Greetings K&K,
>What four animals were used in Feudal japan to represent the four
>directions of the compass? Was Ox North? Thanks-K&K
Sorry I got carried away with my answer, but hopefully you'll find it
all useful:
The same 12 animals as used in the zodiac and for marking the hours of
the day were used for directions as follows:
1st direction/hour Rat = nezumi = north = 23:00-01:00 (midnight @ 00:00)
2nd direction/hour = ox = ushi = 01:00-03:00
ox/tiger = ushi tora = north east = 03:00
3rd hour = tiger = tora = 03:00-05:00
4th hour = rabbit = usagi = east = 05:00-07:00 (sunrise @ 06:00)
5th hour = dragon = tatsu = 07:00-09:00
dragon/snake = tatsu hebi = south east 09:00
6th hour = snake = hebi = 09:00-11:00
7th hour = horse = uma = south = 11:00-13:00 (midday = 12:00)
8th hour = sheep (not goat) = hitsuji = 13:00-15:00
sheep/monkey = hitsuji saru = south west 15:00
9th hour = monkey = saru = 15:00-17:00
10th hour = garden bird (rooster) = niwa tori (sometimes just "tori") =
west = 17:00-19:00 (sunset @ 18:00)
11th hour = dog = inu = 19:00-21:00
dog/boar = inu inoshishi = north west 21:00
12th hour = boar = inoshishi = 21:00-2300
Okay when folks say "at the hour of the X", what they mean is the mid-
point of that time slot. So the hour of the rat is in fact midnight. But
you also get "early" and "late" rat. Its important to note that the
times specified above only apply at the spring and summer equinoxes, as
the day and the night were divided in to 6 equal "hours". Which means
that at mid-summer the daylight hours were twice as long as the nightime
ones! Actually the easier way to grasp this system, is to forget the
numbers above and simply go outside and look up at the daytime sky. Then
divide the path of the sun's travel across it from sunrise to sunset as
though it were super-imposed upon the top half of an old style clock
face. Sunrise as the middle of the hour of the rabbit, midday is the
middle of the hour of the horse, and sunset is the middle of the hour of
the bird. The others just slot in between (one and two thirds up the
curve of the sky). The hour of the rabbit actually starts with the first
light of the day (morning twilight) and the hour of the bird ends with
the last light of the day (evening twilight).
Again I hope all this stuff helps
Yours
Dean
***
Dean Wayland
Head Of The Fight School
http://www.thefightschool.demon.co.uk