise (玄武 xuánwǔ) – represents the North, Winter, and the Water. Symbolically, and as part of spiritual and religious belief, these creatures have been culturally important across countries in the East Asian cultural sphere.Īzure Dragon (青龙 qīnglóng) – represents the East, Spring, and the Wood. Each has been given its own individual traits and origin story. These four creatures are also referred to by a variety of other names, including 'Four Guardians', 'Four Gods', and 'Four Auspicious Beasts'.Įach of the creatures is most closely associated with a cardinal direction and a color, but also additionally represents other aspects, including a season of the year, a virtue, and one of the Chinese 'five components' (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water). The Four Symbols (Chinese: 四象 pinyin: Sì Xiàng, literally meaning 'four images'), are four mythological creatures appearing among the Chinese constellations along the ecliptic, and viewed as the guardians of the four cardinal directions.

Divine beasts symbols