Each country of the world - East, West, South and North - had its own rulers. The Supreme Lord of the East was Taihao. He wore green clothes that were pleasing to the eye. Taihao's main assistant was the spirit of the Gouman tree. He had a square face, the body of a bird covered with white clothes, and a compass in his hands. He was in charge of the spring.
The supreme ruler of the South was Yan-di. He wore red clothes. And the first assistant was the fire spirit Zhuzhong, with a pig's snout instead of a face, with the eyes of a bee and the body of a fiery snake, which had hands in which it held the yoke of scales. Zhurong ruled the summer. The head of the West was called Shaohao. He walked in clothes as white as snow, and the spirit of Zhushou kissed him. Its name is explained as follows: “zhu” - all plants ripen in the fall, and “show” - the harvest begins. Zhushou ruled in the fall, and in his hands he held a carpenter's square. In addition, he was the spirit of metals. But from time to time Zhushou exchanged the square for an ax, which he clutched tightly in his tiger paws. Zhushou was fair and in charge of punishment in heaven. And the ruler of the North was Zhuangxu. He wore clothes blacker than the darkest night. His assistant was the water spirit Xuanming, whose name means “intimate darkness.” No one has ever seen what it looks like, because what can you see in complete darkness? But everyone knew that he had two heavy weights in his hands. Xuanming controlled cold winds and winter.
All of them were descendants of Huang Di, the ruler of the Center. His yellow clothes went well with all the colors of the countries of the world. He had four faces to make it easier to observe the four countries of the world. Any event, no matter where it happened, could not hide from his gaze. He was the fairest judge of willful spirits. Huang Di's first assistant was Hou-tu. He held a rope in his hands. The entire Celestial Empire was governed by it, like reins.
But the power-hungry descendants did not like this leadership. They rebelled, began to demand complete independence and attack the outskirts of the Center.
Huang Di cared about the good of the universe and did not like war, so he did not attack anyone, but defended the border cities. But while Huang Di was repelling the attacks of one enemy, the other was preparing his army. And the center of the Celestial Empire weakened. Residents are tired of wearing armor all the time. It was so difficult to graze cattle and grow rice in them! And Huang Di constantly had to look vigilantly at all four sides.
Finally he sighed and said:
- When the sovereign is in danger, the people are restless. When a ruler loses his state, misfortunes begin for the people. And the reason is that the new owner, having seized power, condones the robbers. I have been appointed to rule the people, but the four robbers are opposed, and every now and then they gather troops. It's time to put an end to this.
Huang Di gathered a large army, wisely divided it into four parts and simultaneously attacked all the enemy rulers. They were all very scared and obeyed.
The majestic and revered Huang Di became the supreme ruler. Everyone followed his orders and recognized his authority. From now on, he ruled not only the kingdom of heavenly spirits, but also the kingdom of demons. But still, Huang Di decided: “I need to have security when I sleep.”
To do this, he summoned sixteen spirits from the Southern Plain. They had the same little red faces, red shoulders and arms as flexible as snakes. At night they guarded Huang Di, and also watched to see if any of the demons were doing bad deeds. People were not afraid when they met them at night, because they knew that these spirits performed an important service.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru