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Although Suzaku, Seiryuu, Genbu, and Byakko are characters in a story, they were taken from
ancient astronomy of China, and later Korea and Japan. The sky is divided into four quadrants: one for each of the
four cardinal directions and four seasons. They are: The Black Tortoise of Winter (North), The Azure
Dragon of Spring (East), The Red Bird of Summer (South) and The White Tiger of Fall (West).
There is also a fifth direction, 'center',being the earth. Each quadrant, or 'celestial palace'
has seven sei shuku or 'moon stations', otherwise known as constellations. The
sei shuku were determined roughly from the relative position of the moon against the stars.
Genbu, name of the god of the north in FY, is taken from the name of the celestial palace of the
North. 'Black Tortoise' is a rough translation of 'Genbu' None of the names of the other gods
of FY are taken from the names of their respective celestial palace in astronomy.
The assigning of the talismanic animals to the four seasons/directions is somewhat ambiguous.
They were adapted over time and were also associated with the astrology of the different cultures.
One interesting fact that is worth noting is that while the Red Bird of Summer and the Black
Tortoise of Winter are aligned with the path of the sun during their season, the Azure Dragon
of Spring and the White Tiger of Fall are opposite to the sun's path in their season. Analogous
to this is the position of the Big Dipper. In the summer, the handle of the Big Dipper is
pointing South which is the direction of the Red Bird of Summer. In the winter, the handle of
the Big Dipper is pointing North, which is the direction of the Black Tortoise of Winter.
However, in the Spring, the handle of the Big Dipper points to the East which is the direction
of the White Tiger of Fall, and in the Fall, the handle points to the West, which is the
direction of the Azure Dragon of Spring. ***information on the astronomy of China/Korea/Japan
was found at Star Charts and Moon Stations
This site also has lots of other great articles on astronomy. If you like astronomy, this is the
place to go visit! |