The story of the Four Gods of Heaven and Earth, the Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho, is not something that was made up for Fushigi Yuugi by Watase Yuu. The myth of the Four Gods has been deeply rooted in ancient Chinese mythology. The following are exerpts from Derek Walters' "An Encyclopedia of Myth and Legend: Chinese Mythology" and Donald A. Mackenzie's "Myths of China and Japan." Creation Myth
Celestial Emblems
"The Four Directions, East, South, West and North, represent the four seasons, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Together with the Centre, which in Chinese is synonymous with China itself, they form the five cardinal points. The Four Directions have been represented at least since the second century BC, by four celestial animals, the Dragon for the East, the Bird for the South, the Tiger for the West, and the Tortoise for the North. Each animal has its own colour: the Dragon is the Green of Spring, the Bird the red of Fire, the Tiger of Autumn the glittering white of metal (of ploughshares or swords), and the Tortoise Black, for night, or water. The four celestial animals, which have no connection with the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac, are also the names of the four divisions of the sky. The Dragon's Heart, the Pleiades, and the Bird Star are the names of three of the lunar mansions which marked the central position of the Dragon, Tiger and Bird. As there was no identifying star at the centre of the Black Tortoise, the appropriate place (the eleventh mansion) was called Void (Walters)." | |
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