White Tiger (Chinese constellation)
Encyclopedia
The White Tiger is one of the Four Symbols
Four Symbols (Chinese constellation)
The Four Symbols are four mythological creatures in the Chinese constellations. They are:*Azure Dragon of the East *Vermilion Bird of the South *White Tiger of the West *Black Tortoise of the North...

 of the Chinese constellations. It is sometimes called the White Tiger of the West (西方白虎, Xī Fāng Bái Hǔ), and is known as Baihu in Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, Byakko in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese, Baekho in Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

n and Bạch Hổ in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

ese. It represents the west
West
West is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.West is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points. It is the opposite of east and is perpendicular to north and south.By convention, the left side of a map is west....

 and the autumn season.

The Seven Mansions of the White Tiger

As the other three Symbols, there are seven "mansions", or positions, of the moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...

 within White Tiger. The names and determinative stars are:
Mansion no. Name (pinyin
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...

)
Translation Determinative star
15 奎 (Kuí) Legs
Legs (Chinese constellation)
The Legs mansion is one of the Twenty-eight mansions of the Chinese constellations. It is one of the western mansions of the White Tiger.-Asterisms:...

 
η And
Eta Andromedae
Eta Andromedae is a spectroscopic binary star in the constellation of Andromeda...

16 婁 (Lóu) Bond
Bond (Chinese constellation)
Leu sieu meaning "the Train of a garment", was one of the twenty-eight lunar mansions of the traditional Chinese astronomy. It was one of the White Tiger of the West (西方白虎).- The asterisms in the Region of Leu (婁宿天區):...

 
β Ari
35 Arietis
35 Arietis is a star in the constellation Aries. Its apparent magnitude is 4.65.-References:*...

17 胃 (Wèi) Stomach
Stomach (Chinese constellation)
The Stomach mansion is one of the Twenty-eight mansions of the Chinese constellations. It is one of the western mansions of the White Tiger.-Asterisms:...

 
35 Ari
Epsilon Arietis
Epsilon Arietis is a double star in the constellation Aries. It is approximately 293 light years from Earth.The two components are both white A-type main sequence dwarfs with apparent magnitudes of 5.2 and 5.5 respectively. They are separated by 1.5 arcseconds on the sky...

18 昴 (Mǎo) Hairy Head
Hairy Head (Chinese constellation)
The Hairy Head mansion is one of the Twenty-eight mansions of the Chinese constellations. It is one of the western mansions of the White Tiger.This mansion corresponds to the Pleiades in English.-Asterisms:...

 
17 Tau
Electra (star)
Electra, also cataloged as 17 Tauri, is a blue-white giant star in the constellation of Taurus. The star is one of the nine brightest stars in the Pleiades open cluster. The most visible stars in this group are named for the Seven Sisters of Greek mythology.The star has an apparent brightness of...

19 畢 (Bì) Net
Net (Chinese constellation)
The Net mansion is one of the Twenty-eight mansions of the Chinese constellations. It is one of the western mansions of the White Tiger.-Asterisms:...

 
ε Tau
Epsilon Tauri
Epsilon Tauri is an orange giant star, spectral type of K0 III, located approximately 147 light-years away from the Sun in the constellation of Taurus. It is a member of the Hyades open cluster...

20 觜 (Zī) Turtle Beak
Turtle Beak (Chinese constellation)
The Turtle Beak mansion is one of the Twenty-eight mansions of the Chinese constellations. It is one of the western mansions of the White Tiger.-Asterisms:...

 
λ Ori
Lambda Orionis
Lambda Orionis is a star in the constellation Orion. It has the traditional names Meissa or Heka. "Meissa" derives from the Arabic "Al-Maisan" which means "The Shining One". This term was used for Gamma Gemini , but was somehow also mistakenly applied to λ Orionis and the name stuck...

21 參 (Shēn) Three Stars
Three Stars (Chinese constellation)
The Three Stars mansion is one of the twenty-eight mansions of the Chinese constellations. It is one of the western mansions of the White Tiger. This collection of seven bright stars is visible during winter in the Northern Hemisphere .- Asterisms :...

 
ζ Ori

Origin

During the Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...

, people believed the tiger
Tiger
The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...

 to be the king of all beasts. According to legend the tiger's tail would turn into white when it reached the age of 500 years. In this way, the white tiger
White tiger
The white tiger is a recessive mutant of the Bengal tiger, which was reported in the wild from time to time in Assam, Bengal, Bihar and especially from the former State of Rewa.-Color comparison:...

 became a kind of mythological creature. It was said that the white tiger would only appear when the emperor
Emperor of China
The Emperor of China refers to any sovereign of Imperial China reigning between the founding of Qin Dynasty of China, united by the King of Qin in 221 BCE, and the fall of Yuan Shikai's Empire of China in 1916. When referred to as the Son of Heaven , a title that predates the Qin unification, the...

 ruled with absolute virtue, or if there was peace throughout the world. Because the color white
White
White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...

 of the Chinese five elements
Five elements (Chinese philosophy)
The Wu Xing, also known as the Five Phases, the Five Agents, the Five Movements, and the Five Steps/Stages, are chiefly an ancient mnemonic device, in many traditional Chinese fields....

 also represents the west, the white tiger thus became a mythological guardian of the west.

In the novel Shuo Tang Yanyi (Tales of Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...

), the reincarnation of White Tigers Star is said to be Li Shimin's general Luo Cheng (羅成) and the reincarnation of Azure Dragons Star is said to be the rebellious general Shan Xiongxin (單雄信). They two are sworn brothers of Qin Shubao
Qin Shubao
Qin Shubao , formal name Qin Qiong but went by the courtesy name of Shubao, formally Duke Zhuang of Hu , was a general of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty whose bravery later caused him to be incorporated into Chinese folk religion as a door god, along with Yuchi Jingde.-During Sui Dynasty:It is...

 (秦叔寶), Cheng Zhijie (程知節) and Yuchi Jingde
Yuchi Jingde
Yuchi Jingde , formal name Yuchi Gong but went by the courtesy name of Jingde, formally Duke Zhongwu of E , was a general of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty whose bravery later caused him to be incorporated into Chinese folk religion as a door god, along with Qin Shubao.-During Sui Dynasty:Yuchi...

 (尉遲敬德). Their souls after death are said to possess the body of the new heroes of Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...

 and Liao Dynasty
Liao Dynasty
The Liao Dynasty , also known as the Khitan Empire was an empire in East Asia that ruled over the regions of Manchuria, Mongolia, and parts of northern China proper between 9071125...

, Xue Rengui
Xue rengui
Xue Ren'gui , formal name Xue Li but went by the courtesy name of Rengui, was one of the most famous Chinese generals during the early Tang Dynasty, due to references to him in popular literature...

 (薛仁貴) and He Suwen (郃苏文).

In some legends of the Tang Dynasty's general Xue Rengui
Xue rengui
Xue Ren'gui , formal name Xue Li but went by the courtesy name of Rengui, was one of the most famous Chinese generals during the early Tang Dynasty, due to references to him in popular literature...

, he is said to be the reincarnation of the White Tiger's Star, and his archenemy, the Liao Dynasty's prince He Suwen is the reincarnation of the Azure Dragon's Star.

External links

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