Asian Art

Four Symbols

The Four Symbols are mythological creatures appearing among the Chinese constellations along the ecliptic, and viewed as the guardians of the four cardinal directions. These four creatures are also referred to by a variety of other names, including "Four Guardians", "Four Gods", and "Four Auspicious Beasts". The members of said group consist of the Azure Dragon of the East, the Vermilion Bird of the South, the White Tiger of the West, and the Black Turtle-Snake (also called "Black Warrior") of the North. Occasionally, they are accompanied by the Yellow Dragon of the Center, but said member is often excluded; in contexts where the Yellow Dragon is included, the groups is referred to as the "Five Symbols", "Five Guardians", "Five Gods", and "Five Auspicious Beasts" Each 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, an emotion, virtue, and one of the Chinese "five elements" (wood, fire, metal, and water; earth is often excluded). Each has been given its own individual traits, origin story and a reason for being. Symbolically, and as part of spiritual and religious belief and meaning, these creatures have been culturally important across countries in the Sinosphere.

Also on this shelf

See also

• ▸Ivory carving
• ▸Anti-Mask League of San Francisco
• ▸1705

Uncatalogued shelf

Text from Wikipedia; plate via Wikimedia Commons. Text CC BY-SA 4.0; plate freely licensed (see Commons). Source record. Images and catalogue data are reproduced from open-access collections.