Zodi Animal· The Elements· Earth 土· Earth in myth and culture

A room of Earth · 土

One of the five phases behind your Primal Zodiac Animal

Earth in myth and culture

the yellow centre

Earth is the centre, the soil underfoot, and the colour of emperors. Chinese myth ties it to the sovereign of the middle, the deity of the land, and the mountain at the heart of the world.

The Yellow Emperor and the land

The Yellow Emperor 黄帝 (Huángdì) is the central sovereign whose colour is yellow and whose element is Earth, ancestor of the Chinese people. 后土 (Hòutǔ) is the deity of the earth and soil, and 社稷 (shèjì), the altars of the soil 社 and the grain 稷, stood for the state itself, its five-coloured earth 五色土 marking the five directions. Yellow was the imperial colour, the centre from which all four quarters were ruled.

The sacred mountain and the beasts

Mount Tai 泰山, first of the five sacred mountains 五岳, was where emperors made the great sacrifices, though the central peak of the five is 嵩山 (Mount Song). The Yellow Dragon 黄龙 and the qilin 麒麟 are creatures of the centre and of Earth. The chengyu 厚德载物 (hòu dé zài wù), great virtue carries all things, and 脚踏实地 (jiǎo tà shí dì), feet planted on solid ground, carry Earth's steadiness into daily speech.

Where Earth sits

Leave Earth in any direction

The five phases are one lens on your Zodi Animal, the creature you get when your Western Sun sign crosses your Chinese zodiac year.