the four holy beasts
or, rather, the fantastic four animals that represent Vietnam
The dragon (rồng) is perhaps the most powerful and sacred creature out of the 4 holy beasts in Vietnamese mythology. When the commoners are represented as a dragon, they must only have 3 claws, but for imperials, the dragon will have 5 claws. There’s been a tale that the King of the dragons- Lạc Long Quân- had married the fairy of the bird kingdom- Âu Cơ- and then had 100 babies (all males, for some reason) and 50 were sent to the waters and 50 sent to land, and that’s a tale of how the people of our country were born into this world. Like the other holy beasts, the dragon also represents traits- power, nobility, and immortality. The dragon is a combination of crocodile, snake, cat, rat, and bird.
Hanoi before it was Hanoi was ‘Thăng Long’ which means “rising from a dragon”. Also, some of us still claim that we are the children of the dragon or con rồng cháu tiên.
DRAGON
Phoenix (phượng hoàng) represents the royal empress, while the dragon has already represented the emperor. The phoenix has the neck of a snake, the breast of a swallow, the back of a tortoise, and the tail of a fish. Apparently, the song of the phoenix has all 5 notes of the pentatonic musical scale, woah. This elegant and beautiful bird represents grace, nobility, virtue, and pride. A myth also tells that the phoenix burnt her next yet rose again from its ashes therefore also representing rebirth, regeneration, and survival.
Fun fact: The CIA commenced an operation named 'Operation Phoenix' during the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1972.
While the unicorn represents peace, mercy, and good fortune, the Turtle (rùa) is referred to as the animal of longevity (long life), strength and intelligence and is closely mentioned in the Vietnamese and Chinese fight in the 15th century. There was a legend where a fighter- Lê Lời - had borrowed a sword (that defeated the Chinese) from a turtle that lived in a jade water lake that is now believed to be lake Hoàn kiếm in Hanoi.
Since the turtle is believed to represent intelligence, there are now 82 figures of turtles at Văn Miếu (Temple of Literature in Hanoi) that has been marked with doctoral graduates that each tell a story of one pupil from the Lê dynasty. It signifies how important education was to the Vietnamese at the time.
According to the British Library Board, the Unicorn (kỳ lân) in Vietnamese mythology represents peace, mercy, and good fortune. Although, the unicorn isn’t an animal of its own but rather a mix of the horse, buffalo, and dragon.
Since the unicorn is believed to be a faithful animal in the Vietnamese culture, it usually guards places of worship in Vietnam such as temples.