Currently, the oldest known depiction was found in 1987 in a tomb in Xishuipo (西水坡) in Puyang, Henan, which has been dated to approximately 5300 BC. Symbolically, and as part of spiritual and religious belief and meaning, these creatures have been culturally important across countries in the East Asian cultural sphere.ĭepictions of mythological creatures clearly ancestral to the modern set of four creatures have been found throughout China. Each has been given its own individual traits, origin story and a reason for being. 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, earth, metal, and water). They are the Azure Dragon of the East, the Vermilion Bird of the South, the White Tiger of the West, and the Black Tortoise (also called 'Black Warrior') of the North. These four creatures are also referred to by a variety of other names, including ' Four Guardians', ' Four Gods', and ' Four Auspicious Beasts'. 'four images'), are four mythological creatures appearing among the Chinese constellations along the ecliptic, and viewed as the guardians of the four cardinal directions. The Four Symbols ( Chinese: 四象 pinyin: Sì Xiàng lit. Neidan Illustration of Bringing Together the Four Symbols 和合四象圖, 1615 Xingming guizhi

Clockwise from top left: Black Tortoise of the North, Azure Dragon of the East, Vermilion Bird of the South and White Tiger of the West

Dragons of the north