4 spirits: unicorn, phoenix, turtle and dragon

4 gods: Qinglong, White Tiger, Suzaku, Xuanwu

4 unlucky: Chaos, Qiongqi, Taotie, Taotie

four gods

【Suzaku】

In China, the phoenix is ​​a spiritual creature that represents happiness. It has many original shapes, such as golden pheasant, peacock, eagle, swan, black bird (swallow) and so on.

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It is also said that it was transformed into the Buddhist roc Garuda. The phoenix mentioned in the Phoenix myth has the head of a chicken, the chin of a swallow, the neck of a snake, and the tail of a fish, with five-color patterns. There are also five varieties of phoenixes.

, divided by color: red is the phoenix, green is the luan bird, white is the swan, and the yellow and purple phoenix can also be said to be the red bird or black bird. The red bird is one of the four spirits, just like the other three.

It comes from the stars, and is the general name of the seven constellations in the south: Well, Ghost, Willow, Star, Zhang, Yi, Zhen. When you think of it, it is Zhuque. Zhu is red, like fire, and the south belongs to fire, so it is called Phoenix. It also has

The characteristic of being reborn from the fire is the same as that of the Phoenix in the West, so it is also called the Fire Phoenix.

【Xuanwu】

Xuanwu is a spiritual creature composed of a turtle and a snake. The original meaning of Xuanwu is Xuanming, and the ancient sounds of Wu and Ming are connected. Wu means black; Ming means yin. Xuanming was originally a pair of

The description of turtle divination: The back of the turtle is black. Turtle divination is to ask the turtle to go to the underworld to ask the ancestors, bring the answer back, and show it to the world in the form of divination. Therefore, the earliest Xuanwu is the turtle. Later, Xuan Ming

The meaning of "tortoise" is constantly expanding. Turtles live in rivers, lakes and seas (including sea turtles), so Xuan Ming became the water god; turtles live long, and Xuan Ming became a symbol of immortality; the original underworld was in the north, and the oracle bone divination of the Yin and Shang Dynasties was "

Its divination will lead to the north." So Xuan Ming became the god of the north again.

【White Tiger】

In China, the white tiger is the god of war and the god of killing. The tiger has many magical powers such as avoiding evil, warding off disasters, praying for good fortune and punishing evil, promoting good deeds, making money, and getting married. And it is one of the four spirits, and of course |

It is made of stars. It is made of the seven stars of the West among the twenty-eight stars: Kui, Lou, Wei, Ang, Bi, Xi, and Shen. So it is the representative of the West, and its white color is because it is the West.

Among the five elements, it belongs to gold and its color is white. So it is called white tiger not because it is white, but because it comes from the five elements.

【青龙】

Qinglong, also known as "Canglong", is the oriental god in ancient mythology. The dragon is the totem of the Chinese nation. Since the Yellow Emperor assigned it to the sky, it has been a symbol of power in all directions. The dragon has become a symbol of the Chinese nation and even the whole of China. Its clearer shape is

In the Han Dynasty, starting from the Han Dynasty, the dragon has been identified as the symbol and representative of the emperor. In Eastern legends, the green dragon has a body like a long snake, a unicorn head, a carp tail, a long beard on the face, and antlers like a deer with five claws.

They look majestic, but in Western mythology, dragons are more like lizards with wings.

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four spirits

【Kirin】

Qilin, also known as "Qilin", or simply "Lin", is a benevolent and auspicious beast in ancient legends. It is an animal in ancient Chinese legends. Together with the phoenix, turtle and dragon, it is called the "Four Spirits". It is also known as

He is the king of holy beasts and is the mount of God.

【Phoenix】

Everyone is very familiar with this sacred bird. It has a head like a chicken, a jaw like a swallow, a neck like a snake, a chest like a rhinoceros, and a tail like a fish. It is a bird of five virtues.

According to Guo Pu's annotation in "Erya Birds", the characteristics of the phoenix are: "Chicken head, swallow chin, snake neck, turtle back, fish tail, five colors, about six feet high". "It comes from the country of Eastern gentlemen, soaring

Beyond the four seas, pass through Kunlun, drink from the pillars, wash your feathers in the weak water, and do not stay in the wind caves. See that the world will be peaceful." "The Classic of Mountains and Seas·Pictures" says that there are five types of like character patterns: "The first text is called Virtue,

The wing text is called Shun, the back text is called Yi, the belly text is called Faith, and the Ying text is called Ren."

【Turtle】(one of the 4 spirits)

【dragon】

The dragon is a kind of magical animal in Chinese mythology that is good at changing things. It can make clouds and rain, and benefit all things. It is said that it can hide and appear. It ascends to the sky in the spring breeze and dives into the abyss in the autumn wind. It can also make clouds and rain, and is the leader of all scale insects.

, the head of the four spirits (dragon, phoenix, unicorn, and turtle), later became a symbol of imperial power. Emperors of all dynasties named themselves dragons, and the utensils they used were also decorated with dragons.

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Four evils

【梼杌】

A beast in ancient legends.

According to legend, he is the son of Zhuanxu, the Emperor of Heaven in the North. He is also named Aohun, which is difficult to train. From these names, we can roughly infer what he does. Like Qiongqi, Yaozhu later became one of the four evil spirits.

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【Qiongqi】

According to the "Book of Mountains and Seas? Hai Nei Bei Jing", Qiongqi looks like a tiger, has a pair of wings, likes to eat people, and will eat from the head of people. It is a ferocious beast. However, it is also mentioned in "The Classic of Mountains and Seas".

In the Classic of Mountains and Seas, an article in the Western Mountain Classic mentions another image of Qiongqi. The Qiongqi in that article looks like a cow with the hair of a hedgehog, which is very similar to the one described in the Northern Classic of the Sea.

Big difference. But both are ferocious beasts that like to eat people, so there is no difference in this aspect.

【chaos】

"The Book of Western Mountains" in the second volume of "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" says: "Three hundred and fifty miles to the west is called the Tianshan Mountains. There are many gold and jade, some are green and real yellow, and the Yingshui flows out, and flows from the southwest into Tang Valley. There is a sacred bird with the shape of

Like a yellow sac, red as red fire, with six legs and four wings, Hundun has no face, it is the song and dance, and it is actually the Emperor River." Hundun means chaos, and the image of chaos is the divine bird that knows song and dance.

【Taotie】

A kind of greedy and cruel monster in legend. The shape of its head is often carved on Yi vessels of ancient bells and tripods for decoration. "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals·Xianshi" states: "Zhou Ding's gluttonous food has a head but no body. It cannibalizes people without swallowing them, causing serious harm to people."

His body is repaid with words." "Shenyi Jing·Southwestern Wilderness Jing": "There is a person in the southwest who has a hairy body and wears a hog on his head. He is as greedy as a wolf and is as evil as a wolf. He likes to accumulate wealth for himself and does not eat people's valleys. He is strong and strong.

Those who preyed on the old and weak were afraid of the crowd and singled them out, which was called Taotie." Volume 26 of Song Shaobo's "Records after Hearing and Seeing": "In the early days of Shaosheng Dynasty, my ancestor was an official in Chang'an Mansion, and he sold soup cakes in front of the Han Emperor Gaozu Temple in Xicheng.

, I got a white jade dowry, more than a foot high, engraved with clouds, dragons and phoenixes, the cover is like a sacred mountain in the sea, it is enough for a gluttonous meal, and it is truly a treasure of the third generation."

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In addition to the ancient mythical beasts, the ancient mythical beasts other than the Free and Ancient Books are also praised by people.

【Water Unicorn】

A creature with a benevolent character and powerful demonic power. It is familiar with the world, understands the will of God, and can listen to the destiny. It is a sacred beast of the king.

【Red Flame Beast】

Zhurong, the god of fire, and Gonggong, the god of water, were originally descendants of the Shennong family.

【White Pond】

The mythical beast on Kunlun Mountain, the famous mythical beast, is all white, can speak human language, and understands the emotions of all things. It rarely appears, unless there is a saint who governs the world at that time, and he comes here with a letter. (Another saying is that it is a white horse)

【Chongming Bird】

Yao reigned for seventy years, and there was a country with accumulated branches. Birds of light were presented to them, and every man had two clear words in his eyes.

【Bi Fang】

A bird shaped like a crane, with one leg, red stripes and a white beak.

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Dragon gives birth to nine sons

The so-called "Nine Sons from the Dragon" does not mean that the Dragon exactly gave birth to nine sons. In traditional Chinese culture, the word "Nine" represents many things.

It has the supreme status. Nine is an imaginary number and a noble number, so it is used to describe dragons. The saying that dragons have nine sons has been around for a long time, but there is no explanation about which nine animals they are. It was not until the Ming Dynasty that various theories appeared.

Notes of some scholars in the Ming Dynasty, such as Lu Rong's Shuyuan Miscellaneous Notes, Li Dongyang's Huailutang Collection, Yang Shen's Sheng'an Collection, Li Xu's Jie'an Old Man's Essays, Xu Yingqiu's Yuzhitang Tan

"Yun" and so on, the situation of all the dragons are recorded, but they are not unified.

Old pepper picture (shūtú)

The second child, 睚禦 (yázī)

The third child laughs at the wind (cháofēng)

Laosi Pulao (pǔláo)

Old Five Suan Ni (suānní)

Lao Liu Bi Xi (bìxì)

老七狴犴(bìàn)

Laoba is negative (fùxī)

Lao Jiu Chi Kiss/鸱tail (chǐwěn/chǐweǐ)
To be continued...