Er Shi Ba Xiu (二十八宿) aka The 28 Constellation Stars.
In Taoism, they are conisder as a group of Guardians/Protectors or Generals of the Heavenly Realm (天界衛護神祇).
In most of the Taoist Temples overseas, usually you can see them being made into General form and guide against Temple Gates or Main Hall other then the normal Door Deities.
In our Chinese Study, these 28 stars are being separated into 4 Groups (7 Stars each, and they are also used to represent the 4 Direction of this Universe). A Spiritual Animal (神獸) is used to represent each group:
East (Green): The Green Dragon (東方青龍)
South (Red): The Firey Sparrow (南方朱雀)
West (White): The White Tiger (西方白虎)
North (Black/Grey): The combination of Tortise and Snake (北方玄武)
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The movement of these 4 groups of Stars (二十八宿運行):
In Chinese Religion/Taoism, the North Pole - 北極 (where Bei Dou 北斗, Zi Wei 紫微, Zhong Tian 中天 are) is the center of all movements in the Universe, and so all these groups of Stars will rotate around the North Pole in-order for them to carry-out their tasks, etc.
And so, in another word, these four groups of Stars are closely related with the North Pole or Bei Dou, etc.
For High Res Pictures, please proceed to this link:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/taoism_deity_singapore_2007/photos/album/602938884/pic/list
