Four Holy Beasts

The Four Holy Beasts, also known as the Four Sacred Beasts, are the collective name for the four animals (gods) inherited in Chinese myths and legends.

Introduction

The four sacred beasts, namely the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise, are closely related to the Five Elements Theory, I Ching Bagua, Taoism, folklore, astronomy, etc. in traditional Chinese culture.

In astronomy, ancient Chinese astronomers divided the sky into "Three Walls" and "Four Elephants". The Three Walls are Ziwei Yuan, Taiwei Yuan, and Tianshi Yuan; the Four Elephants are Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise.

In folklore, the Four Holy Beasts have the functions of suppressing evil, avoiding disasters, and praying for blessings.

In modern ACG subculture, the Beasts are also widely used creative materials.

Four Holy Beasts

• Azure Dragon of the East: also known as Canglong. Its element is wood, and the season is spring. Astronomically, it corresponds to the seven constellations of the Eastern Qinglong (Jiao, Kang, Di, Fang, Xin, Wei, Ji).
• White Tiger of the West: Its element is gold, and the season is autumn. Astronomically, it corresponds to the seven constellations of the White Tiger in the West (Kui, Lou, Wei, Pleiades, Bi, Shen, and Xi).
• Vermilion Bird of the South: Its element is fire, and the season is summer. Astronomically, it corresponds to the seven constellations of Suzaku in the South (well, ghost, willow, star, Zhang, Yi, Zhen).
• Black Tortoise of the North: Xuanwu is the image of a snake entwining a turtle. Its element is water, and the season is winter. Astronomically, it corresponds to the seven constellations of Xuanwu in the north (fight, ox, female, virtual, dangerous, room, and wall).

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Five Holy Beasts

In the Wuxing theory, it is the five divine beasts with the yellow dragon in the center, it is the five divine beasts, and its element is earth.

There is also a theory that the central mythical animal is a qilin.

ACG culture

The Four Divine Beasts (or the Five Divine Beasts) are widely used materials in ACG subcultures such as animation, comics, games, and light novels.

• The "Four Holy Beasts" in Digimon (Qinglongmon, Baihumon, Suzakumon, and Xuanwumon) are based on the Four Divine Beasts. (The ruler is Huanglongmon.)
• The four Friends in the cross-media project Kemono Friends - Xuanwu, White Tiger, Qinglong, and Suzaku are collectively called the Four Divine Beasts.