Vermilion Bird, beast of the south
The Vermilion Bird (zhu que, 朱雀) is the beast of the south. Its seven mansions run from Well (jing, 井) to Chariot (zhen, 軫), the stars that own the summer sky. The Huainanzi, which calls it the Vermilion Crow (zhu niao, 朱鳥), pairs the south with Huo, summer and the planet Mars (ying huo, 熒惑).
Built-in spotlight: warm, loud in the best way and made to be seen. The bird is the peak of the year.
Huo, the phase behind it
Huo is the phase of rising heat: things warming, brightening and moving upward. In a chart it shows up as expression, visibility and enthusiasm.
| Direction | South (南方) |
|---|---|
| Season | Summer |
| Phase | Huo (火) |
| Day stems | 丙 and 丁 |
| Planet | Mars (ying huo, 熒惑) |
| Lunar mansions | Well (jing, 井), Ghost (gui, 鬼), Willow (liu, 柳), Star (xing, 星), Extended Net (zhang, 張), Wings (yi, 翼), Chariot (zhen, 軫) |
| Color | red |
| Numbers (He Tu, 河圖) | 2, 7 |
The Huainanzi (淮南子, 2nd century BCE), in its chapter on the patterns of heaven (Tianwen xun, 天文訓), gives each of the five directions a phase, a season, a planet and a beast. The four quarters carry the four beasts that ancient sky-watchers drew across the 28 lunar mansions (er shi ba xiu, 二十八宿); the centre carries the Yellow Dragon. The Huainanzi writes this beast as 朱鳥; 朱雀 is the later, more common name.
Who has the Vermilion Bird?
Your guardian follows your favorable phase (xi yong shen, 喜用神): the phase your BaZi chart needs most to stay in balance, worked out from your birth date, time and place with simplified strength-balance (fu yi, 扶抑) rules. When Huo is your favorable phase, the Vermilion Bird is your beast and your color is red. Two people born in the same year can have different beasts.
Collect the five
Each beast holds one corner of the sky, and the set of five covers all of it. The Guardian Figure is an 8 cm collectible printed to order with an engraved base ($39).
The other four
- Azure Dragon, beast of the east (Mu, growth)
- Yellow Dragon, beast of the centre (Tu, steadiness)
- White Tiger, beast of the west (Jin, refining, edge)
- Black Tortoise, beast of the north (Shui, flow)
All five beasts · The five phases
The five beasts are star-lore symbols of the four quarters and the centre, not deities. Our figures are designed collectibles: not blessed or consecrated, and nothing here promises luck, protection or any outcome.