Four Saintly Beasts (Vietnam)

The Four Symbols or Four Saint Beasts (Vietnamese: Tứ Linh or Tứ Thánh Thú) are the four beasts protecting the four directions of Vietnam. They include: Long (East), Lân (West), Quy (North) and Phụng (South). These beasts have similarities to the Four Symbols of Chinese Mythology (Qing Long, Bai Hu, Xuan Wu and Zhu Que).

Appearance

• The Long creature is named after the Sino-Vietnamese character Long, which is spelled after the Hanzi "lóng (龍)", means "dragon" in China.
• The Lân creature is named after the Sino-Vietnamese character Lân/Kỳ Lân, which is spelled after the Hanzi "lín/qílín (麟/麒麟)", means "Qilin" in China.
• The Quy (Qui) creature is named after the Sino-Vietnamese character Quy (Qui), which is spelled after the Hanzi "guī (龜)", means "tortoise" (one of the two creatures imaging Xuan Wu) in China.
• The Phượng (Phụng) creature is named after the Sino-Vietnamese character Phượng (Phụng)/Phượng (Phụng) Hoàng, which is spelled after the Hanzi "fèng/fènghuáng (鳳/鳳凰)", means "the bird king" in China.

Popular culture

In the Suối Tiên Park in Hochiminh City, there are four entertaining areas named after the Four Saint Beasts, they are Thuỷ Long Palace, Kỳ Lân Palace, Kim Quy Lake and Phượng Hoàng Palace.

See also

• Four benevolent animals (四靈)

References

• Four Symbols (Chinese constellation)