Grandmaster Tse’s Qìgōng Dāo 氣功道 445

The Èrshíbā Xiù 二十八宿 – 28 Constellations are divided by the four directions. So the East is Qīnglóng 青龍 – Green Dragon, North is Xuánwǔ 玄武 – Black Turtle, West is Báihǔ 白虎 – White Tiger and South is Zhūquè 朱雀 – Red Phoenix. The order goes from East, North, West and South. And the reason for this is the moon follows the 28 constellations from the East and passes each one each day. Over 7 days the moon travels from one animal to another, going from East, North, South and West and then back to the beginning and so basically it takes 28 days. We think of it as about one month, before it repeats its journey. However, we all know that in the Chinese lunar calendar there are about 30 days in a month. This means it does not fully match, one day to one constellation as there is one day more. In the Chinese lunar calendar, a new moon to a full moon takes roughly 15 days, so the moon’s cycle, from new to full and back to new, will take 29 or 30 days, which is the same as the 28 Constellations.