Four gods
【Green Dragon】
The Green Dragon, also known as the "Dragon", is the god of the East in ancient mythology. The dragon is the totem of the Chinese nation, since the Yellow Emperor was commissioned to the heavens, Wei Ze sifang, the dragon has become the symbol of the Chinese nation and even the whole of China, and the more clear shape is in the Han Dynasty, from the beginning of the Han Dynasty, the dragon has been determined as the symbol and representative of the emperor. In the Oriental legend, the green dragon resembles a long snake, a unicorn head, a carp tail, a long beard on the face, a horn like a deer, a five-clawed, and a mighty appearance, which belongs to the traditional culture of being one of the four elephants, with the five elements theory, the east is blue, so the green dragon is the god of the East.
【White Tiger】
In China, the White Tiger is the god of war and the god of killing. The tiger has a variety of divine powers such as avoiding evil, praying for disasters, praying for prosperity and punishing evil, promoting goodness, getting rich, and marrying good relations. And it is one of the four spirits, of course, | it is transformed by the stars. It is composed of twenty-eight stars, the seven western ones: Kui, Lou, Stomach, Ang, Bi, Qian, and Sansan. So 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. So it is called the White Tiger not because it is white, but from the Five Elements.
【Suzaku】
For China, the phoenix is a spiritual object that represents happiness. There are many kinds of prototypes. Such as golden pheasant, peacock, eagle vulture, crane, bird (swallow) and so on... It is also said that the Buddhist roc golden-winged bird became. The phoenix in phoenix mythology says that it has the head of a chicken, the chin of a swallow, the neck of a snake, the tail of a fish, and has five-colored stripes. There are also five varieties of phoenixes, which are divided by color: red is a phoenix, blue is a bird, white is a swan, and a yellow and purple phoenix can be said to be a suzaku or a bird. Suzaku is one of the four spirits, and like the other three, it is derived from the stars, and is the general name of the seven southern houses: well, ghost, willow, star, zhang, wing, and yun. It comes to mind as Suzaku. Zhu is red, like fire, and the southern part is fire, so it is called phoenix. It also has the characteristics of being reborn from fire, and like the immortal bird in the West, it is also called the fire phoenix.
【Xuanwu】
Xuanwu is a spiritual creature composed of a combination of a turtle and a snake. The original meaning of Xuanwu is Xuan Meditation, and the ancient sounds of Wu and Meditation are connected. Wu, which means black; Meditation means yin. The original description of the turtle is black: the turtle's back is black, and the turtle is to invite the turtle to the underworld to ask the ancestors, bring the answer back, and offer it to the world in the form of a buzhao. Therefore, the earliest Xuanwu was the turtle. Since then, the meaning of the occult has continued to expand. Turtles live in rivers, lakes and seas (including sea turtles), so Xuan Di became a water god; The turtle lives long, and the occult has become a symbol of immortality; The original underworld was in the north, and the oracle bone divination of Yin Shang was "its bu bi north", so Xuan Hao became the northern god again.
Four Spirits
【White Poppy xǐ】
Legend has it that after Pangu opened up the world, Nuwa was lonely, so she created people with mud, and at the same time created the things of the snake body in her own image as pets, namely baixi xǐ, female, and snake, and the later nuwa made up the heavens, because the five-colored stones were not enough, so she made up the sky with her body, and the white mule xǐ and the snake also followed.
Pangu opened the sky and the beginning of the flood. Mother Earth's daughter clay clay to create man, reproduce offspring, and benefit the world. Who knew that the fire god Zhu Rong and the water god worked together to fight, and the co-worker head could not hit the Zhou Mountain, causing the celestial body to tilt, the three realms were in chaos, and the demons took advantage of the opportunity to run rampant and endanger the human world. The four great divine beasts of the Ancients, the Green Dragon, the White Tiger, the Suzaku, and the Xuanwu, each dominated one side and committed a fierce rebellion. The four divine beasts have different temperaments, the Dragon Clan is arrogant, the White Tiger is reckless, Xuanwu is vicious, and only suzaku is the most cruel, and they have to eat people every day to survive! The Gonggong Clan's head could not hit the Zhou Mountain, and the Three Realms were in chaos, and Suzaku took the opportunity to instigate the three divine beasts to join forces to plague the human world. Nuwa used the twelve multicolored stones left behind by the Heaven Patch to cast the Zhen Demon Bottle, and with the help of four other spirit beasts Qilin, Bai Dian, Tengsnake, and Bai Ze (unicorns), defeated the four great divine beasts led by Suzaku, except for the White Tiger, chopping Xuanwu, descending Suzaku, and subjugating the Dragon Clan! Peace will eventually be restored. Nuwa's merits were complete, and she was led to heaven by the two protectors of Bai Di and Tengsnake, and was revered as the first great god of the ancients.
【Téng snake】
The Serpent Star is a star officer belonging to the Seven Houses of the North. To the south of the five stars of the Cepheids, it consists of 22 stars. The five elements are divided into yin and yang, while the snake is a fire-negative totem. Dragons of the same kind, can swim in the clouds and fog. The snake is mostly called the divine turtle, so it is regarded as a clone of Xuanwu. In the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty, Zhang Heng's Biography of Zhang Heng" contains Zhang Heng's "Si Xuan Fu", which contains the sentence "Xuanwu shrinks in the shell and snakes and corrects itself". Cao Cao's famous poem "Although the Turtle Is Alive" also has "Although the divine turtle is long, it is still timely." The snake rides the fog and ends up with the dust of the earth". However, there are other "snake cultivation for a thousand years into Teng, the dragon through the sky" "snake good water, its ability is not inferior to the heavenly dragon, Ying Long." After the heavens and the sky, it will fly straight to the eight wildernesses. This statement refers to the fact that the snake is an independent member of the Five-Square Divine Beast, located in the center, and the color is still yellow.
The Classic of Mountains and Seas and the Zhongshan Classic: "The mountain of Chaisang, the mountain of chaisang, the silver on it, the multi-bi below it, the multi-lined stone ochre, its wood is more willow, its moth, its mulberry, its beast is more elk, and its white snake is more flying snake." Guo Pu's note: "That is, the snake, the one who flies by the fog." ”
"Xunzi Persuasion": "The snake flies without feet".
Erya Shiyu: "Mantis, Snake". Guo Pu's note: "Dragons can also swim in the clouds and fog." The "Matter Class• Fu Ninety-One" notes this work: "The snake swims the fog dragon and rides the clouds." ”
Folklore also says that the two pet babies of Nuwa Niangniang also faithfully followed her footsteps and ascended to heaven with her. The two pet babies are: Bai Dian (xi, the third sound) and Teng Snake married. In a generation of classic drama "The Legend of the New White Lady", it is implicitly argued that Bai Suzhen is the daughter of Tengsnake.
Shirasawa
The famous divine beast on kunlun mountain, covered in snow, able to speak human words, and understand the love of all things, rarely appeared, unless there was a saint ruling the world at that time, he came to the book. It is an auspicious beast that can make people fierce. Legend has it that the Yellow Emperor went on a hunting tour and went to the seashore to obtain the White Ze Divine Beast. This beast can speak, reaching the love of all things, so the emperor ordered it to be written in a picture to show the world, and later used it as a chapter costume pattern. Tang Kaiyuan has a white flag, which is used by Tianzi travel instruments; Ming has a white patch, which is the costume of the noble relatives.
Legend has it that the Baize Divine Beast is the mount of Zhong Kui, the hometown of Zhong Kui in Xi'anHu County, Shaanxi Province. A pair of Song Dynasty stone carvings of the Zhong Kui Divine Beast are now preserved in front of the empty Cuitang Villa of Wang Jiusi, the author of "The Biography of Zhong Kui" in Xi'anHu County, Shaanxi Province, and are said to be the only pair of Bai Ze ancient stone carvings in China. Eastern Jin Dynasty Ge Hong's "Baopuzi. Ji Yan: "The Yellow Emperor... Poor gods and traitors remember Bai Ze's words. "Legend has it that the Yellow Emperor went on a hunting tour and went to the seashore to obtain the White Ze Divine Beast. This beast can speak, reaching the love of all things, so the emperor ordered it to be written in a picture to show the world, and later used it as a chapter costume pattern. Tang Kaiyuan has a white flag, which is used by Tianzi travel instruments; Ming has a white patch, which is the costume of the noble relatives. In later generations, because Bai Ze was able to avoid evil, he often used its shape on items, and the flag of the emperor was painted with the shape of Bai Ze in the Tongdian Records, which was called the White Ze Banner.
There is also a saying that Bai Ze is a unicorn, when Suzaku, along with the dragon, white tiger, Xuanwu was fierce, Nuwa Niangniang and four other spirit beasts Qilin, Bai Dian, Teng Snake, Bai Ze, defeated the four major divine beasts led by Suzaku, and finally Bai Ze was abolished mana and exiled to the mortal world, it is said that Bai Ze's whole body is a treasure, which has the curative effect of reviving the dead.
Unicorn
Qilin (麒麟), also known as "Qilin "Qilin", referred to as "Lin", is an animal recorded in ancient Chinese books, together with the phoenix, turtle and dragon, known as the "Four Spirits", is the mount of the gods, the ancients regarded the Qilin as a benevolent beast, a beast. Males are called unicorns and females are called unicorns.
The unicorn is an auspicious divine beast, the Lord is peaceful and long-lived. Folk there is a saying that the unicorn sends a son, the unicorn is the dragon head, the body of the horse, and the scales of the fish. Its comprehensive coverage is not as extensive as that of dragons and phoenixes, but its fame is not small. The Kirin is different from the píxiū[, the Kirin is a ferocious beast, and the protector is particularly strong, and has the effect of attracting wealth and blessings and warding off evil spirits. Cats feed on wealth and can eat the wealth of the four directions.
The unicorn is a god in the sky, not on the earth, often accompanied by gods, is the mount of the gods, belongs to the fire system belongs to the heavenly immortals. Generally can't fly, but adult unicorns can fly. The adult unicorn can be powerful and small, usually more kind, and extremely fierce when angry. The Lord is wise and auspicious.
Four evils
【梼杌táowù】
A beast of prey in ancient legends. According to legend, it is the son of the Northern Heavenly Emperor, and it also has the name of Arrogant and Difficult, and from these names, it can also be roughly inferred from its deeds. Like Qiqi, Han Zhuo later became one of the four murderers. Originally, he was only a fearful and disgusting evil man, according to the "Zuo Zhuan" Wen Gong Eighteen years: "There are untalented people, they cannot be taught, they do not know what to say, they are stubborn when they tell them, they are arrogant and arrogant, and they are arrogant and fierce, and they are chaotic in the world, and the people of the world are called the people of the world." "After the death of this unlearnable evil man, he eventually evolved into the famous magic beast of ancient times, the Divine Anomaly? The Western Wilderness Classic records that "in the Western Wilderness, the beast is like a tiger and a dog hair, two feet long, a human face, a tiger's foot, a pig's mouth and teeth, a tail length of eight feet, stirring up the wilderness, and the name is a scepter." ”
【Poor Qi】
According to the "Classic of Mountains and Seas and the North Classic of Hai Nei", it refers to the fact that Qiqi looks like a tiger, has a pair of wings, likes to eat people, and will start eating from the head of a person, and is a fierce beast. However, also in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, the Xishan Jing mentions another image of Qiqi, in which Qiqi looks like an ox and has hedgehog hair, which is very different from that described in the Northern Classic of Hai Nei. However, both are fierce beasts that like to eat people, and there is no difference in this regard.
【Chaos】
The second volume of the Classic of Mountains and Seas, the Western Mountain Classic, Yun: "Three hundred and fifty miles to the west, the Heavenly Mountains, the golden jade, the green male and yellow, the Yingshui out of the water, and the southwest flow in the Tang Valley." There are divine birds, whose shape is like a yellow sac, red as Danhuo, six legs and four wings, Hun Dun has no face, it is a song and dance, and it is the only emperor Jiang Ye. "Hun Dun is chaos, and the image of chaos is a divine bird that knows song and dance."
【Gluttony tāo tiè】
Legend has it that a greedy monster. Ancient bells and yi vessels are often carved with the shape of their heads as decorations. "Lü's Spring and Autumn: "Zhou Ding wrote a feast, had a head without a body, ate people without swallowing, harmed his body, and repaid it with words." "The Book of Divine Anomalies, The Book of the Southwest Wilderness": "There are people in the southwest, who are hairy, wear a pig on their heads, are greedy as wolves, are good at accumulating wealth, but do not eat people's valleys, the strong rob the old and the weak, and they are afraid of the crowd and hit the single, and the name is gluttony." Song Shaobo's "After Hearing and Seeing" Volume 26: "At the beginning of Shao Sheng, the ancestor official Chang'an Mansion, in front of the Ancestral Temple of Han Gao in Xicheng, sold soup cakes and cakes to the people's house, and got a white jade, a high ruler, carved with clouds and dragons and phoenixes, built as a sacred mountain in the sea, enough for food, and a treasure of three generations." ”
In addition to the ancient divine beasts, the ancient divine beasts that are free and ancient books are also praised
【Water Kirin】
Creatures of benevolent character and powerful demonic power, who understand the world, understand providence, can listen to the mandate of heaven, and are kings and divine beasts.
【Red Flame Beast】
The fire god Zhu Rong and the water god gonggong were originally descendants of the Shennong clan,
【Shigeaki Bird】
Yao reigned for seventy years, there was a country of branches, a bird of sacrifice, a double clear word in the eyes.
【Bi Fang】
A bird, shaped like a crane, with one foot, with red stripes and a white beak.