Four Symbols

I was always fascinated with Chinese/Japanese Philosophy. Here we have the Chinese Philosophy's "Four Symbol" one of the most commonly used in Japanese Anime (such as Beyblades or Digimon). And this is usually a basis I use to mould some of my characters.

They are as follows: The Black Turtle/Tortoise (North), The Azure Dragon (East), The Vermillion Bird/Phoenix (South) and The White Tiger (West). They are supposed to represent a sort of harmonious balance in the world, each of them representing a different aspect of life (like seasons, animals or even as far as planets).

The Ying Yang is symbolic of the balance because the Ying Yang symbol is commonly used in Chinese philosophy and it represents the balance of Light and Darkness (one cannot exist without the other in other words)

Here's the Wikipedia entry for the Four Symbols, read it. It's very interesting [link]