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The Four Symbols () are four mythological creatures in the Chinese constellations. They are the Azure Dragon (), of the East, the Vermilion Bird () of the South, the White Tiger () of the West, and the Black Turtle () of the North. Each one of them represents a direction and a season, and each has its own individual characteristics and origins. Symbolically and as part of spiritual and religious belief, they have been culturally important in China, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan, and also appear in many modern adaptations such as manga, and anime. In the latter countries, they are known under the names, correspondingly: Cheongryong (청룡)/Thanh Long/Seiryū (せいりゅう), Jujak (주작)/Chu Tước/Suzaku (すざく), Baek-ho (백호)/Bạch Hổ/Byakko (びゃっこ), and Hyeonmu (현무)/Huyền Vũ/Genbu (げんぶ). ==History== The Four Symbols were given human names after Daoism became popular. The Azure Dragon has the name Meng Zhang (), the Vermilion Bird was called Ling Guang (), the White Tiger Jian Bing (), and the Black Turtle Zhi Ming (). In 1987, a tomb was found at Xishuipo (西水坡) in Puyang, Henan. There were some clam shells and bones forming the images of the Azure Dragon, the White Tiger, and the Big Dipper. It is believed that the tomb belongs to the Neolithic Age, dating to about 6,000 years ago. The ''Rongcheng Shi'' manuscript recovered in 1994 gives five directions rather than four and places the animals quite differently: Yu the Great gave banners to his people marking the north with a bird, the south with a snake, the east with the sun, the west with the moon, and the center with a bear.〔Pines, Yuri. "(Political Mythology and Dynastic Legitimacy in the ''Rong Cheng Shi'' Manuscript )". ''Bulletin of SOAS'', Vol. 73, No. 3 (2010), p. 515. Accessed 22 November 2013.〕 The colours of the animals also match the colours of soil in the corresponding areas of China: the bluish-grey water-logged soils of the east, the reddish iron-rich soils of the south, the whitish saline soils of the western deserts, the black organic-rich soils of the north and the yellow soils from the central loess plateau.〔N, Brady and R, Weil. (of the Nature and Properties of Soil ). (2014). p. 89. Accessed 27/01/15.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Four Symbols (China)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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