Four Symbols

Lore & Background

Depictions of mythological creatures clearly ancestral to the modern set of four have been found throughout China. The oldest known depiction was discovered in 1987 in a tomb at Xishuipo in Puyang, Henan, dated to approximately 5300 BC. In that tomb, labeled M45, mosaics made of clam shells and bones forming images closely resembling the Azure Dragon and White Tiger were placed east and west of the main occupant. The modern standard configuration was settled much later, with variations appearing throughout Chinese history. For example, the Rong Cheng Shi manuscript from the Warring States period (c. 453–221 BCE) gives five directions rather than four, placing animals differently: north with a bird, south with a snake, east with the sun, west with the moon, and center with a bear. The Chinese classic Book of Rites mentions the Vermilion Bird, Black Turtle-Snake, Azure Dragon, and White Tiger as heraldic animals on war flags, associated with the four cardinal directions. In Taoism, the Four Symbols have been assigned human identities and names: Azure Dragon is Meng Zhang, Vermilion Bird is Ling Guang, White Tiger is Jian Bing, and Black Turtle-Snake is Zhi Ming. The colors associated with the creatures match the soils of corresponding areas of China: bluish-grey water-logged soils of the east, reddish iron-rich soils of the south, whitish saline soils of the western deserts, black organic-rich soils of the north, and yellow soils from the central loess plateau.

Reader's Guide

The Four Symbols have been syncretized into the Five Phases system (wuxing), with the Azure Dragon representing Wood, the Vermilion Bird Fire, the White Tiger Metal, and the Black Turtle-Snake Water; Earth is represented by the Yellow Dragon of the Center. Their cultural significance extends across the Sinosphere, appearing in numerous modern works. In the game Overwatch, characters received cosmetic skins based on the Four Symbols during the 2018 Chinese New Year event. In Pokémon Black and White, Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus have forms inspired by the Vermilion Bird, Azure Dragon, and White Tiger, with Enamorus later completing the set as the Black Turtle-Snake. The Webtoon The God of High School features a technique with stances named after the Four Symbols. In Final Fantasy XIV Online, the expansion Stormblood includes a quest-line and trial series called 'The Four Lords' inspired by the Four Symbols. The Beyblade manga and anime uses Beyblades named after the Four Symbols, with a fifth for the Yellow Dragon. The Digimon franchise includes the Four Holy Beasts designed after the Four Symbols. The Four Symbols also appear in the Megami Tensei franchise, Fushigi Yûgi, Basara, Helck, Yu Yu Hakusho, and The Twelve Kingdoms. The chapter The Great Treatise I in the I Ching describes the origins of the Four Symbols.

Did You Know?

• The oldest known depiction of creatures ancestral to the Four Symbols was found in a tomb in Xishuipo, Henan, dated to approximately 5300 BC.
• The Rong Cheng Shi manuscript from the Warring States period gives five directions rather than four, with different animal placements.
• In Taoism, the Four Symbols have human names: Meng Zhang (Azure Dragon), Ling Guang (Vermilion Bird), Jian Bing (White Tiger), and Zhi Ming (Black Turtle-Snake).
• The colors of the Four Symbols match the soils of corresponding areas of China: bluish-grey east, reddish south, whitish west, black north, and yellow center.