There are four gods in Taoism: Qinglong, Baihu, Suzaku and Xuanwu. What are they?

Qinglong originated from the worship of stars in ancient times. Qinglong was originally the God of the East in China's ancient mythology, and one of the seven lodging and four elephants in Taoism.

And the white tiger is also the god of war and war. The white tiger has many magical powers, such as avoiding evil, avoiding disasters, praying for blessings, punishing evil and promoting good, making a fortune and getting married. And it is one of the four spirits, and of course it is also changed from the stars.

Suzaku does not belong to the phoenix, but one of the four spirits and four elephants. Like the other three schools, it comes from the stars and is the general name of the seven schools in the south: well, ghost, willow, star, Zhang, wing and Qi. Think of it as Suzaku.

Xuanwu is a spiritual thing composed of turtles and snakes. Xuanwu was upgraded to the "Zhenwu Emperor" in the north by later Taoist priests. Different from the other three spirits. Other green dragons and white tigers only worked as gatekeepers of mountain temples, and Zhu Bird worked as Xuan Nv for nine days.

The four great beasts are in charge of the four kingdoms, among which the green dragon is the most noble, the white tiger dominates the strength, the rosefinch symbolizes happiness, and Xuanwu means immortality. At the same time, Qinglong and Baihu are mainly regarded as gods to ward off evil spirits because of their brave bodies, and their images mostly appear in palaces, temples, gates or tombs and their artifacts.

Extended data:

In Shang Dynasty, the ancients divided the sky into four palaces: East, West, North and South, named after Qinglong, White Tiger, Suzaku and Xuanwu respectively. In fact, the sky is divided into four parts, which are connected by seven main stars in each part and named after their shapes.

The horns, sounds, rafters, houses, hearts, tails and dustpans in the East look like dragons, which are called Qinglong.

In the west, Que, Lou, Stomach, Zan, Bi, Gou and Shen look like tigers and are called white tigers.

In the south, the well, ghost, willow, star, Zhang, wing and net are connected into a bird shape, which is called Suzaku.

The fighting, cattle, women, emptiness, danger, houses and walls in the north are shaped like turtles, which is called Xuanwu.

Therefore, Qinglong, Baihu, Suzaku and Xuanwu respectively guard the celestial officials to ward off evil spirits and regulate yin and yang. It is recorded in "Three Auxiliary Huang Tu" that the black dragon, white tiger, suzaku and Xuanwu, the four spirits of heaven, are all square. Zuo Qinglong, You Baihu, Thousand-legged Sanzang, Houxuanwu, and the four great beasts respectively guard the four palaces in the east, west, north and south, and are the gods of the four directions.

Later, the four elephants were absorbed by Taoism, changed with Taoism, and gradually personified, and were given the title, namely, Qinglong was the "King Zhang Meng", White Tiger was the "King Guard" and Suzaku was the "King Lingguang". Xuanwu is the "Ming King". The secret of prolonging the life of the Seven Yuan Pavilion of the Big Dipper is in the Taoist Collection. It is said that there is a dragon named Meng Zhang on the left, a white tiger named prison soldier on the right, a rosefinch named Lingguang in front, a Xuanwu named Zhiming behind, a building built on a festival, and a bell and drum behind, all around me.

Baidu Encyclopedia: Qinglong White Tiger Suzaku Xuanwu