Yellow Dragon, beast of the centre
The Yellow Dragon (huang long, 黃龍) is the beast of the centre, the fifth point that holds the four quarters together. The centre has no quarter of lunar mansions; the Huainanzi gives it Tu, the turn between seasons and the planet Saturn, the Quelling Star (zhen xing, 鎮星).
The calm one in the group chat: grounded, reliable, the person everyone orbits. It sits in the middle of the set.
Tu, the phase behind it
Tu is the phase of steadiness: gathering, holding and making things last. In a chart it shows up as routine, care and follow-through.
| Direction | Centre (中央) |
|---|---|
| Season | The turn of each season |
| Phase | Tu (土) |
| Day stems | 戊 and 己 |
| Planet | Saturn (zhen xing, 鎮星) |
| Lunar mansions | None: the centre has no quarter of lunar mansions. Its planet is Saturn, the Quelling Star (zhen xing, 鎮星). |
| Color | ochre yellow |
| Numbers (He Tu, 河圖) | 5, 0 |
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.
Who has the Yellow Dragon?
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 Tu is your favorable phase, the Yellow Dragon is your beast and your color is ochre yellow. 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)
- Vermilion Bird, beast of the south (Huo, rising heat)
- 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.