The Five Cardinal Points
The four directions are North, South, East and West, coinciding with the four seasons, Winter, Summer, Spring and Autumn. Together with the centre, which in Chinese astronomy is synonymous with China, they form the five cardinal points.

The Four Gods
The four directions are each represented by different celestial animals, the Genbu for the North, Suzaku for the South, Seiryu for the East and Byakko for the West. These four celestial animals do not have any connections with the twelve animals in the Chinese Zodiac. Rather, they are known as The Four Gods Of Heaven and Earth, which also are the names of the four divisions in the sky, the stars around the Earth split into four quadrants.

Star Chart and Moon Stations
Although the sky and moon stations charted during ancient times are genuine, they are entrenched with many mythological and prophetic aspects. The myth of the four celestial animals are deeply integrated to the charting of the sky. These stories originate from China, but soon spread to Korea and Japan. Therefore, we can see certain similarities between the myths concerning The Four Gods in all three different cultures. There are twenty-eight Moon Stations or Sei Shuku as known in Japanese culture, with seven of them assigned under each God. The Sei Shuku are akin to protectors of the Gods they serve under.